Hello everyone! After years of yearning I finally got the opportunity to have FFS and it's been a great experience overall. I've read so many posts on this subreddit and they were extremely helpful in letting me know what to expect, so I want to pay that forward by also providing a detailed summary of my entire experience here at the one week mark.

Photo album with captions

Consultations

I had my FFS with Dr. Bryan Rolfes in Wayzata, MN. I had read many great testimonials about him here and seen some really impressive befores and afters. In September and October 2021, I had virtual consultations with Dr. Rolfes and Facialteam and an in-person consult with Dr. Jacob Kuperstock in Fairfax, VA, which is in my backyard. For several reasons -- including price but mainly because of his results -- I decided to go with Dr. Rolfes. I paid out of pocket for the entire procedure. In November I booked my date for March 24, 2022 and then the waiting began.

During all three of my consults, a consensus emerged among the three doctors: I definitely needed work on my forehead/brow, jaw, and my long chin. But all three also agreed that my nose was okay and not particularly masculine, and that my trachea didn't need shaving. Dr. Kuperstock and Dr. Rolfes wanted to do cheek implants or fat grafting, respectively, to fill out my cheeks. Initially I agreed to do the fat grafting with Dr. Rolfes, but later removed it from the quote. I was concerned that my face and body are just so thin that most of the fat would be reabsorbed and my money wasted, and I struggled to find any consensus here about which method is preferred. It's something I'll look into more after I heal, along with any potential change to my nose.

Ultimately, my list of procedures was:

• Type 3 forehead reconstruction and brow lift (hairline incision - I rejected Facialteam because I do not want hair falling out along the top of my head and they only do coronal incisions)
• Jaw contouring
• Sliding genioplasty

Before surgery

My dad agreed to come with me to Minnesota and we decided to stay in an Airbnb, because having a larger living space and amenities like a kitchen would make things much easier on us. In the weeks before surgery, I had to get a physical exam at my primary care doctor one month in advance and a COVID PCR test 5-7 days in advance. I also had to stop HRT two weeks before, which was unpleasant. Dr. Rolfes' office at Omni Cosmetic was responsive to my questions and helpful with figuring everything out. I picked up my prescriptions the day before I traveled. The medications I was prescribed were:

• Percocet 5/325mg for pain every 4-6 hours (I only used these for days 1-3)
• Celebrex 200mg for pain and inflammation every 12 hours for five days
• Augmentin 875mg for preventing infection every 12 hours for five days
• Peridex mouthwash for preventing infection every 4 hours
• Zofran 4mg for preventing nausea every 4-6 hours (I ended up not needing this)

On March 23, me and my dad flew out to Minnesota and I had my pre-op appointment with Dr. Rolfes. He is very laid back and easygoing and was patient going through all of my questions. We looked over some photos they took of me and I explained that I really wanted him to go wild on my forehead and chin because of how masculine they looked. Then me and my dad went grocery shopping. We bought yogurt, pudding, Soylent drinks, macaroni, spaghetti-O's, chicken noodle soup, and some soft cookies and muffins. Afterwards we took a little trip to see the Mall of America and I ate my last meal at the Shake Shack there. Surprisingly, I was able to sleep well the night before surgery.

Surgery day

On the morning of surgery we went to Omni at 6:30AM (Dr. Rolfes sometimes does surgery at a hospital and sometimes at his surgical suite at Omni, I think depending on the length of procedure). I had surprisingly few nerves or fears. I think I had been wanting this for so long that I was just ready to get on with it. I said goodbye to my dad and then I was taken a back room. The nurses were very nice. I changed into a surgery gown and then a nurse put me on an IV for something and gave me some anti-nausea pills. After a few minutes Dr. Rolfes came and talked to me and we went over everything and I signed some consent forms. Then we walked into the surgery suite. I honestly barely remember what this room looked like because as soon as I laid down on the table I was knocked out.

I don't remember when I woke up. The procedure was scheduled for about 5 hours and I was supposed to be kept afterwards for an hour or two for the anaesthesia to wear off. Apparently that didn't happen as quickly as they hoped and they had to keep me a bit longer. The first thing I remember was sitting in the car on the way back to the Airbnb and sending some texts to my friends and coworkers telling them I was okay. I was still really high and kind of dizzy and in no pain. If I remember correctly I actually felt quite lucid and was walking around and talking a lot, I think it took a long time for the anaesthesia and whatever else they gave me to fully wear off.

One of the first things I did was peek in the mirror. I was stunned to see that my forehead and brow were visibly reduced (especially in profile) even with all the swelling and my eyebrows were higher. For the first time I could actually see my eyelids under my brow. It made me really happy.

Eventually I got in bed and we used a bunch of pillows to prop me up at a 45 degree angle. Many people say this first night is hell. It honestly wasn't bad for me. I wasn't in any pain, my head was wrapped up tight in bandages and dressings, and I was conscious enough to get up and go pee on my own. I kept waking up every 1-2 hours and feeling really lucid and energized so I'd just shitpost on Discord or something. I suspect this night (and the whole recovery) would have been much more uncomfortable if my nose was splinted shut, so I'm grateful a rhinoplasty wasn't part of this.

Somewhere during this first day, my dad mentioned something about a lip injury. I didn't really understand because I was still high, but I could see what looked like a big red cold sore on my upper lip.

Day 1

The next day we went to my one-day post-op appointment and Dr. Rolfes said everything looked good. He took off my bandages and put some gauze over my hairline scar and wrapped my head in a jaw bra chinstrap thing. Unfortunately this was when he explained the complication that had occurred. Apparently one of the tools they were using in my mouth rubbed up against my upper lip and somehow caused a burn or tearing away of skin there. I think he said he was looking into it with the manufacturer. He gave me an ointment to apply and said it should heal and we'd keep paying attention to it over the coming weeks. I also had to start applying Aquaphor to my hairline incision.

I started drinking the Soylent shakes and I found that they would fill me up really quickly. I often couldn't finish one. I had very little appetite these first 4-5 days. On the first day after surgery, I still felt pretty active and full of energy -- whatever they pumped me full of during surgery still hadn't worn off. I would alternate between sleeping for a couple hours and walking around the Airbnb or browsing the internet. I still felt pretty good.

Unfortunately as I went to bed that night, the high finally wore off. I started feeling really sore in my chin and jaw and started applying an ice pack. After a couple hours of sleep I woke up feeling really weird and nauseous. I hadn't needed any of the anti-nausea pills so far, and I didn't take any now, but I did end up dry heaving briefly. That was probably the worst part of the whole experience so I think I came out lucky. This didn't happen again. Because I still felt nauseus and dizzy I actually slept sitting upright at the foot of my dad's bed.

Days 2-3

This is when the boredom started to set in. I could only sleep 3-4 hours at a time, my chin and jaw were sore and needed to be iced every few hours, and I had to sleep sitting up with my mouth clamped shut so that's annoying. The jaw bra thing is frustrating and felt like it was constricting my whole face even though it wasn't that tight. I did start to wean myself off the percocets and replaced them with regular Tylenol. This is also when the swelling really began and my cheeks and jaw puffed up like a balloon. Thankfully my eyes did not swell and seal shut like other people have reported. I had difficulty talking because my mouth was basically shut from the jaw bra, and it also made eating a pain. I graduated from the Soylent to eating the occasional pudding or yogurt. My pain levels continued being miminal overall. Around this point I stopped taking the Percocet and just used regular Tylenol. We just sat around watching Seinfeld.

Days 4-5

This is when things started to turn the corner. I started to get a few more hours of sleep, the swelling started going down in my cheeks (though not my jaw), I was able to shower and wash my hair (I was afraid to touch the areas near the hairline though), and I was able to start regularly eating soft solid foods like macaroni, although my appetite continued to be minimal. For the first few hours after waking up I'd feel a burst of energy, and I even managed to go take a mile walk outdoors both of these days. Unfortunately, both days my energy ended up crashing in the afternoon and I'd become a couch potato soothing my jaw with ice until bedtime. My lip wound grew more gross and yellow, although this is presumably because it was scabbing and healing. On the evening of day 4 I actually got a full seven hours of uninterrupted sleep, which was great. Unfortunately, the following night I had insomnia and couldn't sleep for hours; I think between DST, the time zone change, and my constant napping the last few days my body's Circadian rhythm is all thrown off. By this point I had enough energy where I could make it through the day without a nap, though, so that's good.

Days 6-7

On day 6 I had my one-week post-op appointment. They took the staples and stitches out of my hairline incision and it felt so much better. They also gave me a face massage and that felt great. They told me I don't have to wear the jaw bra 24/7 anymore, only at night or during the day as I feel comfortable doing so. The back ends of my jaw are still pretty swollen; my face looks round instead of oval-shaped. However, I can definitely already tell my chin is a totally different size and shape despite the swelling. I'm very interested to see where it ends up in 6-8 months. I went back to the Airbnb and started eating larger portions since I didn't have that infernal strap around my head clamping my mouth shut. I also spent about an hour trying to wash the huge white globs of Aquaphor out of my hairline; my hair is still greasy, but at least the Aquaphor isn't as visible. Because my hairline hadn't healed quite as well as they wanted yet, they asked me to keep applying Aquaphor for another week before beginning the anti-scarring gel they provided me.

On day 7 after surgery, I returned home. I didn't experience much pain or soreness, but the whole process of going through the airport, sitting on the plane, going through the other airport, and getting back home just exhausted me, and of course then I had to run and get some groceries. I found that my chin and jaw are still really numb, making eating even soft solid foods a continuous ordeal. Whenever I chew I can feel food getting stuck down between my lower teeth and cheek, which you'd normally just whisk away with your tongue, but I have such limited range of motion and can't tell what's food and what's an incision stitch that the whole thing is just frustrating.

Day 8

Today, I feel pretty good. My energy is coming back, I no longer have any pain or significant soreness, my swelling is going down, and all that's bothering me is my chin and jaw being numb and swollen and having limited movement. I got my first good hair wash in this morning, and I was somewhat concerned when I noticed part of my hairline doesn't seem to be fully "attached" to my hair, almost like there's just an open wound there, but there's no pain or bleeding or anything, it just looks gross. The nurses said this should heal along with everything else. Part of my challenge has been actually finding the scar inside my thick, dense, matted, Aquaphor-greased hair.

I was able to (slowly) eat a Pop-Tart, the first solid food I've eaten since surgery. I've been taking walks, my voice is returning to normal (but I still sound like I have some marbles in my mouth), and I generally feel good. Sleeping on my side is uncomfortable with that strap around my head, but I got a full eight hours last night, so that's good too. I'm still getting exhausted pretty easily -- a quick trip to Best Buy has worn me out for the rest of the day.

Overall thoughts

I thought everything went well. I had very minimal pain and soreness, at least relative to what I expected from reading so many other posts. I'd describe it as basically a low-grade headache or toothache at worst. So far my only complications that I'm keeping an eye on are the gross wound on my lip, which appears to be slowly scabbing and healing, and that spot on my hairline. It'd be nice if these gross stitches could come out of my mouth, and if I could wash the Aquaphor out of my hair more easily, but these are minor. I'm also a bit worried about hair loss, although I do have a lot of it, so hopefully it's not super noticeable.

I like the results I see so far and I'm really excited to see what happens over the rest of the year.