The Journey Through Rhinoplasty... - Charlotte, NC

I have finally picked my doctor and am ready to move forward. I found that there is a big difference between pricing and the feel of the doctor and the office. The one I chose was the one that I felt would fit my needs perfectly. They have nice clean offices, friendly people, and a knowledgeable and experienced doctor that was a pleasure to work with. I have asked a million questions, and am just waiting on my appointment date, which should be within the next 2-3 weeks. They are not going to do the temporalis fascia harvest, as they said it really wouldn't do much for me, and there was only one doctor out of all the ones I saw that recommended that part, and they were also the most expensive. I will have a quick pre-op visit later this week. I am very excited and very nervous as well. They said they would make sure to take all precautions they could about avoiding nausea after the surgery, which is where I had an issue the last time I had surgery. They said they use 3 different forms of preventative, which should practically eliminate the nausea. I will go back the day after to have packing removed, and then a week later for the removal of the splint. They guessed I would have some swelling and bruising for about 2 weeks. I can only take off 1 week from work, so I guess I will have to look like a monster for another week in my cubicle :)

After my 2nd consultation, I have more questions. The 2 different doctors have 2 different approaches, so now I am more confused. The bump on my nose where the bone/cartilage meet....one says he wants to use fascia harvest to thicken up that area where my skin is thin....the other says he wants to file it down and then fracture the bone on either side and resetting it making it more narrow. One wants to thicken it, the other wants to make it more narrow. One is around $8900, the other $7700. One says 4-5 hours for the surgery, the other 2-3 hours. Wow, am I confused :( Help anyone!

OK, I had my first consult last week, and have another this week. So far I have learned that most of the procedure is not covered by health insurance, which I expected. I did learn something that I never thought of. For those of you thinking about using CareCredit or something similar to finance the procedure, beware that many doctors do NOT allow the OR facility or the anesthesiologist to bill CareCredit, and want their money up-front. This consult told me that and when I told them to forget it, they came back and said they would pay the fees and charge them to my Carecredit directly, so don't forget to ask!! My consult this week already told me that they WILL let everything go on the account, so yay for that. They said that I would have rhinoplasty and septoplasty as well as temporalis fascia harvest. When I was told about that last part, I freaked a little bit, but then he explained that it is common and that it leaves a teeny tiny little cut that is hardly noticeable and they do not cut any hair in the area behind the ear for this. Its apparently used on the upper part of the nose where the bone begins and the cartilage ends where my skin is very thin, showing a bump there. This should eliminate that. So, I now have more information to take with me to my second opinion to at least compare one doctor to another. I will keep you informed.