6 months post op update!

I am 20, and have a rhinoplasty scheduled in May 2013. I'm a pretty private person, but seeing all of these reviews and people having the same feelings as me has helped me so much! Like most other people on here, I've hated my nose for as long as I can remember. I've been a gymnast and cheerleader most of my life and would bonk my nose all the time... there was never one definite moment where I broke it, but I think over the years I must have done something to it because I haven't always had the bump I have today. From the profile is the worst because of the dreaded hump, and from the front it's just slightly curved.

I've wanted a rhinoplasty for years and years... I would (and am) always be googling information and pictures, and have dreamed of it, but never actually spoke about it to anyone. I never really even told my parents my feelings, because I feel like if I didn't talk about it it wouldn't be that bad. Does anyone know what I mean? I'm also just kind of private in general, so I never really brought it up. Never talking about it is weird too, because it's what i am thinking about so much of the time. Until this site, i thought i was the only one who hated talking to people from the side, or always standing on a certain side on pictures, and immediately deleting pictures of my profile. It's obsessive and awful.
So, what really made me bring it up to my parents was after a year in college just feeling bad and obsessing over my nose. A few of my friends from school want nose jobs too, and none of my friends from home ever spoke about it, so I think that made me more open as well. So i asked my mom and she surprisingly said we could start research. We went to 2 consultations and I have chosen one doctor who is great here in McLean. He's honest and blunt, which I like. I'm going to have it done in May after this next semester is over, and get it done in the beginning of the summer.

So here's the biggest thing, which is another main reason i wanted to use this site. Like I said, I'm private and haven't really discussed that I'm having the rhinoplasty- or even that I hate my nose in the first place- with anyone except for my immediate family and a few friends in college. I have an amazing boyfriend of 2 years and have never even brought it up to him. It seems so weird, but I never discussed that I hated my nose, and then I brought it up to my mom and then all of a sudden we decided on a date for the surgery. I just dont know what to say... it's weird because we have a great honest relationship and he knows everything about me..... except this. And a lot of my friends at home don't know either. Was anyone else in a similar situation?
But I HAVE to do this. I find myself avoiding looking in the mirror sometimes, it's all I think that people are looking at when we're talking, ugh. But it makes me feel a lot better that I'm not the only crazy one with those thoughts :)
So.... here I am, with a date scheduled, I couldnt be more ready, but some of the most important people in my life dont know yet because im too embarrassed or ashamed to say it. who should i tell before and who should i just wait to tell? the more i think about it the more people there are... extended fam, neighbors, etc? crazy to think about.
ill keep you posted and post some pics.

I'm adding some photos now! Sorry for the weird crop job, I'm still remaining somewhat anonymous :) I'm 3 weeks away from the surgery... does anyone have any prep suggestions? I've gotten mixed feedback on vitamins before surgery... some say take vitamin c, some say don't. not sure what to do?

So, I have some good news!! I told my boyfriend and it was so easy, I don't know why I had been putting that off for so long. He said it looks fine to him, but if I want to do it (which I am :)) then he will support me! Phew! It wasn't even that I didn't want to tell him about the surgery, more that I don't even like talking about my nose in the first place. I am slowly easing him into it so I'll tell him all the details later :). I still have several good friends to tell.. I honestly am more nervous about telling people than I am about the actual surgery!!

There is this awesome free app called "Aesthetica" that you can play around with digital imaging. I've been obsessing over it, so use at your own will :). I don't want to get too set on one image though because I know the computer's results are completely different than real life. But it's nice to know what it looks like without the bump. I'll post some more before and after pics here from the app.

I am starting my 'no alcohol, vitamins, etc' diet soon... it's getting more and more real, and I can't explain how amazing this site has been for me!

hey realselfers!

so my surgery date got moved to monday, may 20th... which i am actually happy about because that will be exactly two weeks before i have to start working! for those of you who already had the procedure or are getting ready like myself... and preop tips? (besides the doctors instructions for no alcohol, vitamins, etc?)

:) love this site!

9 days! I can't believe it! A lot of my friends still don't know which is freaking me out. But it's not like I can call everyone before and be like hey, by the way.... Haha, right? So I'm just gonna do it and explain it all afterwards if I have to. I'm getting excited and nervous. I think I need to stop looking at so many preop/postop pics because I don't want to get this perfect vision in my head and then it not be like that, because of course nothing is perfect. I have my preop consultation next Thursday and then I'll post the last morphed images. Yay!

i have my preop consultation tomorrow morning! im gonna try to get everything across to him very clearly, like what i want done, but i know not everything is possible. because its kind of the last chance to get it all out there. im excited but nervous... i cant believe its on monday. i barely had time to think about it because i was taking exams but now its becoming reality. xoxo!

I'm SO relieved right now for 2 reasons:
1. I went to my preop today and i feel so amazing about my surgeon. It's not like I ever unsure, but of course all these thoughts go through your head like oh my gosh did I look around enough? But he is so great, confident, we sat and chatted and just had good conversations, about the nose and other random stuff.

2. Like I said before, I've been VERY selective in who I've been telling. Friends from school know, and my family, but a lot of my best friends from home didnt... we're supposed to all be getting together tomorrow night and most probably drinking, so I wanted to avoid the awkwardness of them asking me why I couldn't drink.... So, I bit the bullet, and literally just texted our group chat (my 5 best friends), and just said it. It was so random to them because theyve never even heard me COMPLAIN about my nose let alone say I was having surgery in 4 days!! But seriously, after they all said its so random (it was) they were like "you're already beautiful but im happy youre doing this if its what you want!" and stuff like "oh my gosh ill totally come over and bring you jello and watch movies with you all day"! seriously it was so painless, i dont know why i was stressing so much. So now ive basically told all the most important people, and my only regret is not saying anything earlier! I hope this makes anyone else in that situation feel better about that!!

Phew, I had to tell everyone that, if it wasn't for this site I don't know if I would have had the guts!!!

P.S. 4 days :)

Oh and question... my surgeon said to avoid sun on my face all summer. It's totally fine, the surgery is so worth it, but did everyone else get that same advice? I don't want any weird scarring or burns, so I'll definitely be careful all summer. (I guess if you want to get tan you shouldnt get this done first thing in the summer haha)

Tomorrow at this time ill be at the hospital or at home recovering... I can't believe it! I'm slightly freaking out inside but also trying really hard to not act nervous because I think my parents are more nervous than I am! Because I am just so ready to have this nose gone I'm almost more excited than nervous. I'm going out today to get some last minute supplies. I honestly feel so much more at ease thanks to this site, it's like I'm not going through it alone. Love you all!!

Hey guys!! I got home around 2 today, thanks so much for the well wishes! Ill post a more detailed update now but ill give a quick post on my phone now, a little groggy still! I got to the hospital around 8:15 and really didnt have to wait long at all. The surgery went well, lasted from about 930-11. The worst part when I woke up was nausea, there was just a slight pressure but not a ton of pain at all! I almost threw up but didnt, and I got some food and took Vicodin and no more nausea, knock on wood :) It's time to ice again but I wanted to thank everyone and say it went great, and for everyone who has an appt coming up, don't stress! :)! I will post a play by play of today when I am more awake. Xoxo.

Hey guys! Thanks so so much for the nice comments and thoughts yesterday. I cant believe its over!! I'll give a little play by play of yesterday because I know that helped me, and Ive talked to a fair amount of you all who have surgery tomorrow :). If the writing is sloppy, you know why haha.

My appointment was at 9:30 so we arrived at the surgery center at 8:15 as instructed. My mom and dad were both with me, and we only had to wait in the waiting room for about 10-15 minutes... waiting was the worst part! Then we went back and talked with the anesthesiologist and nurse, signed some papers, they took my vitals, I changed into the gown and cap and some blood clotting tights. After all that was done, my doctor came in and we confirmed what I wanted done (basically a straight nose, SLIGHT slope), and he dotted my nose with marker. My doc always makes me feel so at ease!! I kissed my parents and was off with the nurse to the OR. My mom kept telling my nurse to make sure they knew who I was... I think she thought I was gonna come out with a boobjob instead or something, hahah.

So i got into the OR, laid down, and it all happened so fast then. I remember putting my hair at the way top of my head under the cap because I was like, oh my gosh, I dont want my hair to make my head crooked on the table because then what if they do my nose crooked!! Haha, I know crazy, but I'm allowed to be a little bit :). So I laid down, they put the IV in, then the mask on, and I was out. The good part was I wasn't chilling there for long with just the IV in... I hate hate hate needles and have passed out every single time I've gotten a shot or bloodwork at the doc for the past 7 years... but guess what, I didn't pass out from the anesthesia before the anesthesia made me pass out! For my wisdom teeth surgery I knocked myself out before they did from my hate of needles haha. I was very calm. The surgery took 1.5 hours as expected.

I woke up in a bed somewhere but I can't picture it because my eyes were shut the whole time... When I woke up my mouth wasnt as dry as I was expecting, and I didn't have pain. It was so weird... I was separated from another bed by a curtain and I heard another drugged out patient saying, Kelly?? Kelly?! And druggedly I was like.... john...john!? Turns out my guy friend just got his tonsils out and we were waking up next to eachother... he had heard someone say my last name... it was soo bizarre and funny because we were both so out of it! He didn't know about my nosejob but I dont care at this point.

Anyways, then I went to the recovery room and my parents were allowed to come in then. I still wasn't in pain but I was nauseous... that was the worst part. I literally just like couldn't open my eyes for the life of me. After a little bit of laying there with my eyes shut, my mom went into the bathroom with me because I really had to pee, and we brought my clothes in there so I could change also, but after I used the bathroom I couldn't stand to be standing up any longer to change at that moment. I had to go sit back down and close my eyes. Again, this was mostly because of nausea not too much pain. Then they were able to give me nausea medicine and then I started to feel better! I just wiggled into my clothes in the chair/bed thing I was in and then around 2pm (3 hour recovery... maybe a little longer than normal?) I was wheeled out to the car. I never saw my doctor after that but my parents of course talked to him and he gave them the report. He was very happy and said he was able to do everything that we talked about. He did say I bled more than normal, and he really thought that I must have had alcohol or green tea in the past 10 days becaese of the bleeding... and I really really didn't. A.) i dont even like tea or green tea so thats out of the question... B.) I could literally tell you the last time I had alcohol and that was May 3rd... 17 days ago! So, who knows, I was very careful pre-operatively but things happen! He said the normal bleeding is 1 tsp (or tsb.. cant remember) and mine was 2... but he said it was fine otherwise and didnt mess anything up I will probably just have a little more bruising or swelling, no biggie!!

Once I got home, I laid on the recliner and immediately my mom (the angel) made scrambled eggs and toast so that I could take my vicodin before any pain started kicking in. I was super worried I'd get nauseous from the vicodin, but I didn't at all! And I've had 4 more doses since then and havent been nauseous... I make sure to eat a fair amount before every pill... not just a cracker, but at least a small bowl of pasta or eggs/toast.

Since then it's honestly been smooth sailing. My appetite is fine, I've been taking vicodin every 4 hrs so no pain yet (I woke up at 330 am to take it just in case), I do have bruising and swelling but I definitely look worse than I feel! Besides the recovery room part, this is actually easier than wisdom teeth removal recovery so fair if anyone has had that, mainly probably because I can eat so I'm less weak.

Ive been drinking ginger ale like its my best friend, and water! Scrambled eggs have been my best friend too because they have good protein but are soft. I was told not to eat dairy yet. I've been icing on and off but icing is mostly annoying because I can never seem to get in a good position to keep it there without being scared of bumping my nose, but its not bad. Im going back to my doctor later today for him to clean me out a little bit so hopefully I get more comfortable. If you stuck this case on anyones face they would be uncomfortable!

I hope this eased anyone who has surgery soon. Of course its not a walk in the park but it wasnt awful either. Im sure i have more swelling and bruising and discomfort to come, but the new nose will be SO worth it! It's also been nice/necessary to have my parents waiting on me... I could get up and do things myself but its probably best not to. Realself has been amazing... looking at myself in the mirror doesnt scare me that much because I feel as though im desensitized from looking at everyones elses pics so I knew what to expect. You all are awesome!

For those of you who have completed the surgery--- when did you go back to wearing contacts, or did you put glasses over the case? Im just squinting with my laptop close to my face now! Also, when did you start the Arnica gel? Thanks guys! I'll keep you posted, and I will put up some pictures asap.
(PS-- the reason I took the computer imaging pics down is because those were images I just played around with myself on an app, not from my actual doctor. I didnt want to get used to those and have the result not be like that, if you know what I mean. It will be great but Im tryng to be realistic.)

Mwah!

Oh yeah... my doctor told my parents that I definitely did break my nose in the past!! He could tell from the hardness and shape of the bone. Not that it really matters anymore, but now at least I can say I got a rhinoplasty because I broke my nose, it makes the bomb a little easier to drop :) I know from years of cheerleading I banged it up a lot and always thought I did something to it, but it was kinda nice to have that confirmed and not all in my head.

Hey realselfers! So I am currently on day 3 postop (surgery was Mon, today is Weds), I will start off where I left off at day 2 yesterday! I continued to consistently take the vicodin yesterday, every 4 hours. I couldve started to ween myself off but I was scared of the pain setting in. At 3pm yesterday, which was day 2, I went back to my doctor for a little check in. It only took about 10-15 minutes... he cleaned up the bottom and insides of my nose with a q-tip and pulled out the light packing that he puts in... now I can basically breathe out of my nose 95%!! i still open my mouth when I breathe because it scares me to be putting a bunch of air in my nose (haha crazy I know) but i CAN breathe out of my nose. That's basically all that happened at that appointment, he instructed me to clean with q tips, put vaseline on the stitches, etc. I'm going back for another appt on Friday before I get the cast off on Monday. I'm amazed at my his attentiveness in follow up care! He personally called twice the day of the surgery to check up, and I am seeing him twice even before I get my cast off. I've never had to go through a nurse or receptionist. He is great!

On the way home from the follow up I started to have some pain and it started to hurt to talk a little bit... I think it was the combo of just having the packing out, being in a car in traffic... stop and go stop and go... plus that was the longest I'd gone before taking my next Vicodin. I got home, took meds, napped, and woke up and was better. Oh and last night (day 2) I took a bath with the help of my sister, and put my contacts in, and that made me feel much more refreshed!!

I took my last Vicodin at 930ish pm last night and nothing else through the night... so i woke up this morning around 9am in a fair amount of pain. That was the longest Ive gone without pain meds... I felt like I wanted to throw up for a few minutes but I took deep breaths, ate some bread and peanut butter, then took some Tylenol. It's starting to kick in so I feel better now.

My doc said day 3 is the worst swelling wise, but luckily today doesn't seem much worse than yesterday. I have purple eyes but it's not too horrible. I think part of that is due to my good icing habits the first 2 days. So ice, people, ice (carefully)!! I started the Arnica gel yesterday as well.

How long did the rest of you take Vicodin for? Hopefully I'm done with the vicodin and just switching to tylenol now if i feel ok today. i think vicodin may have been making me itchy too.. maybe?!

Hoping this 3rd day nose pressure goes away soon... talk soon!

Wishing I stuck with Vicodin instead of Tylenol this morning, because I know you're not supposed to mix the two... Anyone else take Vicodin for more than 2 days? Have a lot of pressure/some pain in my nose now... The Tylenol hasn't kicked in in about 2 hours.. Ugh! It is bearable but not fun.. Maybe when I can take my next dose i will switch to Vicodin.

Let me know if anyone experienced this... Thanks!

It's already been 4 days... wow!! I basically feel the same as I have the past two days... my doctor said I'd be the most swollen yesterday but it never really puffed up too much more, yay! My bruises are turning more yellow/greenish today but they're really not too bad, i'll post a pic. Today my cast is really just starting to annoy me.... I feel like it is sitting there so heavily on my face and when I woke up I felt so claustrophobic! I had to sit in bed and breathe in and out because I felt like I was getting so anxious about it, but it's better now. So, I had a piece of bread then took my 2 tylenols, anti-inflammatory, and the antibiotics... I think all those pills was too much in my system for the morning after one piece of bread, so I got slightly nauseous, and ended up laying in bed and going back to sleep until 1:30pm!! Haha i felt like such a lazy bum, but when I woke up I felt a lot better and had some more to eat.

The rest of the afternoon I lounged around, I sat with some ice on my cheeks... I know it won't help swelling anymore but it kind of helped with the feeling of pressure on my face and made me more comfortable. Today I took my second bath, woohoo! Oh the little things :) I sat in the bath and bathed and washed my body, then my sister and rinsed my hair with a cup, and I used a small towel between my forehead and hairline as protection so the water didnt drip onto my face. and it worked well! You just have to be super careful about splashing that otherwise seems like nothing... even with shampooing there were little bubbles flying so I was just really gentle.

The last Vicodin I took was yesterday afternoon, and I was hoping that would be the last, but after this morning I ended up taking another one today at 4:45pm. My doctor said the average person takes 6, and since I was about around 8 I thought I should try to stop but after taking it a few hours ago I feel so much better. Maybe since I bled more than normal and my bone was 'harder' due to breaking it previously I have a little more pain.

I have been carefully cleaning my nostrils with q tips and hydrogen peroxide. Even though its only been 4 days, my nostrils are much more even than they were at first! The first time I looked at them i was like oh no!! Haha, so that makes me realize even more that patience is key!

I have another appt with my doctor tomorrow (Friday) at 10:45, before I get the cast off on Monday. He just wants to make sure everything is still secure and cleaned up; thats probably good because I don't know if I'm cleaning it all 100% correctly, I get queasy when I get too far up my nose with the q tip! Who knows what's up there!!

Talk to you all later!

Hi again!! I've been feeling pretty good! Yesterday (day 5) 2 of my friends came over and we hung out, watched tv, talked, etc... they didnt go running away from me so thats a good sign :). It was a little bit tiring since I hadn't been doing as much talking before then, but it was totally fine. Then we splurged and had Chinese food... it was all pretty soft so it was good! Probably a lot of sodium but oh well. Yesterday I had another post op appt with my PS and he basically just cleaned it up a little bit. He said to start loosening the dry blood some more with hydrogen peroxide and a qtip. Ive been doing that for the past day and theres 2 stubborn clumps (sorry, gross) that don't seem to want to leave my nostrils! Ill keep working on them and worst comes to worst he'll just have to tell me what to do about that on Monday (cast removal day!!).

Today was the first day I woke up not feeling like I needed pain meds ASAP! I only took one Tylenol and feel pretty fine with that. I can't wait for this cast to be off! I feel like I could totally like go out to eat or to the mall or something if it wasn't for this cast. After my appt yesterday I sat in the car when my sister ran an errand and kind of hid haha, oh well!

My bruising is getting better, its just under my eyes and close to my nose. It never spread throughout my face which is great. I can see close to my nose how bruised and swollen it is so I can only imagine how it's gonna look when the cast comes off!

I hope everyone is doing well!

I got my cast off today... I cant believe it!! It's been about 5 hours, and at first i wasn't thrilled but now i REALLY am! So, I took 2 tylenol just in case beforehand, and I'm kind of glad I did. Rewinding a little bit, my PS told me to take a hot steamy shower beforehand and get my head/cast wet in order to loosen it up. I was expecting the wetness of that to be really uncomfortable but it wasn't! So I suggest that to people before they get the cast off. I also poured some more warm water over my cast right before as well because it seemed like it was on there reallllyyy tight and I was scared of it hurting when it came off.

Well I got to the appointment and the actual taking off of the cast wasn't thattt bad. In a way it was relieving at well. It was uncomfortable and I felt some pressure but he took his time and was gentle. I imagined myself bolting to the mirror right after the cast came off but I got really lightheaded and had to stay laying down. Let me just say that I get lightheaded and pass out easily, so it's not that surprising for me at least! I thought I was prepared to look in the mirror because I researched millions of swollen 'after cast' noses. But I don't think you can be really prepared! Well I finally got a mirror and it looked kind of scary to be honest. The top between my eyes is yellow and green and puffy and there's indentations where the cast was sitting. I thought it looked too big still, but I know that's common right after cast removal. He took a picture of me then showed before and after. Looking at that, the front droopy tip from before looks soo much better and the profile is nearly perfect!! It's straight and as the swelling goes down will have a slight slope. The most swelling is at the top and bridge right now. I'm posting pics.

When I got home I started analyzing it and taking pictures I realized how much I already love it. I'm in love with the profile and how the tip goes up a LITTLE bit but not piggish (I hope it doesn't drop anymore though). I know I have a long way to go but I'm really happy that I went through with all this, and I already know how much happier and more confident I will be :).

The one thing I was not prepared for was the 'new' type of pain/pressure post cast removal. It kind of feels like there's still something sitting on it and I'm kind of aware that the bone was broken. Yeck. I haven't been moving around a lot, it's a weird feeling in my nose. Anyone else experience this? I guess I need to get used to life without a cast haha! My PS does not have me taping my nose, but he taught me how to massage it 3 times a day, which I'm kind of nervous to do (getting lightheaded from it).

I'm so so happy with my decision and I can't wait for life to get back to normal with this new beautiful nose :). I'm excited to see how it changes and de-swells.

Here's my little list...

THINGS I USED:
Vaseline- applied on the stitches and my lips all the time!
Arnica Gel- my bruising wasn't too bad so maybe it helped
Q tips
Tylenol (after a few days of vicodin)
Soft foods
U shaped pillow
Frozen peas-- very carefully applied on my eyes/cheeks up to 3 days after
...I'm sure I forgot things I'll update if needed

I didn't buy or use the mouthwash or arnica tablets.. My mouth was dry but a sip of water was fine for me when I'd wake up
What I wish I would have done beforehand would been to have gotten my eyebrows waxed for anyone that does that, because I don't want anyone touching my face now!

I'm so paranoid of hitting my nose... I'm literally going to be so so careful for the next 6 weeks and beyond!!

So I'm day 11 or 12 post op? I my cast off on Monday and today is Thursday. I've already seen SO many changes since I got my cast off! Like I said in my previous post, the first day with the cast off was not the prettiest... I know there are so many changes, but I was like, I didn't swell that much with the cast on so I bet my nose will immediately look good and normal!! Well it didn't because of the swelling and bruising and 4 days later it already looks so much better! I went shopping and honestly was excited to be in public and show off my profile. I still slightly have black eyes but covered them with makeup and wore a hat. I always wear a hat around for protection, haha I am so paranoid of something hitting my face!!

Oh yeah, my cousin came over yesterday who didn't know about the surgery. I didn't tell her before to see if she would notice... I was sure that she would think something was off... I said "notice anything different about me!?" she looked puzzled for about 5 minutes then said.... You got your braces off?!? Haha yeah, 8 years ago!! Then I told her I got a nosejob and she was like that's so cool!! Tell me all about it you look great! It was easy and she was super cool about it. She said she noticed after I said it but not before.

Happily still seeing changes in my nose every day, but honestly I'd be fine if it just stayed similar to this... the one TINY thing I would change is to have raised the tip a little more. My PS however did say that as the swelling subsides the skin around the tip will "shrink wrap" around the cartilage so it will appear less large and out. But I know no rhinoplasty is perfect and I'm so happy having the bump gone that the other details aren't that important!

I guess i was wrong on the # of days post op last time... It must have actually been 10, today is 12! I feel like myself again, I've been out and about wearing some makeup to cover up. I've ran into some acquaintances who haven't seemed to notice! I've been doing the nose massages 3 times a day as instructed by my surgeon. I'm not sure if I'm putting enough pressure on it when I do it because it kinda freaks me out, but I don't tape it so the massages are probably important. I feel like I still have stitches right up in my nostril... are they still supposed to be there?! Might have to email about that.

I'm still happy, it's amazing not having the bump there, when I talk to people from the side I'm not self conscious and I don't have to turn to face a certain way. I feel like the front view doesn't look that different just a little more refined, which is good because I'm still "me" and people don't immediately notice that something changed, but bad because I still think I have a slight curve to one side. Preop I always had a 'good side' from where you couldn't see the crookedness, and I was excited to have that change after surgery and be able to smile straight on, but I still see the curve and hope it goes down with swelling but I'm not sure. If not it's not a huge deal because it's still a lot straighter than before. I also am concerned that if the dip drops anymore it will be droopy still... he said the tip should get more refined as swelling goes down but I'm not seeing how that will possibly improve much! Overall though I am still super happy, of course now we all just notice every tiny thing :). I really do feel prettier and better about myself!

Hey yall! So, Im at 2 and a half weeks and my nose is still changing for the better everyday. Still a lot of tip swelling, or so I hope!! Besides that there is some more swelling on certain days than other, but it's not all that bad. I'm honestly so much more confident already. I started a new job a few days ago and don't think I would have been so willing to meet people if I still had my old nose. I just feel like it's one less thing to worry and stress about!!

A few things I've learned along the way is that you CANNOT compare your noses to other peoples... compare it to your 'before' nose. A nosejob is not getting a NEW nose... it's an IMPROVEMENT of your old nose!! As my PS pointed out before the surgery, nothing on your (not me specifically, just everyone) face is symmetrical... if we were all to analyze our ears or our eyes or eyebrows or our smile like we analyze our noses, we would find that they were all asymmetrical also. I'm not trying to make everyone crazy about everything, haha!! I'm just saying we've never noticed those things because we don't obsess like we do our noses, and others aren't obsessing over our noses like we are so they don't notice the little things we do... get it!?! Haha this has really helped me along the way so I'm trying to relay it as best as possible :).

Do your research, I came into it thinking, OK whatever I don't care just get this bump off my nose!! I ended up with an amazing PS because my parents and I did do our research but I was also really impatient so I'm lucky I had such a good doctor. I also realized the importance of them being ENT/board certified in otalaryngology... ok totally just butchered that spelling but oh well haha.

Well, this review was all over the place, but I am posting some pics :). All in all, I am super happy, i love having a straight/slightly curved nose, still deff waiting for some more definition and the tip to come in a little bit, but its 100x better than my old nose!! I still have a 'good' side in which I like my new profile better, but the other side is awesome too :). Woohoo!

Its about 3 weeks post! My life is basically back to normal! I'd still say I have tiny residual bruising, but it's not really noticeable. I'm loving my nose and I feel so much better about myself. I cant even imagine still worrying that the only thing people are looking at is my nose. I love being able to show off my profile! I'm still in that phase where I don't know if people know/notice yet. Most don't until I point it out. I saw a family friend who didn't know I had anything done, and the first thing she said to me was "You got a haircut!!" (which I did). I was just like, yeah!! Now when I dress up and try to look nice there's not that one gross thing holding me back, my nose! I never felt like I could be truly pretty before.. I've never had issues with my body or hair or whatever, but as hard as I tried I could never look beautiful because of my dang nose!

So most people don't notice til I say something, then say "oh yeah i see now, wow it looks good but u were beautiful before too etc etc!!" So I'm here thinking that people didn't really notice my big nose before, but something happened last night that made me wonder if everyone's just being polite when they say that. My mom told my aunt (her sister) about my rhinoplasty and I was fine with that, she's super sweet and was really supportive and cool about it. But my uncle was definitely drunk last night and is kinda obnoxious... and when we were over last night he goes, "Hows your nose feeling! ... Yeah, good move on getting that fixed... It was reallllyy f****d up before!!" Then he kept going on and on like, "Yeah, you looked good then on the side it was like WOAH your nose goes out so far, what happened to her? A big nose is fine on your dad because he has a bigger head, but on you it was like oh my god." I was sort of speechless but I acted like it didn't bother me and I (fakely) laughed it off. Ugh... should I be offended or happy that it's fixed now?! On one side at least he was being honest... on the other side it's like you still shouldn't make fun of someone, is that what people thought of me for 20 years?? Then I wondered if he even would have noticed my nose if my aunt hadn't told him about my nosejob beforehand! Who the heck knows... well at least it's gone now! It was just kind of awkward, and I'm definitely kinda mad at my uncle... it was just kind of inappropriate. It's obviously something that I was self conscious of, so why go on a rant about it? That was my first experience of someone being rude about it so maybe I'm being oversensitive!

A small concern I'm having now is that there seems to be a tiny ball of scar tissue forming right inside my nostril, like if you follow the incision up into my nose. I can feel it and you can see it if you look straight on from the side. My PS said I could put vitamin E oil on it so hopefully that helps. Other than that I seem to be healing nicely. I'm still hoping some of it evens out, there is a tiny bump on one side which I think makes the front look crooked. But I may be over analyzing as usual :-). I don't think my front looks that different from before, the main thing is the profile. I get steroid shots on Thursday so I'll see if that helps with swelling. Nose hasn't changed drastically from the last pics I posted but I'll post some more soon, maybe after the shots.

Good luck to everyone preparing for their surgeries!!

Hey RS! Today is june 21st, and my surgery was may 20th. Things are going great. The little ball of scar tissue I discussed last post is definitely getting better. Whether it was time or the vitamin E oil, it's healing. Now I feel like my nose def looks smaller from the front so I'm happy about that!!

Today I went back to my PS and I got a steroid shot to help with the swelling. I was expecting for it to hurt, but it didn't! And I'm TERRIBLE with needles!! I was expecting the shot to go on the outside of my nose but it was a short way up my nostril. He said it is still swollen but not too badly, and that I may or may not need another shot in a month. He took some pics, I actually didn't see the uploaded before/after in his office but I'll ask to look next time, he seemed kind of rushed. I had some questions for him like if I can wear my glasses, if this one certain little bump is swelling or bone... but I kinda forgot to ask when I got in there. I don't remember if I've mentioned this before, but my doctor is some major eye candy.... a hot surgeon... you cant get much better than that can you!! Haha I had to mention that. I don't even mind going in for these appointments because he is easy on the eyes ;-).

Anyways, I'm posting some pictures. I hope the tip swelling continues to go down. Also, I have been exercising farily regularly. I started running at 2.5 weeks. At first just a short jog, but now I feel 90% normal while running. It's just taken a while to get my stamina back. My doctor said I could run the day I got my cast off... I was like uhh no thanks haha. I've been really careful not to bump it still of course.

Let me know if anyone has any questions or anything! It was one of my best decisions! It does not, however, fix every imperfection on your face and make you perfect. But I do feel so much better about myself and I feel awesome now. Attached are some pics!

I really cant believe today is 6 weeks! Today is Monday and my surgery was on a Monday, so exactly 6 weeks. Things have been going well. Nose still feels a little hard/tender. If i graze it when im washing my face or something I can feel it. Blowing my nose now feels weird since the tip is still tender and I don't want to move it too much!

My only concern right now is that there's a little white line/spot looking thing on one side of my nose. I didn't even notice it until my mom pointed out, but now its definitely noticeable to me. That is a spot where it's also the most swollen-- so I'm hoping that it could be temporarily discolored from swelling, maybe the skin is being pushed out there or something? But of course there's always gotta be that one little concern huh :)

I love being able to stand next to people without feeling so self conscious about my profile. The other day, one of my coworkers told me I was an exact replica of Kristin Davis (sex and the city) because our faces looked alike... I think I have to thank the nose on that one!! I do kinda wish it was a TINY bit smaller or more upturned/scooped, but it is nice and natural and i'd rather have that than a piggy nose.

Good luck to everyone embarking on future surgeries! The only thing I can say is to be super clear with your surgeon about what you want, don't leave any regrets!! I will post pics soon.

Not all these pics are from 6 weeks, i will label them!

hey real self! its been a while!!

life with the new nose is going great. it really does seem like i had this nose all my life!! theres nothing much more to report... i definitely see changes in my nose every day! some days i feel like it looks perfect, some days i think it looks too big. but, all in all im really happy. ive had no breathing problems or anything!!

one thing i will say to people who havent gotten the surgery yet... you seriously do NOT need to fell the need to tell people youre getting a nosejob!! i was freaking out before and for some reason felt soo compelled to disclose it to people just to get it out of the way. when in reality, most people don't notice, and for the people who you do want to tell, you can just tell them after!! i mean, id definitely tell my family and best friends and bf etc. But before, i was like oh my gosh I should tell my friends to get it out of the way... wrong! i regret telling as many people as i did.

I had a post op appt today. My Dr said I didnt need another steroid shot. I am still swollen but he said hes careful about giving out a second shot so the skin doesnt thin too much. The white spot I talked about in the last post is definitely getting better, so hopefully it was just swelling! I do still feel a little bump on the right side of my bridge which gives the appearance of some angles having a small bump, but oh well. I mentioned that to my PS today and he said, I mean nothing on us is perfectly symmetrical. its true!

my tip is still hard... i feel like i cant blow my nose normally! but my dr said everything is healing beautifully and im basically free to do anything now, like go in the sun and all that.

I'll post some pics!! i love all you realselfers and even though im not posting as much im still following your stories!

Adding some more pics!

Adding some updated pics! I don't have too much more to report. My nose feels good and functionally is great. I do wish it was more scooped and more upturned but I don't know if that's me getting too picky!! I love that I'm not self conscious though. Posting pics!

I'm at over 3 months post op and I'm loving my new nose. I love being able to get close to people's faces or turn to the side without worrying my nose is in the way. I feel more confident and wish I did it earlier. People at university haven't noticed yet or at least haven't said anything. The ones that knew think it looks great and natural. I can tell the front swelling is going down and it's looking much more even and straight. I love looking at before and after pics! I still sleep cautiously to not roll on my face still and occasionally glasses will start feeling uncomfortable if they're on for too long. My scar is barely noticeable. Overall it's great!! I can breathe perfectly as well. Posting pics

Hi guys!!

Sorry that it's been a while! I'll just to a quick check in. I am seriously loving my nose! It was so so so worth it, and I TRULY cannot believe that I didn't do it sooner. I wish i did it before college, not at the end, but everything happens for a reason right! Basically the bump is just all gone and the front is STRAIGHT! I'd say it's 95% straight... I look at old pictures and I'm like wait my nose was really that crooked from the front? Now even though my left side is still my 'good side', I'll take pics from front on or from the side without finding that 'one perfect angle' that we all know too well. I'm really happy about that! I almost forget how bad it used to be! Again, it;s a pretty subtle change but all the things I hated were gone. For the first few weeks/(months?) post op it seemed so crooked to me still, like how it was before, and I was like omg Im gonna need revision. But now it's all evened out and straightened naturally (i was directed to do some massages) and swelling is going down. So i hope that gives people hope. Also, my nose is becoming less dry with the tip less hard even though it is still slightly numb i feel like. Sometimes in the mornings my nose will feel sore like I rolled onto it, which I still will not do. Well I hope you all are doing well! Let me know if you have any questions. Ill post pics

also... my new nose is NOT perfect!! i still feel like the left is a little more scooped than the right and the tip is not as elevated as i would like, but what the heck in life IS perfect?! you just have to accept the improvement. im not self conscious anymore which is the biggest thing. i just wanted yall to know that you dont need a perfect new nose to be happy with it! also, no one at college has asked about it that didn't already know it was happening. ok, pics to come!

I can't believe it has been 6 months already! Well, 6 months and about a week to be exact. Let me just say that this was SO worth it. Honestly I have never been as happy in my life as I have been these past few months - whether it has anything to do with the nosejob, maybe or maybe not. But I think it has to because I just FEEL so much better about myself! And I know I wouldn't with my old nose.

I'm just so happy now to have a 'normal' nose - no, it's not perfect, I would say I wish it could be raised a little higher or slightly more slopey, but no one will ever be 100% happy about anything on their bodies. I think the biggest thing is just recognizing the improvement, not the perfection, and now you don't have a nose you don't need to obsess over :). I used to come on this site every day multiple times a day comparing my nose to others, but that's not healthy, and I finally stopped obsessing and taking daily pics :). It definitely is still de-swelling and getting smaller and smaller though still. The scar isn't noticeable at all anymore, even when I point it out people can't really even see it. I dont even know if I can see it!! It's natural and no one has asked me about it that didnt know. So, do NOT feel obligated to tell people before, I regret telling as many people as i did. Sometimes I see people looking and I wonder if they're wondering, but hey who cares! I forget that it happened now haha so i think others do too. i feel like this is the nose i have had all my life.

if youre preparing for an upcoming surgery... do your research, be assertive with what you want, don't rush it, and take it easy recovering!! but like i said, i would do it all over again if i had to. it was worth it. my nose is not perfect, but thats unrealistic. im so much more confident and feel like i can be pretty without something always in the way!!

also, be patient! i have a picture from the day i got my cast off and my nose from the front looks so crooked and scary like there was a bone going to the side... i was freaking out... now the front is literally like 95% straight (does anyone have a 100% straight nose?! doubt it :)) and the sides have evened out alot. one profile is still slightly more slopey than the other, but i feel like only i notice that. so i did not think it could ever get straight after getting the cast off, but it did!! ill try to find those old pics. i will post new pics :)!!