Response from NUH Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Centre.

Dear X

Good morning! Hope this e-mail finds you well. Thank you for your interest in our services. Our surgeon needs to see you so that he can perform a complete assessment and counsel you carefully before any decision is made.

Eyelid surgery or Blepharoplasty is a procedure used to create double eyelids, correct drooping upper lids or reduce puffy bags beneath the eyes. It is used to remove fat, as well as excess skin and muscle from the upper and lower eyelids. Blepharoplasty can make a remarkable difference in the appearance of the face, alleviating the appearance of tiredness and old age by eliminating the excess, wrinkly skin beneath the eyes. The eyes appear fresher and more youthful, and the results may last for a number of years. The degree of improvement varies from patient to patient.

This surgery is usually performed on an outpatient basis. It can take about one hour for the surgeon to complete the procedure. Blepharoplasty is usually performed with only local anaesthesia. You will be awake during the procedure, but relaxed and not affected by the pain. Bruising from this procedure can last up to a month, and patients should also expect to experience excessive tearing, sensitivity to light, and blurred and double vision for the first few days.

Most patients can return to work after 7 days. In some cases, however, patients experience difficulty in closing their eyes: in very rare cases, this can be permanent. Another rare risk is the occurrence of ectropion, which is the pulling of lower lids.

After surgery, the physician will apply eye ointment to your incision to reduce dryness in this area. Your vision may be blurred temporarily from the ointment. The first evening after surgery, you should rest quietly with your head elevated. It will help to apply cold compresses to your eyelids. Although you can be up almost immediately, you should limit your activities.


Recovery time from the surgery depends on individual health status and healing process. Normally, you may have some bruises around the eye, where the procedure is done, but this will go away after a few days. Medical leave is given for a few days to a week and you will be reviewed regularly.

The cost of consultation for senior consultant is $75 at first visit and $45 at repeat visit. The cost for consultant is $60 at first visit and $42 for repeat visit. For single blepharoplasty, the cost is from $2220 onwards. For double blepharoplasty, the costs is from $3600 onwards. Please note the above charges all exclude GST.

Our clinic session is from Monday to Friday, 8.30 am to 5.30 pm. Usually, surgery can be done on the same day if the case is not too complex or extensive.Once again, thank you for your interest. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Please feel free to contact us at 6772 2022 if you have any enquiries.

We wish you and your family the best of health always.

Warmest Regards,

KC
NUH APSC Clinic Manager

-----------------------------------

iWicked says
I emailed them about the eyelid surgery only. Detailed response but I think way too much information. There are no proven track record online, no review on the net. Price is still okay but NUH is located quite far away. Travelling there is a problem for me.

I am considering. Not that high on my preference priority list.

Response from NUH Dept of Ophthalmology

Approx cost is 2,500 - 3,500 S$ depending on type of surgery required and whether it is performed in Day Surgery Theatre with sedation or as an Ambulatory Surgery. Specific details may be provided/discussed upon consultation

GS
DO,FRCSEd,FAMS
Diplomate, The American Board of Ophthalmology
Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery / Pediatric Ophthalmology
Director, Eye Aesthetic Services
Dept of Ophthalmology
National University Hospital
www.nuheye.com

----------------------------------

iWicked says
Rather expensive and no proven track record. No raves or reviews on the net.
Sorry, OUT!

Response from Aesthetic & Reconstructive Centre

Dear X,

There are two kinds of double eyelid surgery available. These are:
1. Suture blepharoplasty
2. Open blepharoplasty.

In a case such where there is some fat and the eyelid is full, an open blepharoplasty is indicated. However, if there is only a little fat, then the suture blepharoplasty is easier to do.

In both cases this is done under local anaesthesia and as a day surgery. The surgery lasts 1-1.5 hours. After an hour of observation, you can go home. Sutures come out in 5 days for the open method. You can expect swelling lasting 14-21 days on average.

The cost of surgery varies from $1800- 2500 depending on the complexity of your surgery. We usually treat both eyelids even if one side has a fold. This allows better matching of both eyelids.

Nose tip refining surgery is done as a day surgery and requires us to insert a solid silicone implant underneath your nasal skin to make it more prominent. The only side effects are swelling of the tip which lasts 2-3 weeks. Bleeding and infection are rare. Once healing has occurred, the implant usually lasts a lifetime as it is inert and is not subject to implant failure.

The cost varies from S$5000- 8000 depending on the form of your nose and whether other procedures are required- for eg, narrowing the nostrils. This includes general anaesthesia, surgeon's fee and operating room fee but excludes the cost of the implant, medication and GST.

It is best that you come for a consultation and I can show you some photos and discuss the surgery further with you.

I hope this is of help to you.

Best wishes

Dr AK,
Consultant Plastic & Aesthetic Surgeon,
Aesthetic & Reconstructive Centre,
URL: www.andrewkhoo.com

-----------------------------------

iWicked says
Reasonable price for the eyelid surgery but the nasal augmentation is rather expensive, in fact it is in the middle range among plastic surgeons here. I was hoping get do both eyelids and nose, so my expectations are that both should be reasonably priced.

The doc was rather friendly in his email and bothered to give a detailed explanation.

So, yeah...this clinic is under consideration but my preference priority is low.

Response from Hong Plastic Surgery

Dear X,

You have asymmetrical eyelids which can be improved by doing bilateral double eyelid surgery to get better symmetry. The procedure takes about 1 hour under local anaesthesia.

For bulbous tip of the nose, it may be refined by tip rhinoplasty. The tip cartilage may be trimmed and reshaped. Sometimes a little ear cartilage may be inserted to enhance the tip.

The procedure takes about 1-2 hours and the cost ranges from $2000 to $4000.

Dr H
Consultant Plastic Surgeon
Plastic Surgery

---------------------------------

iWicked says
Is that the price of the eyelid surgery or nose surgery? Or both surgeries are in that range? Will email him further to ask.

Clinic under consideration. There were some nice reviews on the net.

Response from Plastic Surgery Associates

Hi,

Thanks for your mail.

The cost for upper blepharoplasty is from S$2500 onwards and as for the nasal augmentation, that will be from S$2800 to S$3000.

Upon confirmation, the cost of the first, subsequent consultation will be included within the surgery fees. Other charges excluded are GST and medications.

It will be appreciated if you can give us a call to confirm the day of surgery one week in advance. Feel free to contact us for further enquires.

Regards,

FC
Staff Nurse
Plastic Surgery Associates

---------------------------------

iWicked says
Both surgeries are reasonably priced. The PS is also the former president of the PS Association. And there were some great reviews on the net. In fact, I also chatted with someone online who had his nose done and he recommended this surgeon.

Email to Plastic Surgeons

I was really interested in having my drooping eyelids done. So I emailed a few local plastic surgeons on their fees.

--------------------------------

Hi,

I am interested in having double eyelid surgery and nose reshaping surgery done.

My eye lids consists of 1 eye double lid and 1 single lid.
For my nose, it is a bit bulbous and fleshy on the tip.

I would like to check the price range for each of the surgery?

Thanks.

Gin resting on sofa

Video of Gin resting on sofa.

When Grandma died

I am still thinking of Daniel. And I dun know why.

To think of it, I never did cry for Daniel. I remembered I went into a state of shock when I flipped open the papers 2 years back and just saw his obituary staring back at me. I did not shed a tear for Daniel then or even now. Should I?

When my maternal grandma died, 4 or 5 years back, I was not as affected then or grieved as I was affected by Daniel's death. Maybe grandma and I never shared a single tender warm moment together.

I recalled my mother leaving me a message on my pager....Grandma died, please come to the funeral.

At that time, I was starting work at a new job, a dot.com and was only working 3 days a week initially. I remembered telling my boss then...sorry I can't come in the rest of the week and maybe next week as well cos my grandma just died.

My then boss said..."I am so sorry. Condolences. Take your time and return to work when u are ready."

And i was pretty sure my responses was," oh...it's all right anyway, we were not that close so I dun really feel so sad."

I did not know why I said that. Maybe that was the way I really felt then and now thinking back...seems a tad bit too heartless and unfilial??

Well, Grandma was just ..... grandma, a woman who gave birth to my mother. We used to visit her every Wednesday cos that was the day my mother had her off day from work. And every single time without fail, my mother would buy a duck, which she would cook in soya sauce. And after giving my grandma one third of the duck, would bring the rest back home. (I am unable to eat duck meat now cos I got gout. As SO said, I had eaten all the ducks I could in my life time. Karma!)

My grandpa died in his 60s?? leaving grandma who was then in her 30s?? to bring up her brood of children. There was 8 of them, 5 girls and 3 boys.

I think Grandma probably came from a rich family background. She simply had no idea of working. Other widows probably have to toll and toil to bring up so many kids, but I dun think she actually worked a single day to support her children. Her children, other than my mother who was the youngest, had minimal education....Maybe up to primary school education? My mother was lucky that she managed to scrap through 3 years of her high school education.

Anyway, most of my grandma's children worked various jobs to support her family.

Grandma and I never really had a conversation directly. And i mean NEVER! At least, not to my recollection. I mean we spoke the same language and dialect and understand each other perfectly but then there was never a common topic between us. To her, I was probably just the son of her youngest daughter, who visited every week.

Thinking of it now, I just realised that grandma and I never sat down for a meal together. And I mean NEVER. I have never eaten with any of my maternal relatives other than my mother. Odd and very strange. I mean I have definitely seen her eat and she has seen me ate but we have never actually share a meal ...lunch or dinner together.

I was telling SO this and SO admitted it was strange.....but he said ...but then your family is strange. And I suppose that by never sharing a meal together means Grandma and I never bonded at all. But now that's history and there 's nothing I could do any more.

When Grandma reached her 60s??, she contracted diabetes. By then, I have not visited her much. Reaching teenage years by then, I no longer followed my mother as she went on her weekly trips home. I was busy with school, life and stuff. I suppose I never did see her much after becoming a teenager. I was just too busy growing up.

Grandma was hospitalized when I was in my early adulthood...when I was on my first job. I remembered then that her both her legs were amputated in a operation. But she was still very much aware and not at all senile. She couldeven recognized me even though she had not seen me for years. And she was so in her element, that she even remembered clearly what the doctor said about the next appointment as he wheeled her out of the operation table. We were all expecting her to be groggy and dizzy from the operation and yet there she was ....so alert.

I visited her once or twice at the hospital and then she was discharged. And that was the last time I ever saw her again.

I did not keep track of her whereabouts after that and I really have no idea where she lived then. Was she staying in the old family place or had she moved in with her youngest son? Frankly, I dun know. I never visited her. Maybe I just did not thought of visiting her at all. Though my mother did still go on her weekly trips.I cannot seemed to remember much about myself or my activities during that phase of life. But it was not as if I dun care. I really did but I just dun know what to do. Or what I had done then.

Anyway, I received news of her funeral some years later and went to her wake.
By then I had moved out and living apart from my immediate family.

At the funeral wake, there were so many relatives that I have not seen for a long time and relatives that I did not even know even existed. The whole wake lasted 3 days and she was given a catholic funeral ...no doubt...Arranged by my mother.

My grandma was not an educated woman and I dun think she has nary a concept of catholism or Christianity. But on her deathbed, she was baptized and was even given the name "Maria".

I can still remembered one of my older cousins, saying...when did granma become "Maria" and then he chuckled. Frankly, I also found that amusing. I meant...just because one is baptized does not necessary mean one is given passage to heaven. U have to believe. Really believe in the salvation of Christ....otherwise it is just death rites by catholism.

When she was cremated, some of my female relatives cried. I dun think my mother wept though. I did not see that then. But then either did I. Frankly, I did not exactly feel a loss. After all, she had lived a full rich life. And she died without complaints and regrets. And she died ..OLD...she was in her 80s? or was it 90s?

A few days after the funeral, I accompanied my mother to collect grandma's ashes. There were only the 2 of us. I dun know why there were only 2 of us. Anyway, my mother brought me to this terrace place..some sort of church.. which seemed like some place of catholic worship place or someone's home. There we were brought underground to a basement where it seems there are so many urns around. Well....the caretaker? asked us to choose a empty slot..

My mother couldn't make up her mind and so I just picked a slot..with numbers 8 ..which I now cannot remembered.

And we left grandma's ashes there.

And I never went back there since. And I dun know whether my mother does. Frankly, now I dun think I could even remember the exact location of the place either.

I did not feel sad for grandma, the way I felt for Daniel. Maybe Daniel died young...in the prime of his life...whereas Grandma died old...she lived her full life. I meant ..could she have gone any further??? She had her legs cut off, she was sick and old.

And personally to me, she's more like my mother's friend than my grandma...whom I hardly know. Whom I met a many times when I was a child. There did not seemed to be any blood bond intimacy between us. She's just grandma in name. The mother of my mother in blood.

I dun feel any closer to Daniel though. After I left the company, we did not keep in touch. Yet I was really haunted by his death. Maybe it was because he was kind to me. Once, twice ..many times and I never had the opportunity to tell him thank you.

Well....dun ask...I dun know. I am funny that way!

My Fave insults

I'm busy now. Can I ignore you some other time?

If ignorance is bliss, you must be the happiest person alive.

Keep talking, someday you'll say something intelligent.

Pardon me, but you've obviously mistaken me for someone who gives a damn.

There is no vaccine against stupidity.

A sharp tongue does not mean you have a keen mind.

Brains aren't everything. In fact in your case they're nothing.

He doesn't know the meaning of the word "fear" - but then again he doesn't know the meaning of most words.

I don't want you to turn the other cheek - it's just as ugly.

Don't you need a license to be that ugly?

See, that's what's meant by dark and handsome. When it's dark, he's handsome.

Calling you stupid would be an insult to stupid people.

He's not stupid; he's possessed by a retarded ghost.

I'd like to see things from your point of view but I can't seem to get my head that far up my ass.

You must have a low opinion of people if you think they're your equals.

Ordinarily people live and learn. You just live.

You are the kind of person who, when one first meets you, one doesn't like you. But when one gets to know you better, one hates you.

There are several people in this world that I find obnoxious and you are all of them.

Your conversation is like the waves of the sea. It makes me sick!

We can always tell when you are lying. Your lips move.

My smileys

----------------------------------