Rhinoplasty: Stories

Ever since I was younger, I've always hated the bump on my nose. It wasn't until recently that I started to take it seriously and want to get it fixed. I saved up some money and scheduled a surgery date with another surgeon. As the weeks went on, I felt it didn't feel right, I cancelled it and moved on. After reading all these reviews on Dr. Ciardullo, I decided to make the drive to go see him. I made my first visit with him my preop as well as my consult and already scheduled a surgery date before meeting him. Immediately, while stepping into the room, I felt it was right. After talking to him, I definitely felt as if he knew what he was doing, and I felt that he will give me a result I am looking for. Before telling him what I saw wrong in my nose, he told me and I agreed. He showed me the operating room, which was very nice knowing where you'll be before hand, it actually made me feel a lot less nervous about the whole procedure. My cost included the cost of the Anastasia. For my case, he will be taking down my hump, shortening the length and raising the tip slightly. He wrote me a prescription of valium to help with my pre surgery anxiety. I'm really excited to come back in a couple weeks for surgery and I'll update then :)

One week till my surgery. I'm starting to get a little nervous. I've been taking 500 mg of Vitamin C three times a day and I'll start taking arnica 2 days before surgery. I'm more worried about going under Anesthesia than anything since this is my first surgery. Hopefully I won't start to freak out too much over the next week leading up to my surgery.

Tomorrow's the big day! I'm more nervous than excited at this point. Bobbie, the receptionist, assured me everything would go great. My surgery is going to be at 8am. Wish me luck :)

I did it! I just came home from surgery and boy was it a breeze. I took a valium in the morning and I think it helped me a lot. I was pretty calm through the entire thing. I met with the nurse and the anesthesiologist who were very nice and made me feel very comfortable. They took me out back, I changed into a hospital gown, and signed a piece of paper. Dr. C met with me and showed me a couple pictures of noses that were similar to mine and went over what he would do again. I then walked myself to the operating room. They put leg compressors on my legs that squeezed them to keep circulation going (kinda like a leg massage lol) He put my IV in, and I kept talking. Next thing you know, I felt really weird, and boom! I was in recovery. I was really confused for a little bit with ice packs over my eyes. I drank a little too much large sip of water which made me feel nauseous, but it was only for a couple of minutes. Before surgery they did give me Dramamine. Surprisingly, I can breathe out of my nose just fine. I've been icing on and off and taking my arnica. I have not taken any pain medication since the surgery at 9 am. I feel no pain, and I feel really great. It really was a breeze! I really like how he raised my tip even though the splint is on top. I can't wait to see it next week. The only thing I'm worried about is bending my nose somehow by icing it the wrong way or letting too many peas touch my splint.

Day 2- I still don't feel any type of pain or discomfort whatsoever. I did take a pain killer last night before going to bed just in case the pain would set in the middle of the night. I woke up and still feel great. The swelling is not as bad as I thought it would be. I like the way my tip is raised even though it's covered by a cast. My throat was a little sore yesterday but today it's a lot better. I'm able to eat perfectly fine I just can't open my mouth too wide. I've resumed my normal activities and been up and about making sure not to do any heaving lifting of bending over. I honestly could not have asked for a better experience than yesterday. Everyone was so nice and it went so much better than I thought. Only 6 more days until I get my cast off. I'm excited but nervous at the same time.

Day 3- This morning I woke up and my heart was racing and I was feeling really dizzy. I have not taken any pain meds (just the first night before I went to sleep). I called Dr. C and he told me if it got worse to give him a call and probably need to go to the hospital. I decided to take some Tylenol and thank goodness that helped. I still feel a little off but not nearly as bad as I did this morning. My bruising is pretty much gone, my eyes are still a little dark but barely noticeable. My nose is clearing up also. I've been sleeping with a humidifier and using saline spray to clean my nose. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel a little better.

Day 4- Still feeling dizzy/light headed. I really wish this feeling would go away. It's not as bad as it was yesterday but it's still kind of annoying. I can kind of breathe through my nose. Last night I slept only waking up once which was nice. My throat is still sore, I've been trying to eat soft foods to help the soreness. Other than that, all is going well, no discomfort or pain.

Day 5- Yesterday I decided despite my dizziness to go walk around and do something instead of sit at home all day, and that really did the trick. By the end of the night, I felt great. My throat is still sore, it doesn't seem to be getting any better which sucks because I'm really hungry but eating is quite painful to swallow. The pain in my throat is concentrated on the left side only. I bought some throat comfort tea and am going to try to stick to a liquid diet today to see if it helps by tomorrow. If not I'll call my PS to see if what I'm experiencing is normal. This morning was also the last day I took my antibiotic so hopefully tomorrow I can wake up being dizzy free! Only 3 more days until the big reveal. I keep trying to analyze my nose and imagine what it looks like. I'm having a hard time cleaning my nose since the smell makes me nauseous and really grosses me out. I try to use the saline spray, it's not painful or anything the smell is quite unpleasant. I can breathe out of my nose, but not enough to stop mouth breathing. I've gotten used to breathing through my mouth so it's not as bad anymore. I really do miss sleeping not semi upright.

Day 6- called about my throat ps said it's prob from the tube down my throat. I've been drinking some yogi throat comfort tea religiously and it's helofed a lot. I'm ready to get this cast off

Tomorrow I get my cast off! Wish me luck! I'm excited but nervous at the same time. My sore throat is fine today, thank goodness I can resume my normal eating habits. Other than that, all id good and I'm literally itching to get this cast off.

Got my cast off today. It was a really bizarre thing. I always thought of myself being really happy once the cast came off, but to me, my nose looked almost alien to me. Even though I liked it, it just didn't seem to be my face. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss my old nose lol, but I guess I was expecting a different reaction. Dr. C assured me that my reaction is normal it's just going to take some getting used to. I guess I was used to seeing myself for so long, now that it's different it's very dramatic to me, but in a good way. Getting the cast off was pretty uncomfortable since I have dry skin it stuck on pretty well. Nothing unbearable though. Dr. C made the process pretty quick. I do have some swelling, which I was expecting, now I just have to be patient.

After a couple days of looking at myself, I LOVE my nose. Every time I look at the pictures of my old nose, I thank goodness I went through with it! I don't miss it at all. The swelling is getting better day by day. It's still tender to the touch, but that will get better with time. I've gotten a lot of compliments on it at work, and I think that too helped me realize that it really doesn't look weird. It was exactly what I've wanted. Thank you everyone for your comments and support :) I'll keep updating as time goes!

I am exactly two weeks post op. I can finally breathe pretty well with both nostrils. My tip is still swollen but the swelling between my eyes and bridge has gone down. My nose has gotten really oily but the rest of my face is dry. I've been washing my nose area very gently a couple times a day. I think after one month I will start to use my clarisonic around the nose area. I've been using saline spray and Q tips to help clean out my nose. I love looking at my profile in the mirror now! I feel a lot more confident when I go out. I have no issues smiling and I feel like my facial expressions have gone back to normal.

One month post op:
A lot of my swelling has gone down mostly on the bridge of my nose, but my tip is still tender and swollen. I noticed from the side, my tip looks over projected but I'm assuming that's just from the swelling. The skin on and around my nose have gone back to normal. I am still not 100% clear breathing, I'm still using the saline spray but I am able to sleep and breathe through my nose all day. I blow my nose to remove as much of the build up as possible. I have noticed that I have two flesh colored bumps inside both nostrils attached to the septum. Does anyone else have this? Other than that, everything is going well, I can't wait for the months to come to start to see my final results.

2 Months- I can finally completely clearly breathe! It took almost exactly two months for me to not wake up all stuffed up. The bumps inside my nostrils have gone down a lot, I stopped using the saline spray since I don't feel like I need it anymore. I have noticed the swelling is slowly going down, and now my tip has a couple lumpy spots that are hard to notice to others but myself. I'm assuming it's just from swelling/scar tissue breaking down. Still really happy with my results!

4 months- Can't believe it's been 4 months already, the results are getting more and more defined. My tip is still tender if I bump it and I can still tell that there is swelling in that area. It is slowly but surely going down. The bumps inside my nose one one side are gone, but the other there's still slight bumps. My tip isn't as hard as it used to be, but still a lot harder than "normal" noses. I am no longer fearful of bad photos. I love photos being taken of me now. Getting this done was the best choice of my life. I feel like a whole new confident person.

It's been 10 months since my surgery and all is well. The bumps inside my nose are gone and my tip has gotton a lot softer to the point that I think it's normal softness now. The only thing I have now is a very small lump on the side of my left nostril. I can feel it if I gently touch that side, but you can't really notice so it doesn't bother me. I'm going to start to massage that area and see if it goes down by the 1 year mark. Other than that, I don't have any problems whatsoever. My breathing is fine, everything still looks perfect. I am so happy that I went on and did that.

It's been one year and I'm very satisfied with my results. The only thing that I see that is a slight issue is I have a little bump on the side of my left nostril that I can feel but it's not really noticeable. My breathing, smell and everything is perfectly fine. Having this surgery changed my life. Now that I feel good about myself, it's motivated to do other things. I'm eating healthier, exercising, ect. I don't think I would have ever had the push to do so because I was so self conscious about my nose. It's so nice to not worry about my nose daily. It's the last thing I think about now. I finally feel free and before I felt trapped. I can't think Dr. C enough for his amazing work. I'm very thankful I had the opportunity to do it young. Thanks to everyone that supported me on here, if it wasn't for realself, I wouldn't know who to choose as a surgeon.