Rhinoplasty: Stories

I've always been considered a pretty girl, however my nose bugs the crap out of me when I smile, and take photos. The columella hangs low, and the tip is slightly bulbous. My right nostril is also slightly higher than the left side, which makes me dislike my profile on my right side. I have read reviews on this website from other's stories, and looked at PS websites. The doctors I've read about more and like their work is Dr. Ghavami, and Dr. Elam. My fear is that I'll end up hating my nose, and not look like myself. I think that's everyone's fear though!

I've been thinking about doing this for a long time, however for a while I didn't think about it. I recently modeled for a friend, and that's when it hit me again. I HATE my nose from my right side, as well as the front! Then I started to think about engagement photos, wedding photos, and things like that. I want to stop being so hateful towards my appearance! I like the way I look in the mirror, however looking at my nose up close, and in photos, bothers me so much. It always has.

What I want is something very simple, at least to me it seems very simple. I just want a subtle change, and not a turned up, curved nose. Not more narrow. Just the tip refined, nostrils aligned.

I really want to look like myself, and from what I read Dr. Ghavami seems like a good choice, however I am eager and open to other suggestions. There are some bad reviews on him however they seem illegitimate.

My friend and her sister got rhinoplasty from Dr. Kanodia, who is supposed to be amazing, however something makes me like Dr. Ghavami more.

My boyfriend is very supportive of me, he said I should do what makes me happy. My parents and brother were saying I shouldn't touch my face, but the more I talk about it, the more they understand.

I uploaded some photos that I simulated myself on a fun iPhone app. I'm eager to have a consultation with the a doctor, to see what they say about my wants.

UPDATE: I've been reading more, and more and I really like Dr. Grioryants. I decided to schedule a consultation with him! It's on March 26th. I'm very anxious to talk to him. I've been writing down questions and I've also saved some photos of noses that I like. I know that my nose will never be like anyone else's, nor do I want it to be, but I think its helpful to show a visual of something similar to your wants.

I scheduled a 2nd consultation with Dr. Ghavami! April 4th. I'm so anxious, but I'm definitely just trying to be patient as this is a long process. I don't want to rush. Has anyone that has had rhinoplasty already used CareCredit, or anything like that? I definitely want to save some money for this, but if I wait to save the entire thing it will take forever!! So any advice on that would be great.

Has anyone heard of Dr. Lawton Tang? He is located in Pasadena, and also works out of Beverly Hills. He's not on Real Self, but has glowing reviews on other websites. He seems amazing at reconstructive surgeries, but I'm only able to find a few rhinoplasty photos, which look really good, except they are all on Asian noses, which I obviously don't have :) I'm going to call his office tomorrow to see if they have more before & after photos in their office, and possibly schedule a consultation. I was referred to him by a friend who just got her nose done by him. I haven't seen it yet, but my boyfriend has and he said it looks really good. Hmm. Just wondering if anyone has any information on him?

My third consultation is now scheduled with Dr. Lawton Tang. I called his office, and he offers a free consultation and he has more before and after photos in his office.He is also local, and about 5 minutes away from my office. The consultation is on March 12th! Yay. So close. I'm excited to finally start to sit down with a doctor.

I just got back from my very first consultation. I was so excited but I am so bummed!! The doctor was so nice, but I felt very rushed. His assistant kept coming in the office to remind him of his next appointment. I was only there for 30 minutes or so. But, I did get some good information regarding my issues with my nose. My nose is slightly deviated and I would need a septoplasty to correct it. My cartilage on the tip is also very uneven, and my columella is significantly low. I didn't see any before and after photos in his office either, he told me to schedule another consultation. I also showed him the photo that I morphed, and he said it wouldn't be a problem to do that, which is good. BUT then I showed him a photo of someone else's nose, to show him what I liked about her nose but I specifically told him, " I don't want HER nose exactly, cause thats HER nose." And he said," But do you want that nose? I can do that." That bothered me. I said, "Who know's if her nose would even look good on me??" I thought that was strange. I feel bad cause I was referred to him by a friend but I didn't schedule the second consultation. I'm just looking forward to my consultation with Dr. Grigoryants now. I hope I get to ask him the 15 questions that was posted here on Real Self, and that he gives me more time and morphs some images of me!!!

Hi everyone!! SOOOO I finally got to meet the infamous Dr. Grigoryants tonight! I was so excited. I felt like I already knew him because of all the research I've been doing. He did not disappoint! He definitely is a workaholic as some have said but by no means in a bad way at all. He is good at what he does and he loves doing it. As soon as he came in, he started to touch my nose and tell me all of the things that were wrong with it (haha how nice huh?) And was telling me what he would do to it, which are the things I wanted! 1. Raise the columella. He agreed that it hangs too low, and he would raise it but not toooo much and he said it wouldn't be perfect, but it would look really good. 2. He would stitch the tip together a tiny bit because when he raises the columella, it will separate (because my cartilage is already separated there quite a bit). It will make it look more defined. 3. There is some cartilage that is in the "back" of my nose that he would take off too. He seemed so confident in what he was saying, it made me feel really comfortable. I felt comfortable the entire time actually. He made realistic points and told me that if I needed a revision it would be slight and in office. He said it's unlikely though but he would do it for free if that happened. Also, he said it would just be tip work and we're not touching the bridge of my nose at all. Woo! No breaking. My healing would be very fast and I probably wouldn't be in pain. He did notice that it was a little difficult for me to breath, so he said he would open it up a little bit and it would be better.

All in all, I was VERY happy with my consultation. I printed out the list of questions I had and he grabbed it from my hand haha and just answered all of them. Awesome. He was so confident!! My cost for the surgery would be $7,500. I don't mind. I really think I'm going to schedule the surgery tomorrow. I can always cancel but I really do think I am going to go with him. I may also make a consultation with Dr. David Kim on Bedford in Bev Hills. I like his work too. Oh, and I cancelled my consult with Ghavami...not sure why exactly but I just felt like I didn't want to see him.

Scheduled the surgery!! :)

Starting to compile a list of products to have on hand and how to prepare. This is mostly so I can have this on hand, but I want to share in hopes that this helps someone else too :)

1. Probiotics
- I'm a health nut so I really don't think yogurt does any good when it comes to live cultures. I work with a nutritionist and she recommends Dr. Ohirra's probiotics, you can get them on vitacost.com, also pb8 is okay too! Not as good but definitely less expensive.

2. Face Wipes
I like the Yes To Carrots cucumber face wipes :)

3. Vaseline
Regular vaseline has petroleum in it, yuck, I think that the Alba "un-petroleum" jelly is amazing. You can get it at target in the baby section! It seriously is the best.

4. Bendy Straws

5. Lots of water near by!

6. Make some green fruit smoothies ahead of time and store them in mason jars! Super healthy and filling! You can add rolled oats to the smoothies to make them more filling as well.

7. Have a time chart near by with a pen, so you can remember when you took your medication. Pill box too maybe?

8. Clean and wash your bedding the day before and have your bed ready for you when you come home.

9. U shaped travel pillow

10. DVD's & laptop/TV near by :)

11. Natural/organic cough drops for dry mouth

12. Humidifier - I found one at wal-mart with a fragrance diffuser, I wonder if you could put essential oil into it? That would be nice and relaxing!

What else?!?!

Hi! So, I just put my request in for 1 week off of work for my procedure. HR says I need to have a medical documentation so I can put it in as sick time. I don't know what to do because I don't want them to know what procedure I'm having done. How do I accomplish this while still maintaining a level of privacy?? Any advice will be super helpful!

I feel like my surgery is sooo far away!! Which it kinda is, but I know it's going to come up soo fast. I have days where I have a lot of doubts, like should I really be doing this? Is it worth it? All those things, ya know? So scary!! Obviously it helps to read all the updates that everyone is so graciously posting! It's so comforting. I really feel like I chose the right doctor even though he was only my second consultation. So I'm happy about that :) I also sometimes feel like I'm selfish for wanting to do this, as well as spending the money. I'm usually a very selfless person so it feels weird doing this....!

So, I've been thinking a lot lately about how to convey exactly what I want to my doctor. I want to be better prepared this time when I speak with him on the 15th! I chose 4 photos of celebs who have noses that I feel are in line with what my outcome could be. I want to make it clear that I do not want any of their noses specifically. I'm using their photos as a visual reference. What do you guys think? Do you think that these photos seem like a good visual aid to show Dr. G.? My friend already looked at them and said that she felt they all have similar noses to what I'm looking for and it seems possible with what I have right now.

So, I was thinking about everything I need to get before July 8th comes around. One thing in particular that I thought about was making myself some smoothies to drink during the recovery period. I am not really keen on taking too many medications! Also, for the swelling period, I researched some yummy "anti-inflammatory" smoothie recipes. I thought this one sounded perfect so I thought I would share it here :)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup organic cherries (anthocyanins in cherries help relieve pain more effectively than aspirin)
- 2 ripe bananas (energy and help digestion)
- 1 cup organic greens of your choice (very alkaline)
- 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder (potent antioxidant, liver detoxifier, and anti-inflammatory)
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon (rich in antioxidants, helps to combat inflammation and free radicals)
- 1 tsp freshly grated ginger (potassium rich, helps stimulate digestion and bile flow)
- 1 tbsp. pre-soaked chia seeds (full of omega-3 fatty acids to help protect the body from damaging effects of chronic inflammation)
- 1 cup young thai coconut water (full of potassium and magnesium, help protect the body from degenerative diseases)

- Blend all the ingredients together in a high powered blender and enjoy :)

I plan on making this or something similar. During the recovery period it's important to give your body these nutrients rather than drinking gatorade and eating saltines. Something to think about, hope it helps!

So today I had my pre-op! I was so nervous before I saw the doctor! Almost like if I was having the surgery today haha. Once I saw him my nerves went away. I didn't end up showing him any photos. I felt like he knew what needs to be done with my nose and he's going to make it look good. I asked him if he can picture what it's going to look like and he said not until he starts working on it and sees what's going on inside my nose. Makes sense! And that's why he doesn't do computer imaging. I was looking at some results in person like the two secretaries and another patient and they all looked so so good. I'm more excited now!! I also paid today in full, which makes this all real now. Just a few more weeks!

So this is partially my fault...but I realized that Dr. G. is doing a turbinate reduction on my left nostril, and insurance could cover that portion of the surgery. I should have realized this during my consultation because now Dr G's office says it's too late to submit a claim and it takes over a month to get this settled. I really wish they would have suggested that I file a claim or THEY could have filed a claim with my insurance. The lady told me that after the surgery they would give me a itemized list of all the procedures he did on me and I can send that to my insurance and see what happens. Very annoying... I could have saved some money!