So as many of you already know.... I decided to take the plunge......I finally had facial acne scar laser surgery last month. I shall reacount the day, cue memory music with nice strings.
It wasn't as bad as I had imagined it in my head. Thoughts of the grossest sunburn ever with my pours oozing 10 years of French fry grease and pizza leftover's. Maybe that’s tomorrow? Well today, after....8 hours after being stung by red lasers my face feels and looks swollen, not too bad. Lets recount my morning shall we?
Arrived at the doctor's office say, 8:30 am, we were a little lost because he's located in Juarez, another story, was immediately sweeped into "the room". The nurse took pictures of my face, you know, for the "before-you-look-hag" and "after-you-are-ready-for-Hollywood" pics. I'm gonna wait for a phone call from the folks at Fraxel, anyyyyway, I was told to lie down and "relax". Relax? You're gonna point lasers at my face! I know what a laser can do to the face lady, I’ve seen "Goldfinger". "Do you expect me to talk?" "No Mr. bond i expect you to die!"
So for me to relax, the nurse gives me "a pill". After 25 min or so, I’m dancing with prince valium, weeeeeee! The nurse checks on me and applies an anesthetic gel to my face. Ok, it's starting to work. I'm then told to go to another room, and wobbly and all I lie down and crash, I mean I pass out asleep to a picture of a naked lady draped in different color robes. Why would a doctor do this?
Next thing I know the doctor walks in and says his hello's and "oh-you're-gonna-be-so-happy-with-your-results", BUT FIRST, we have to inject you with anesthesia........wait? MORE? He pricks me with needles above both eyebrows. Ok, now this is the weirdest feeling ever, the prick doesn't hurt too much, but when you feel the liquid being squeezed into your skin? THAT is like feeling twice at the same time in the same spot. Then two more injections on my cheeks and another two more under my mouth. Mmmmmmm, two minutes later, I was speaking like this, "ssstheee, mu dede nnn puceetho". WHOA I CAN'T FEEL MY FACE!
Ok so that’s not the room where I'm gonna zapped and ray gunned. Oh no, the room where "it" happens is a white sterile lifeless room, the kind in sci-fi movies where the doctor experiments on half alien/human victims. So ms. valium-nurse is prepping the machine and tells me to close my eyes...........take deep breaths.............you're gonna feel a slight sting...........and here we go.
Sting is right. Sting is very right. My face is being ray-gunned and all I can do is shake uncontrollably. JEEEZ TANYA GET A GRIP!!! breathe, breathe, breathe. While I’m willing my body to stop trembling, my first layer of skin is being seared off, is that carne asada I’m smelling? I thought I saw a stand of cooked meats when we came in......oh wait. 20 Minutes later. Nurse: ok mija, ya acabamos. Me: can I open my eyes? YIKES!!! my skin is red, puffy, immobilized, and at the same time......looks alive. Yes alive, like its crawling. But through my static lips I’m smiling. Can you tell I’m happy mom? Am I smiling?
Finally! The only thing I would see every morning were those damn scars; for years it felt like that was the only thing people would stare at. Now, they're gone, and somehow, I feel normal. I feel like a load is gone as to my appearance.Today, I feel new.
