Less Than Two Weeks Away W/ Grigoryants - Glendale, CA

I have a Rhinoplasty scheduled with Grigoryants in less than two weeks. I decided to do this a couple of years ago and have met four surgeons and have researched them all fairly extensively before deciding to go with him.

It's hard to find a negative review for Grigoryants. The only things I have found are a couple of people saying that his office staff is hard to understand (which I found to be not true at all, I didn't even detect accents and have heard stronger dialects from other parts of the US.) The few (maybe two?) negative reviews I have found were from people who had amazing results, and I think their situations were more something that could be attributed to body dysmorphia. Needless to say, I booked a surgery with him as soon as I could get in.

When I met with him, he was very professional and also confident in his abilities without coming across as arrogant. He pushed on my nose and asked if that improved my breathing, explaining that he would open my airways. It was amazing how much my breathing improved from that small amount of pressure. I've had sinus issues my entire life, so any improvement will be a big deal for me.

I am not sure whether I should bring pictures of noses I like and don't like to the surgery appointment, because I think he might have a better eye for these things than me, but I put something together just in case.

The pre-op instructions include avoiding wine and garlic, among other things such as fish oil. I had my last glass of wine until New Years a couple of days ago, but am finding garlic harder to avoid as it seems to be in everything! I never noticed that some of my favorite Whole Foods salads, for example, actually have chunks of garlic in them. I ordered a salad at a restaurant several days ago and trying to early caution early requested no garlic, but sure enough there were garlic chunks. I think I will be making my own food from scratch until the surgery.

Lab results came back pretty decent, but it looks like my iron levels might be a little low. I'm mostly vegetarian, and vegan on some days, so I wasn't too surprised. I had a little red meat for the first time in a long time today to get my iron levels up a bit.

So far, I'm stocking up on:
-Arnica
-bendy straws
-hot/cold soft sinus mask
-chap stick
-face cleansing wipes

I'm mostly afraid of not being able to breath through my nose after the procedure, not so much the actual procedure itself.

Surgery began around 8 and was completed by around 10 if I remember correctly. I arrived at 6am, and was initially given what was referred to by the anesthesiologist as a cocktail, and another nurse as a Margarita. I imagine it was some sort of benzodiazapene (sp?) Mixture, because they could probably tell how nervous I was. Well, I conked out immediately after that, before they could give me the general! They had to wake me to give general, and I don't really remember that part. The anesthesiologist was really nice, as were all the attending nurses.

I woke up next to another nurse and he was really nice as well. Dr.G came in the room and told me he did have to do septum work and that I was sensitive to the initial 'cocktail'. I guess he never knows until he is in there, and a nurse told me the very best surgeons can't tell you exactly what they will do as far as improving breathing functionality until they are operating. He used a spreader graft from my own cartilage in my nose, which impressed me. He also told me I wouldn't remember the conversation, and I disagreed with him. I do remember!

Upon check in the lady who gave me the forms told me Dr. G is amazing, that has known around the world and that I will be satisfied. Another nurse referred to him as the nose Wizard. He really stuck out to me because while he was more confident than the other surgeons I spoke with, he was also more humble. He's absolutely the nicest surgeon ever. I'm quoting one of the nurses when I say that, but it's true.

After surgery I ended up with a super sweet nurse who was really high energy, and it was a little much for me. She kept insisting I sleep even though I told her I wasn't the slightest bit tired. Every time she left the room I felt like I could relax, but when she was there she stressed me out. I feel bad saying that because she was so nice. She kept telling me I was too independent, lol

Some unexpected points:
*bra comes off, even if it isn't underwire.
*I can tell my breathing is better even though cast is on. I can breathe a little which surprised me, I thought I'd be completely stuffed with this thing on my face. Gauze is porous.
*pain is so tolerable, before the pain pills I was at a 3 on the scale. Now a zero and may try to avoid taking more.
*I have a ton of energy right now
*nausea and perhaps a bout of hypoglycemia was the hardest part. Both lasted not long at all. I definitely look worse than I feel

Please excuse any typos, I just had surgery!