Rhinoplasty: Stories

So I'm having rhinoplasty!
After much research and deliberation I sent in my information and fee for an online consultation with Dr.Cochran of the Gunter Center about one week ago. He replied yesterday with some general information, specifics on what my surgery will entail, and a price.

( I've attached a picture of info sent on the consultation email)
Rhinoplasty has been in my mind for YEARS, probably since age 12/13 when I became aware I got my fathers nose (not a beautiful nose) :p
I recently turned 19 and have become serious about having the surgery to shrink my schnoz. Since i made the decision I haven't quit looking up stories of people's rhinoplasty experiences (I am a bit of a control freak ( especially when it comes to MY FACE) and I feel the need to prepare my self the best I can). I will attempt to document my journey for any of those who are seeking guidance/ insight in this surgery as well as for my own self reflection.

Today I set up an in person consultation with Dr.Cochran for about 2 and a half weeks from now on January 22nd. I was hesitant today to schedule the surgery for the day after the in person consultation however tomorrow I plan to call the office and schedule it as I am 10 hours away (by car) from Dr. Cochran and do not desire taking more long trips than I need to.

I feel slightly nervous actually scheduling the surgery but this is what I want and if you are debating rhinoplasty, you know why. :) So here we go!

Hey everyone! Today is 3 days before surgery and I've started making you tube videos to document the journey as well:) biancamichelle8d is my YouTube account name so if you'd like just look them up:) I posted one two days ago with all the supplies I've purchased in preparation for my rhino-p :) have a great day!

Hey all! It's 2 days before the day :) I'm feeling good super excited. I'm leaving today to Dallas to get settled in. I decided to take my cat with me so hopefully I can find a nice pet friendly hotel! Haha just wanted to post the link to a YouTube video I posted, I go through a bunch of supplies I got for the big day!
Thanks for reading and supporting!
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Night before!
Today's been an emotion roller coaster. More than ever today I realize that this surgery and its results are for me, no one els. Some of my friends have their own opinions that were less than great for me to hear but hey, everyone's going to have a different opinion. With such a delicate decision like going through with rhinoplasty I naively hoped everyone would show me their full support and I also thought everyone would like the changes I liked to my nose, which was just silly of me. I realize now that no ones opinion should have been able to sway me in the first place because as long as I do what I favor I'm going to be happy :)

Anyways enough with the emotional life lesson talk! I'm super excited:DD
I'm going to do something tomorrow that's going to allow me to see harmony when I look in the mirror! Too cool!

Basically as far as the gameplan goes for tomorrow I'm strickin with Dr.Cochrans recommendation, which I'm very confident it :)

Positive happy vibes tonight to everyone

One hour till! I'm on my way! Wish me luck !
Love and positivity and many thank yous to those that have gone out of their way to leave a positive note :*

Hell yea! Got this big guy out of the way!!
My surg was at 7:30 this morning and dr,Cochran is the bomb

Somethin I hadn't really heard of before that happened was a lot of drooling , super gross I just kept a little paper cup and wash cloth near by. Bled quite a bit through my nose today and oh guess what Mother Nature decided it would be a great idea to send me her lovely monthly gift right after surgery, gotta love bein a lady

It's the evening of day 2 and I am swollen and quite bruised. My swelling is taking place primarily on the inner corners of my eyes and in between my eyes. Same goes for bruising. Earlier my eyes were almost swollen shut but they have gotten better since. I have had quite a stressful day since we've been on the road the majority of it. We left Dallas at 11 and are just arriving. The constant bumps and vibration from the car and all the stop and go have defiently not been ideal resting conditions while my nose is so tender
Yay we're almost to my street I'm so happy just to rest in my bed!!!! Ill make a video and post more later!!

Hey to everyone!
Today is the morning of Day 3 it's 9:30 ish
I just woke up a bit ago to take my pain med which I must say is the best and worst thing ever
Best because I know without it I'd be dying of pain
Worst because it makes me soo out there and I have to take the sucker every 3 and 1/2 hours so I have to keep waking up

Yesterday I was kind of hallucinating that someone was handing me money and I reached my hand out to grab it and then in mid convo with my mom I started laughing because I could hear a bunch of little kitties meowing and I had to explain this to her even tho I knew the kitties were not real lol. If y'all were wondering I'm taking hydro codon 250 mg every 3 and 1/2 hours including throughout the night.

Take your pain meds on time!! I think it's prolly one of the most important things to remember. I've set my phone with alarms for the whole day and I started making the alarms a few days before surg so I wouldn't have to think about if afterword, trust me it will make your life easier!

It's so funny right after surgery what I remember hurting most was my throat (from A tube inserted for anesthesia) that was amusing to me after getting my nose broken shaved down and sewn up

The only doctors orders I'm finding difficult to follow are staying away from my pets. I have a sphinx cat (hairless) and he's my baby. He sleeps with me every night and chills with me all day. He is hypoallergenic so I'm telling my self that's a consolation for him actually being an animal, was worrying about potential infection last night so I kicked him out of my room poor baby

Also since yesterday I have been a bit itchy on my tummy and back- I don't have a rash or any signs of anything on my skin I think it may just be a mild reaction to so much pain meds or maybe just from laying down all day I dono

I told myself before this adventure started I would intake foods that would only help me heal no filler foods

For me that means mainly fruits and veggies a bit of meats and nutrition drinks
If you have watched my videos on YouTube you already know I have been drinking ensure, in addition I have been drinking the Naked Juices and Bolt House juices that have a combo of fruits and veggies. Make sure if you get em they're not just the ones with fruit. at the risk of sounding like your mother... Veggies are so soo beneficial for your healing. They're like miracles that grow from the ground!

Damn this pain medication! As I'm writing this i keep drifting in and out of consciousness and having mini dreams

Anyway my site throat went away day 2 and is back today Day 3 so that's lame. My nose basically feels crazy swollen and under a lot of pressure. My face is suppose to be at its peak of swelling and bruising today (so I've heard about day 3 )

My swelling has just shifted from my eyes to my lower face from yesterday not really gotten worse bruising is actually better today.

I have been icing like crazy because like I said in my video my face is already a bit chubbed out and oily I don't want it to get like a big ball

I've been icing most of the time I'm awake, there's really nothing els to do and it feels sooo good and refreshing

The ice pack fitted for the eyes is so helpful for icing when your asleep but mine broke ):
Ill post more later I need to go back to sleep

Oh one last gross thing I've been a bit gassy which is odd for me not quite sure what its from- on that stinky note talk to y'all later :)

Attention everyone:: I have become a hamster

Today has been a great day!
Showered, changed my sheets, held a conversation with some loved ones, and began taking my pain meds less frequently :) goodnight beautiful people have a beautiful day

Morning of day 5
I woke up feeling very congested in my sinuses- it's bad ): I can feel a sinus headache coming on if it doesn't go away soon

Thinking about taking a Benadryl but I'm just concerned how it will react with my pain med
Food has no appeal to me right now but in trying to force myself to eat because I feel quite weak

Evening of day 5
The sinus pressure I was feeling this morning cleared up for the most part mid day after eating some soup and walking around a bit
It returned briefly then went away again
I've cut my pain med intake in half so not I'm talking half of a 250 mg hydrocodone pill every 4 hours now since making the change I have noticed more of a sore feeling in my nose like a few days after being punch in the face nothing terrible tho
Still can hardly breath out of my nose and when I do squeeze air through there it tends to burn so I just don't do it. When I'm asleep I can kind of feel myself trying to breath through my nose tho which doesn't work out and causes me to wake up

Thanks for your support guys, have a beautiful day and if you are going through this have a happy recovery:)

Morning of Day 6:
Today i woke up laying with head tilted to the right and some pain in my ear after falling back asleep the pain in my ear was gone but I had a lot of pain and burning in my nose so I just took another half painkiller and I'm feeling good now :)
I leave to Dallas today so I can get my cast off tomorrow, very happy !!
As for today my nose is quite itchy! I touched it earlier as a reflex but no biggie

Most of bruising has gone from my face only purple remains on my eye lids which is cool with me because it makes me look like I have makeup on :p

Swelling is very slowly subsiding as well I still have fullness in my cheeks and jaw and only slight fullness on my eye lids and between my eyes. As for my nose that's a whole other world haha my nose is very very swollen and oily

Naturally I have oily thick skin so my surgeon prepared me to have a longer than usual healing process. He let me know to be patient with the swelling as it will take be prolonged by my skin conditions. Bummer but oh well I'm not an impatient person I should deal just fine

The only thing that does get on my nerves a bit is my nose feeling soo oily under my tape and cast I just want to wash it or wipe it plus there's 6 day old dried blood under the tape on the tip of my nose so I'm eager to get that cleaned off as well

I've been cleaning my nose just about once a day because there has been no excess blood build up and when I clean it when it isn't necessary it only makes it feel more raw
Something I should have done was called and asked what was going to be put in my nose after surgery because when I try to clean it I feel odd things in there. Of corse I feel the stitches and sutures but I also feel like little plates inside my nostrils like half tubes I suppose. I never called too ask but I suppose I should have

The doctor had previously sent me his plan however I know once he was j. The he had to end up braking the nose which we hadn't planned for soo it wouldn't have hurt to call and ask what els they did differently just to know

The tip of my nose is quite sensitive not tender but if I touch it I can feel an odd sort of dull sensation throughout the bridge of my nose

Still can't breath too much out of my nose only my right nostril a bit

I can't stop thinking of how great everyone was from my surgeon to the nurses to the anesthesiologist and everyone at the surgery center:) Such compassionate caring thorough patient sweet kind lovely people. They made the stressful situation at hand so much more pleasant. In particular I remember my recovery nurse at the surgery center, Susan, what a sweet woman. Just got me anything I needed and wanted to make sure I felt as comfortable as possible. Such a sweet heart ! Even the receptionists at the surgery center were kind people wishing me a safe and successful surgery
The event coordinator at Dr. Gunters office, Kim, was nice as well she had to deal with me when I was the most annoying which was the actual booking of the appointments, I really wanted to make sure I got my dates and it was such short notice but she took care of me. Oh and Jane at the Gunter center had to go on a wild goose chase for my lab work so thank you Jane for dealing with all that! I've met some really beautiful people through this experience:) all of y'all on this web site as well have made me feel so loved and special. We all have our stories, so similar but all unique, and when you post you make me feel like my story really matters:) so thank you all as well. Sincerely.

I'm going to get packing for my Dallas trip! Ill prolly update later on when I arrive.
My cast comes off tomorrow at 3:30 so be looking out for some fresh pics of the nosie I will post em up but keep in mind my nose will be extra swollen! Love you guys!

Hey lovelys
Morning of day 7 and its been about 11 hours short of a week since my surgery
Can you believe it?!
Honestly it flew by

Quick update of last night
On the way up in the car I scrunched my nose in the most unpleasant way and that caused my nose to pulse with an itchy fire which made me want to die
Overall last night up until about 3 am it was so itchy and hot feeling I just could not wait till I got my cast off today ( in 5 hours)

Slept at a rather creepy hotel last night turned out everything was booked due to a convention that has brought 60,000 people to Dallas on this day! Hah
Waking up this morning I've taken my last pain killer and my next is due at ten, yes I still need them, my nose is going through the worst burning/itching phase. I'll likely stop by a cornerstone and purchase some Tylenol pain pills( although by the looks of this hotel I could prolly walk out side and be offered some drugs &save myself the trip) hah! Totally kidding calm down

Swelling in my face today is still very slowly subsiding I'm animorphing from my hamster self back to the human.. Slowly

Well I think I'm going to put some light make up on today (skipping foundation) in honor of my big reveal ;)

I know it's prolly swollen as a pig right now tho so I'm not getting too hyped
See you guys later with my cast off!
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Hey beautiful people :)
I can not tell you what a relief it is to have all that jazz up out my nose!!!
Oh my gosh yesterday my nose had been burning and burning so much I was really scared that maybe there was an infection or something was going wrong buut the cast has been off now for about 8 hours and oh my gosh I have a nose!
Okay so a run down of my appointment today- honestly it was horrible and great
Horrible part: so like a little baby lamb I go to my appointment all happy and relieved I'm going to be getting my cast off, yay the world is so beautiful and great birds are chirping the whole bit. well little did I know that a two ten foot long inch thick worms had lodged them selves in my brain through my nasal canals- there names were SPLINTS
Yea I cried some when those big boys came out I became very cold and started shaking. I had been nose raped. But that was really the only bad part:)
Great part: getting stitches out didn't hurt maybe only one of them gave me a little pinch. Taking off the cast and tape wasn't bad at all
Getting nose sucked out didn't hurt either

Breathing after everything's out is a relief but the air felt pretty dry and cold in my nose so I kept breathing out of my mouth for a while

I'm so happy :D for the first time during this whole thing I can finally just relax (without pain) and SEE that I did the right thing, although I knew it is nice to physically see it.
Of corse my nose is so swollen right now but I can't see where it's genna go and I love it. It looks like my nose but better and that is exactly what I wanted
:D Smiles x 100000
Goodnight guys
Ps I'm about to get my first full nights sleep wrought having to wake up for painkillers, yay!

Hey guys:)
Tolday is day 10 post op
My nose just keeps getting better and better everyday
With each day the swelling goes down (slightly) but you just gotta be patient :)
my nose drips sometimes so i always have to have my q tips near by
Ive been taking Arnica and Bromalin everyday
Most of the swelling and bruising in my cheeks and eyes has subsided
Spicy food is not nice to eat right now and that's lame because it's my favorite! But the skin on my nose is just too tender it starts burning while eating the hot(spice and temp) foods
Still haven't exfoliated, i don't think the skin on my nose is ready for it
Some times my nose itches a bit
Something you will really want to avoid in the days following cast removal is anything hilarious!! NOT KIDDING!!
Hanging out with some of my friends is VERY HARD because if something funny gets said you will smile and it will pull your nostrils!!!!! Also watching Parks and Recreation is not the best idea for the same reason. This has been my biggest battle and had i known i would have laid low for a little while longer :p After too much intense laughter or smiling my nose starts to burn a bit:/ It's one of those kind of good problems to have i suppose :/ :)
Anyway i hope YOU'RE doing amazing and having a beautiful journey with you rhinoplasty or whatever your beautiful self is doing
Have a fabulous day and if you haven't had your surgery yet LAUGH AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE NOW!!!!!!!!
Love you!

Oh! and i posted a video of day 8
If you're lying in bed with nothin to do, be sure to check it out!
:*

Hey guys day 11:: feelin good but the skin right under my left nostril just tore a bit looks similar to a paper cut no blood or anything looks just like the top layer
Any one know what could have caused it?
I feel the skin in that area being pulled when I yawn and smile