I did not float out of facelift surgery looking “refreshed.” I looked… rearranged. 

Puffy. Brown from laser resurfacing. Tight. And for a while, I wondered if I had made a terrible decision and would have to live out my remaining years wearing a burqa.

But now that I’m three months out? I’m happy — not because I look “different,” but because I look like me again… just more rested and less like my face slid south overnight.

The “Age Spurt” That Made Me Do It

Wrinkles? Fine. Expression lines? Earned. But the combo of volume loss, laxity, and lower-face heaviness hit me like a sneak attack. One day, I looked normal-ish, and the next day I swear my face had aged five years during a single REM cycle.

Here’s the part your aesthetician may not tell you: when the issue is structural — sagging and looseness — there’s a point where surgery is the only option that restores things in a way that looks natural. Not frozen. Not filled. Not “done.” Just… supported

Transparency

One of the most mortifying parts of all of this was telling my three sons. There is something deeply humbling about explaining to your adult children that you’re about to disappear for a while and come back looking… different.

And in early recovery, I did not look “refreshed.” I looked like a Ninja Turtle.

Only after I’d recovered did my son Cary admit his horror with my early results. ‘I thought my mother was going to look like Wayne Newton for the rest of her life.’

I'm glad he didn't share that then, because I did, too.

If you’ve been considering a facelift, or you’re just here for the blow-by-blow because you’re curious (or nosey — no judgment), here’s my real recovery story: what surprised me, what helped, what was brutal, and why I don’t regret it.