My plastic surgeon husband did my facelift and now he is going out with a younger woman
By: Jola Cruise
Lifestyle Photo by: Johnny B. and Modeling for: Eurockk.com
For a couple of years, I found myself asking my husband the same awkward question: “Do you think I need a facelift?” And every time, he would say, “No, you look great.”
He meant well, but the answer never landed. Something inside me knew I didn’t look the way I felt anymore. My jawline had softened, the early hint of jowls had appeared and my neck no longer had the crisp angle it used to. These weren’t dramatic changes, but they were enough to bother me every time I caught my reflection. His reassurance wasn’t fixing that. If anything, it made me feel like I wasn’t allowed to acknowledge what I was seeing.
Eventually, I asked him—not as my husband, but as a surgeon—what he honestly thought. And that opened the door to a conversation I probably should have had much earlier.
I decided to have a deep plane facelift. I went in expecting improvement: a sharper jawline, a cleaner neck, a more refreshed version of me. What I didn’t expect was how profoundly emotional the experience would be once the healing took shape. No one tells you about that part.
The first days after surgery were typical—swelling, tightness, the small daily wins you notice only because you’re looking closely. But even during that stage, I could feel something shifting in me. I looked brighter. I felt more motivated, more engaged, more like myself. Friends commented that I seemed unusually happy and energized, even before they had any idea what I’d done.
But nothing prepared me for what happened about three weeks after surgery. I was walking past the bathroom mirror, not even thinking about my face, when something caught my eye. I stepped back and stared. For a moment, I didn’t breathe. It wasn’t shock so much as disbelief, like I had just spotted someone familiar but hadn’t seen in a very long time.
I left the mirror because I honestly didn’t trust what I was seeing. Two minutes later, I went back, almost bracing myself for reality to settle in. But it didn’t. The face looking back at me was… me. Not a “different” me. Not a surgically created version. It was the younger face I remembered—the one I thought time had taken permanently. I did a full double-take. My brain needed a second to match the inside version of me with the outside version I was finally seeing again.
And then I just broke. Tears came out of nowhere. Not sad tears—more like relief, recognition, and gratitude all hitting at once. I walked straight into my husband’s study, crying and thanking him. It was the most raw and genuine reaction I’ve ever had to any change in my appearance.
People think facelifts are about vanity. They’re not. At least not for me. It was about alignment—bringing the outside back in sync with the person I still felt like. I expected to look better. What I didn’t expect was to feel restored. Reconnected. Like I’d been handed back a part of myself I thought I’d lost for good.
Nothing can prepare you for the moment you see your younger self again… and realize it’s still you.
And yes, that younger woman is me ;-)
Dr. Joseph Cruise is a board-certified plastic surgeon specializing in deep plane facial rejuvenation at Cruise Plastic Surgery in Newport Beach.
For consultations, visit CruisePlasticSurgery.com or call (949) 647-5440.
