Pre-planning:
I have been chatting with the front desk person; her name is Alexis. She’s really nice and would response to me right away even when I have to schedule change 3 times due to work. We talked a little bit and she told me she wish she did her procedures sooner so we bonded over that. She responded to me even when it’s off hours, which I appreciate and changed my scheduled date to accommodate me right away. The staff is really awesome there! I finally booked it for June 5th, 2020 as the final date.
Surgery Day:
Preparation
I wasn’t nervous when I walked in. The place is in a big medical center filled with a bunch of other medical clinics owned by various doctors inside. It has 4 floors so it was easy to find. Walking in, the front area looks pretty bright. Alexis happily greeted me. I immediately felt a little bit more comfortable. I filled out the paperwork and waited. Alexis came out after I filled out the paperwork and we talked a bit. She is super pretty and does not look her age at all. She showed me a previous patient that got DES and epicanthoplasty and she looks really good! However, she has double eyelids before though, but it was thinner double eyelids and she had thick folds that were covering her double eyelids. Her results are super good because her double eyelids are more visible but it isn’t really a monolid picture I’m looking for. She said she was going to show me on the computer we ended up not doing that because we didn’t have the chance to since they were trying to prepare me for surgery Afterwards, they brought me to another room. We went further inside and omg this place is bigger than it looks. There were multiple rooms, which I am assuming consultation rooms, a recovery room, and a surgery room. One of the staff (medical assistant maybe) walked in and asked a bit about my demographics to prepare the doctor and then we talked a little bit. She said everyone walked out of here with DES looks amazing afterwards (wonder if it’s true). It was really pleasant as she made me less nervous. Perhaps, it’s their tactic? Dr. Nguyen came in and made small talk, which I like. I’m not feeling as nervous now. He reassured me that it was going to be fine like going to a dentist, but instead of numbing your teeth, it’s your eyes. No recovery time and he will prescribe pain killers and antibiotics. He described how he was going to do the procedure and drew pictures of how he was going to proceed. After examining and feeling my eyes, he suggested in total double eyelid surgery + epicanthoplasty (inner corner expansion) + ptosis correction. Epicanthoplasty is optional but they said it’ll expand my eyes and make it look bigger. I didn’t expect to decide that today so they gave me a small discount and I chose to do that as well. I have seen the after results that show the girl has a narrower looking nose because of epicanthoplasty. So I opt in but it was now more expensive. I expected the ptosis correction price (which they said is also discounted). Overall, my price almost doubled. Anything for bigger eyes He planned on fixing my ptosis by strengthening the muscles and attaching it to upper skin (honestly idk if I’m explaining it right either because it was a bit medical ). I’m ready to do the surgery. Staff came in to have me sign more paperwork and consent forms while they charged my credit card. There was a slight hiccup because I didn’t request for a credit limit increase since I didn’t think about it. Woops I spent so much time trying to figure out what to do and calling my bank, then ended up using my debit card smh. I want those points haha.
Surgery
They made me change into a robe and took photos of my eyes. Dr. N drew on my eyelids with a marker. The nurse brought me back into the surgery room. I laid down on the table and she covered me up, disinfected my eyelids, and covered my face with sterile towels. She covered my eyelids with moist cloth. She told me the local anesthesia going in isn’t bad. They are just tiny needles. It’s suppose to feel numb. We talked a little bit and she was super nice! She shared previous patient stories and that eased me up a bit. Dr. N walked in and started the surgery. The needles are super tiny and I felt small pinches as they go in. It was not that bad after 2-3 times, it all went numb and I couldn’t feel anymore injections. He started on my right eye first. I could feel and hear the snips of his scissors. I definitely could feel pressure and wetness of the cloth. There was no pain. I heard a laser running possibly to burn off the fat idk, but it smelled smoky. He asked me to open and close my eyes a few times. I could feel him strengthening my levator eye muscle. I could also feel a little bit but not much when he used the stitches on me. Then at the end, he compared both of my eyes by making me open both. He fixed a bit on my right eye again and that was it. I started around 11:20 AM and we ended 12:15 PM. He spent roughly 20 mins per eye and the rest of the time was prepping and cleaning me. It was quick and painless. My left eye was bleeding a bit after at the crease but it stopped once I got home.
I will post the photos below and keep on updating per day!