Two Months Post-Op

I have hated my nose since I was 11 years old. I have a big hump and my side profile looks awful. First I had to have jaw surgery so I opted to wait until that was done so that my nose could be sculpted to match my new jaw/chin. That surgery was just over 5 months ago; my doctor advised me to wait 6 months to have the nose surgery. I'm really excited to have it and to have my face "finished". I am so pleased with my jaw surgery and hope to be just as happy with my new nose, but I'm a little bit anxious as the jaw surgery was very difficult to go through. I know the recovery will be much easier than jaw surgery, but my surgeon was careful to warn me that it is still a process and while he agreed it will be easier than the jaw surgery, he didn't want to minimize it. So the surgery is booked for May 17 and I really couldn't be more excited! Will post some pictures here soon.

Added some photos - there are from my wedding almost five years ago before I had jaw surgery or had taken accutane. I don't take many pics of myself or allow many to be taken, so this is the best I have on hand. Wish I could redo my wedding photos after I have my nose done, I hate looking at them. Very much looking forward to my surgery, especially as I have just had my braces removed and am feeling so much more confident now that I have a chin, cheekbones, and a nice smile with straight teeth that meet with a perfect bite. Currently bleaching them with trays from the dentist. All I need to finish my look is my new nose!

Hard to believe my surgery is only a few days away - Friday is the big day! I took down the pictures I had uploaded as they weren't very good. I took some new ones and will post soon. I think I'm all ready to go. I have all of my supplies and a very busy week ahead of me. The next few days are going to fly by. My next update will be post surgery!

It's over! I had surgery yesterday morning at 8 AM. Everything went smoothly and I was home by about 3:30 in the afternoon. I felt pretty good, but very tired, and napped for a chunk of the evening. I tried to eat a little bit, but didn't feel like it and went to bed early. This morning my eyes were both very red and swollen. It's uncomfortable, but I have experienced virtually no pain. I had a little right after the op and was given pain medication through the IV. After that I did take a pain pill but I did not one again for the rest of the day. Sleep was difficult. I can't breath though my nose and breathing through my mouth is really uncomfortable while sleeping. I keep waking up and my mouth is incredibly dry and throat hurts. Today has been okay, just mostly uncomfortable. I took a short nap this afternoon and ate some rice for dinner. I'm thinking about taking a bath tonight and turning in early. Still very tired. Can't wait for the swelling around my eyes to go down - I think that's been the worst part so far besides the dripping nose. I'm not bleeding anymore but my nose is still draining so I've kept the gauze on and change it a few times a day. All for now...will update again soon.

I'm just a little over 72 hours post-op now. Saw my surgeon this morning and he removed my stitches (I had an open procedure). He said everything was looking good and encouraged me to continue cleaning the inside (about of a quarter of a way in) with a q-tip dipped in hydrogen peroxide. I did this a bit when I got home today and managed to dislodge some dried blood which opened my airways considerably. I am now getting some air through both nostrils.

One things is slightly concerning me. Just after my procedure, my doctor talked to my husband about how everything went. He mentioned that he did not have as much cartilage to work with as he had anticipated. However, he believed I would like the result. I asked him about this today. He said normally, he would take extra cartilage from the ear, but because he had not discussed that possibility with me before the surgery, he did not. So I'm guessing he was able to sculpt the nose to his satisfaction by working with what he had. I sure hope it is to my satisfaction, too. It is kind of a red flag to me that he did not discuss this possibility with me beforehand given that he has done thousands of nasal surgeries. It seems like it would be pretty basic. So I'm a bit anxious about this. I sure hope I like what I see when the splint comes off this Thursday.

Otherwise, I have been doing okay. Minimal pain, if any. Mostly soreness. My eyes are less swollen, and bruising is beginning to turn yellow and redness is slowly receding. I really wish I could blow my nose, but I'm getting by. I went to bed early last night after taking an ambien and slept okay (still sleeping propped up). I'm really tired today but I don't feel like napping. I'm always very puffy and swollen just after waking up.

That's all I can really think of at the moment. Oh, it is starting to get quite itchy, but I suppose that's a good sign.

I think today is day four post-op. I slept horribly last night and am sore from being propped up. I was up half the night thinking "I have to deal with this damn thing on my face for two more days!!"

I have also had some pain in my nose for the first time since surgery. It's just a dull, aching pain and it's not too bad. But thought I would note that since I haven't had any pain otherwise. The biggest source of my pain so far has been a canker sore just inside my bottom lip (stress related, maybe?) and cramps. So neither one related to the actual surgery.

I wanted to bring up another issue I'm having and see if any of you ladies have experienced this. I'm pretty sure I have a UTI or yeast infection. It is driving me nuts. Here's the thing - I had a pretty severe one after my jaw surgery due to the catheter. For this surgery, I specifically requested to NOT have a catheter placed. When I woke up, I asked the nurse in recovery if I had had one, but she didn't know. At the time, I didn't think I had, because when I woke up from my jaw surgery I KNEW something was off right away. Since my nasal surgery on Friday, I have felt things getting worse. More uncomfortable and frequent urination and all that. When I had jaw surgery, I tried two over the counter treatments before I ended up going to the doctor, getting checked out, and getting a prescription. This time I'm going to try an over the counter treatment, but I'm afraid I'll end up at the doctor again. Has anyone else had this issue post-surgery?? You would think that the prescribed anti-biotics would take care of this, but they seem to only make it worse. It is such a frustrating thing to deal with when I'm trying to recovery from having part of my face broken. I was dreading the fact that this may happen again given how it went down after jaw surgery. Can't wait for this to all be over and be back to normal!

I feel a lot better today. Got a prescription for Diflucan from my surgeon to take care of the infection and actually got some sleep last night. Today I am eagerly awaiting tomorrow morning so I can get this splint removed! I'm a bit anxious to see what my nose looks like, but honestly, I am so ready for this thing to come off I can't even think about what my nose will actually look like too much yet. It doesn't feel like this is really happening!

The splint is off! I am so so SO happy it's gone! That thing was extremely uncomfortable. Removal was fine, not painful at all. My doctor used some kind of solution to loosen the cast and cut it off very slowly and carefully. Then it was time for me to stand up and take a look - I was really nervous! So upon first look I was kind of like...oh. Not as thrilled as I thought I'd be. But I know that is only because of the swelling. After examining it some more from all angles, I think I'm going to be really happy with it once the swelling goes down. It looks so natural! I'm very pleased with the tip, it is not too upturned at all. My bump is completely gone. It's just still kind of a shock for me! I've wanted this for so many years now and it's finally done. My nose is also much straighter. It used to look very crooked when looking from the front. Just overall, I think it's going to be really great.

I still have some bruising under my eyes but it's very minimal. I'm still taking arnica tablets as well as using the gel. The doctor's assistant was very nice and told me to keep using it as often as possible. She also taught me the exercise I need to do 10 times a day for 30 seconds each for the next 8 weeks. I have to kind of squeeze the top of my nose with my index fingers in line with the corner of my eyes. It really hurts, but apparently it's supposed to and the pain should lessen and be pretty much nothing in two weeks. She explained the bones try to go back to their original placement. I'm very used to hearing this...heard the same thing again and again with jaw surgery. I actually told her I had had jaw surgery (7 months ago today!) and told her how different my face looks overall now. I told her I did not used to have cheek bones at all and she was very surprised - she said people pay to have cheekbones like the ones I have now! Ha, that made me happy. Whether it's true or not, I don't know.

Now that is is all said and done, jaw and nose, my face is worth about $100,000 (including the cost of braces, and double jaw surgery is EXTREMELY expensive but my insurance did cover it). I think that's pretty funny...I better be damn careful with it!

Here are a few pictures! No makeup or anything and you can still see some bruising.

I'm feeling pretty good - one week post-op as of Friday. Yesterday I was really tired, ended up napping in the afternoon and going to bed really early. My nose has been sore where the incision was made. The scab there is a little annoying because I can't really do anything about it and it's fairly noticeable, so it looks like I just didn't clean my nose. I've been cleaning it with hydrogen peroxide as instructed by my surgeon. I can breathe through my nose pretty well now but it does get quite stuffed up over night. Always have to clean it very thoroughly in the morning.

But overall, I'm feeling pretty good. Not totally back to normal yet. I have some whiteheads along the bottom of my nose by the nostrils, and I really can't do much about them so I hope they clear up quickly. My skin is just wanting to break out in general. I think I mentioned this before but I took accutane several years ago for severe adult cystic acne. It cleared up skin and has for years, but I have noticed that post surgeries my skin tries to break out. The break outs never come all the way through, though, and then they go away and my skin it back to being clear. Accutane was a lifesaver for me and has kept my skin looking great for years now.

As for the way my nose looks, it is still very swollen. It just looks big! But I'm very happy with it in general and how my profile looks. I can't believe the bump that I have hated for 28 years is finally gone. So I like how it looks in the mirror. However, my husband took a picture of me this morning and I didn't like it so much. It looked kind of pig-like to me. But I know that's the swelling.

One other thing I'm having issues with is wearing my glasses. I am blind without them, and as you all know, you're not supposed to wear them after rhinoplastly. My surgeon said 8 weeks. I have been wearing my contacts when I go out (but my eyes hate it, they're really dry) and taping the glasses to my forehead when I'm at home. But they keep drooping and falling onto my nose! Does anyone have any methods for glasses-wearing? I wish I could see without them but I cannot see anything. My nose literally has to be touching a book before I can see it to read. I need Lasik but honestly, I'm afraid of it! Even after all I've been through, Lasik still terrifies me.

I'm a little over two months post-op now. I hesitated to write again until I was totally happy with things, but apparently that could be awhile! So about a month ago, a small bump/dent began to form on the bridge of my nose. I called my surgeon, and they advised me to come in. My surgeon was totally unconcerned and said that it will resolve itself in time, but that it could take a few months. I understand that swelling can take up to a year to go away, so this is fine. The bump is very very small, probably unnoticeable to most, but I will not be completely happy until it is gone. The doctor did give me an injection (I think it was cortisone?), which he said will help to break up the bone. I did some online research and it seems that what he says is true; this is actually rather common and usually does resolve itself in time.

So that's where I am right now. Otherwise, I'm really happy with the results. I think it looks very natural, and a lot of the swelling has subsided. If it weren't for the tiny bump, I would be thrilled! So, hopefully, in a few months, it will heal up and I will be totally happy with my results. I feel SO much more confident in my daily life. Overall, it was worth it!

I will attach a photo I just took with my phone. The reason it looks a little red is because I'm finally allowed to wear my glasses again, and I'm getting used to them. The scar on my nose is where I had it pierced once - big mistake! I plan to have it treated in about a year when my nose is fully healed.