He Destroyed my Nose. :(

Finally found a good one of my original nose! It was so big and long! It was so close to my upper lip I used to stick my tongue up it to gross people out, lol. As you can see the tip was very bulbous and looked like a butt cheek. It worked fine though and I had no trouble breathing like I do now. :(

Here are some pics taken yesterday. I'm hoping to have my revision with Dr. Reish within the next 6 months. I don't have any good pictures of my original nose as most of my photos and everything else got destroyed during Sandy.

I hated my nose my entire life. It was large, ugly, and had a huge dorsal hump with a droopy/bulbous tip, and a mild deviated septum. It was always a source of embarassment-- when I was a kid the other kids used to call me "Jew Nose" and throw pennies at me. (kids back then were rotten little [RS bleep], but what does not kill you makes you stronger, right?!) However, I was able to breathe perfectly and never had any respiratory problems. When I turned 50, I gave myself the gift of a nose job because I worked hard all my life and figured I deserved it. I chose Dr. Parker because he had very impressive before and after pictures and he was in my state.     He and his staff were very nice. I felt comfortable with my pre-op visits, and my surgery went well. However, after the surgery I was never able to breathe well and it felt like there was a lot of scar tissue inside my nostrils.  When the cast came off there was swelling inside the inner portion of my right nostril by my septum, and I went for injections of steroid 2 or 3 times after which helped minimally (I believe it was not really swelling as much as a very deviated septum with scarring post-surgery).  Also, the left tip was firm while the right tip was soft and kind of shapeless.  From the side my nose aesthetically looked better, but I could not breathe well out of either nostril and especially the right.

     As time went on, it got worse and my right nostril collapsed to the point where it became basically a little slit that I could not breathe out of at all.  My nose also has twisted more and more to the left. It kind of looks like Voldemort from Harry Potter from beneath. I also developed allergies--which I have never had in my entire life--as well as a constant runny nose and post-nasal drip. I have never had any of these problems before in my entire life.  

     I never went back to Dr. Parker because I figured if it wasn't done right the first time, then how was he going to fix it with a revision rhinoplasty which is a much more complicated surgery? I went to an ENT who said I had severe nasal collapse and referred me to a plastic surgeon in my state. I went to him and he said my nose was so bad that I would have to have a septorhinoplasty done with rib or earlobe cartilage grafting. He said he couldn't do it but suggested a specialist at a university in PA.  I never went.

     For 6 years I have been scouring Realself to find a really excellent revision rhino surgeon.  The only ones that sounded good were Dr. Nassif (can't afford him and he is in California, actually thought about applying to be on Botched but my husband said my nose isn't jacked up enough, lol), Dr. Ion in London (Really can't afford or want to go to London!) and Dr. Toriumi in Chicago.  There wasn't anybody with that kind of rep on the East Coast, until recently when I began seeing all the reviews about Dr. Reish in NY. After 6 years of worsening breathing, I am finally seriously considering a revision rhinoplasty with Dr. Reish, and had a consultation this week. I am very excited--and terrified--but I love his results, he has a great bedside manner and was kind and down-to-earth. His pictures and reviews speak for themselves.  I do believe I am going to go for it. I am waiting for my insurance to pre-auth the part that will (hopefully) be covered, and then I will schedule my appointment!

  I know this was super long, but after all these years I really felt that I should post this, so as to avoid anyone else going through what I have gone through.  Had I known this was going to happen, I would have stuck with my ugly-but-functional original nose!  At least I was able to breathe.

     I will post some pictures after my hubby gets done making me a little more anonymous and blacking out the eyes and stuff. I'm not good at the technical stuff.  And I will definitely update you on my revision process!! :)