My nose job story -- 2014 to 2020

Last year, I decided to have my nose fixed after years and years of hating it because it was flat and bulbous.

The first month, I was online everyday doing my research-- reading about rhinoplasty, checking on some doctors' credentials, reading reviews about them and looking at before and after pics. After that, I chose my surgeon and started asking him all my questions via email. After 5 months, I flew to his city.

I made plans to stay in the city for a total of 8 days. Instead of staying in a hotel, I rented a fully furnished studio apartment. I also made arrangements for healthy meals to be delivered to my apartment daily so that I won't have to cook or go out and buy them myself. The day before the surgery, I stocked up on water, wet wipes and made sure that the cable and the Internet was working.

I saw my surgeon in person for the first time on Monday, 12/9/13, had my surgery on Tuesday 12/10/13 and flew home Tuesday of the next week, 12/17/13.

I won't deny I was very nervous going into the surgery. My surgeon assured me that the only pain I was going to experience was the prick of the needle administering the local anesthesia.

First, he harvested the cartilage that he was going to use for my tip. He took it from my right ear. The whole time I could feel him tugging and sawing, there wasn't any pain but like I said, it wasn't comfortable.

The doctor had asked me to tell him if I felt any pain and I did repeatedly but somehow no matter how often he injected my nose with more anesthesia, it didn't completely numb out the area. Once or twice, I felt pain when Doc used the cautery and also when he inserted the needle for stitching. And then there was the discomfort of feeling him hammering against my bones when he broke them to make the new bridge more prominent. Lastly, it felt like the whole thing took forever and while the doctor was kind enough to take note of my favorite music and he played them the whole time, I was still hugely relieved when he proclaimed the surgery DONE and SUCCESSFUL.

All in all, it was one of the most uncomfortable 3 hours of my life. Was it worth it? Yes it was! Minutes after he was done stitching me up, Doc placed a mirror in front of me and I felt ecstatic about what I saw! Everything about my nose was definitely slimmer, gone was the squashed-tomato like projection in front of my face and in its place was the slim and pretty nose I always dreamed about!

Recovery was not easy but it was uneventful. 24 hours after the surgery, my face puffed up like crazy and there were ugly blue, black and yellow bruises all over my face. I wasn't really worried, I knew it would all go down, but I admit feeling impatient about them. I also admit I was lazy with the ice pack and did not apply it to the bruises as diligently as I should but I made sure I took the antibiotics on time, cleaned the incision sites thoroughly and applied the cream as often as I was told.

Doc asked me to go back for checkup 2 days after surgery. He praised me for having kept the incision sites clean. Stitches were removed 7 days after. It didn't hurt and it took only a few minutes. When I flew home, my face was still a bit swollen and there were bruises on my eyes and along my jawline but I thought I was presentable enough.

My face did not go back to normal until 4 weeks after the surgery. The bruises persisted until the third week and I have to admit during those times, there were days I regretted going under the knife. But whenever I took pictures of my nose and compared it to my before photos, I knew I did the right thing.

My family noticed the change right after I came home and many of my friends complemented me on my new look. Only those very close to me knew exactly what changed, the rest just thought I looked prettier even beautiful -- words which were rarely associated with me before the surgery.

Unfortunately, as of this writing, Doc has scheduled the removal of the Goretex implant that he used for my bridge because my nose was reacting to it & a persistent redness has appeared. One week of Augmentin (antibiotics) did not help. Doc says revision can be done a month after the removal, this time using my own cartilage.

So once again, I'm prepping myself for the surgery. Doc assures me removal will only take 15 minutes so I will be spared going through what I did the first time. A month after, I would return for the revision and he will be harvesting cartilage from my other ear to enhance the bridge again.

Would I do it again? The answer is a big YES. I probably would have gone for cartilage the first time instead of Goretex but all in all, I would still choose the same surgeon. Oh and I'd probably opt to have the surgery done with general anesthesia instead of local :)

* A piece of advice for those thinking about having their nose done. If you cannot stand being in pain for even the fewest minutes and if you can afford it, opt to have the surgery done with general anesthesia. It will cost you more and you will have to get several tests done before the surgery, but I think it will be worth it.

Ever since my doctor told me he would have to remove the Goretex implant on my nose due to infection, I have been feeling all kinds of low. At first, I thought everything would be fine that this can be fixed by a revision, but now, I'm not so sure.

I've been reading previous posts here especially those similar to my case, wondering if I'm better off leaving my nose alone after the implant is removed. As mentioned in my first review, ear cartilage was added to make my tip more prominent. I'm afraid that after the Goretex implant is removed from the bridge, my tip would look horrible & somewhat abnormal. I've asked my doctor this and he could not give me a definite answer. I understand what he means when he says we can only tell AFTER the removal but the uncertainty is causing me a great deal of anxiety.

Right now, the tip of my nose is very swollen. I'm scared this is because of too much scarring and that I'd have to live with this look if I refuse to undergo revision. I'm no longer feeling optimistic about this whole procedure :)