Feather Lift With APTOS Threads To Cheeks - With Gail Humble, M.D. Page 3

Feather Lift With APTOS Threads To Cheeks - With Gail Humble, M.D. - Hermosa Beach

*click on all photos for larger images*

February 9, 2004 - Monday
My 2 week follow up was today, so UPN 13 was there for the taping for the news that aired that same night. I had slept all of about 1 hour before we had to leave and then got about 2 hours in the car. I took a shower, put on jeans and a shirt and just went. I had left the house with no make up and not curling my hair. I left without having breakfast, so we stopped at Del Taco and had an awful breakfast burrito and OJ. Not a good start for the day.

Yes, I have gained weight during my recovery. I promise I will lose it, because I will not have another procedure, not even lips until I do lose 10 lb. UGH!!!!

The Actual Follow Up With Dr. Humble - Same Day
I had one cog removed from just under the skin from the lowest insertion hole on my right side (you can see the blue cog in one of my pics but it is near my nose, not where it was removed). I also had the insertion hole checked and that scar tissue broken up on my right side in my nasolabial area.

I showed Dr. Humble a dark speck just under my skin on my left side, above an insertion hole near my nose. We both didn't think was a cog since it looked very black. I thought it was a "tattoo" from the ink and needle insertion, but she disagreed. It didn't look like a blue cog, so she asked me if I had been cleaning my skin well. Me? Obsessive-compulsive me? YES! So she poked around in there trying to get it out to no avail. All three of these areas were dug into with an 18 Gauge needle after a little Lidocaine and epinephrine, no biggie. The cog removal was cake and I am glad she broke up the little dome of scar tissue so it would heal more uniformly.


Getting swabbed with alcohol	Trying you get the black speck out


Dabbing the blood, you can see the cog from my right side near her gloved finger	After the black speck removal attempt

Dr. Humble said she could see that I had a little more of a lift and fullness on the left side and she suggested I get another thread on the right side that had the problems. I had previously slipped a few cogs on that side and also shortened the thread after the slippage. I said I would make an appt :)

We couldn't get the dark speck out whatever it is. I am a little sore still (from the actual Feather Lift procedure, not the cog removal). I mostly feel it when I smile really big or press on my face next to my nose up higher than the insertion holes. It feels very sore on both side if I press it firmly. I know, stop pressing it, right?

February 12, 2004 - Thursday
Okay, so I couldn't take it anymore and I dug for the little black spot, black head, tattoo, whatever it was. It turned out to be a COG!! Click on the pic for a larger image. That was the one that I got from the insertion hole on the right side. It was very thin and must have been sliced off during the thread cutting. Pretty cool huh!

I am still feeling soreness above these holes, next to the nose. Also pinprick type sensations every once in a blue moon. I truly think my swelling is gone now. I see it a little in the sore areas in the morning but not much thereafter, if at all. I am pretty much healed.

February 18, 2004 - Wednesday
Took some final pics today :) All seems well, I still want injections of NewFill or fat in my cheeks and at my orbital rim :) Also a little under the nasolabials. I feel that at the end of the day with full make up on, I still have them but they aren't actual dens more very very fine static wrinkles. Plus my maxilla is prominent so any smile is worsened by this. Don't worry I will never get a maxilla reduction. That surgery is far too invasive and well, perfection is an illusion. Also you van still see the insertion holes near the nose but the rest are pretty much gone. They were fading until I had the cog removals and the thread "issue." They are fading again. Okay, now for before and after photos...

click on photos for a larger image -- pics will launch in a new window for close up comparison


right oblique	before	left oblique


right oblique	after	left oblique

February 20, 2004 - Friday
I wanted to add I can also feel a pin-prickly sensation where the insertion holes are near my nose, when I am washing my face. it just feels weird, I am sure it will subside as I heal more. Also, another thing that I was NOT prepared for., but now you will be. If you gently push your cheeks towards the inside of your face the two threads that both end near the nasolabials can be "seen" since they are together and cause a stiffer structure. Not the blueness but as if something was poking under your skin (because it is). Oh and you can also feel it if you put your finger above the area and I push the cheek in a little. If you lie down on your cheek when you sleep you can feel it and see it too. Good news though: It has been less and less as I have been healing. Although Dr Humble says you will feel it and see it slightly move under the skin if you do that. Here is a pic if that with NO make up on so you can see it, you can see it better if it is in motion. I will try to take video. (p.s. My skin looks really spotty and I have no clue why)


at rest

left showing	right showing

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