“Septoplasty / Rhinoplasty in Less Than a Week! - San Diego, CA”

Cost is after insurance btw, my portion after deductible and 20%...in other words, my total out of pocket for the procedure.



I had surgery for a deviated septum when I was 15 due to breathing troubles. Now at 37, it's become clear that my surgeon back then botched the job and failed to fix it (which was confirmed by my new surgeon) and I swear that my nose became bigger since that surgery too...maybe my nose was over-packed after the surgery or I dunno. It just seemed bigger; more bulbous, and has only seemed to get bigger over time. Some of you will think I'm blowing this out of proportion, but when you only have one person to look at in the mirror your whole life, you become quite the critic of yourself, and sometimes the worst enemy to your self esteem.



A combo of my decreasing patience for my breathing issues combined with the onset of Asthma 3 years ago finally drove me to start looking into it in the wee hours of the morning a month or so ago. Now less than a week away from surgery and getting nervous as I type this thinking about it! lol.



I'll post some post Op pics as they become available, and for now, here's my before as taken by the doctor last week =)







Updated on 19 Dec 2011:

12/19/11 11:04pm Had the surgery today! So easy to try to 2nd guess the work and look for perfection on day one through the swelling and bandage, but reading plenty on here prior to surgery let me know not to even bother getting too worked up at all. Surgery was quite lengthy. Went under around 11:30am and was under until about 2:30 or so. Since it was a setpo/rhino combined with a fracturing of the nose and cartilage graft from my ear.



Anyway, my ear is a little sore, taking my meds and just watching tv. Oh, and plenty of internet/facebook! Really wish I could push the fast forward button on my recovery, but I know it's going to take some time. Wish me a speedy recovery and of course, your prayers are welcome!Updated on 21 Dec 2011:12/21/11 3:40pm



Definitely deep into the regret phase of the recovery. Starting to nit-pick the minute details and overplay every minor imperfection. But, as I've read on here before, this IS normal. Looking forward to getting the stitches out and getting a few more days into the healing process. I think not wanting to go out looking the way I do is a big part of my poor mood at the moment, a minor bit of nausea, you name it...just feeling blah. I'll update after the stiches are out on friday. Hopefully by then I'll feel better as well. Supposed to go to work that evening too where I work at a liquor store. May make a little paper sign so I don't have to tell everyone the same story ;-)Updated on 22 Dec 2011:12/22/11 10:22am 3 days post op.



Yesterday evening I finally started to feel better. Decided that being a people person, I'd rather go out and chat with my neighbors outside rather than hide inside the house. Turned out to be a great call. Enjoyed their company, got some free sympathy out of the deal, got my mind off myself for a while and got some fresh december air here in San Diego.



With the ear cartilage graft, not only am I limited to sleeping on my back, but also must keep my head tilted slightly to one side to keep any pressure off the ear. Finally found a pillow setup combination that works for me last night. Sleeping at night was measured in 15-30 minute spans at most the last few nights, but last night was able to get a couple 2 hour stints in as well. I decided to have a snack and take the vicodin in order to help me sleep and dull the minor ear pain and it worked. Feeling somewhat more optimistic now on day 3 regarding my recovery, but will prob feel even better after my appt with the doctor tomorrow morning.

Updated on 23 Dec 2011:
12/23/11 12:00pm



Just got the stitches out and bandage off and now, the LONG recovery really begins! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Right now, hard to see any difference due to the swelling. It of course looks worse for the most part than prior to surgery. Must wait for swelling to go down over the next few months/year until a final verdict can be made about the overall procedure. For now, feeling relieved that all the "scary" parts are over with!

Updated on 28 Dec 2011:
December 28th, 2011 9:50am - 10 days post-op...

Slow recovery. Don't expect big gains day to day...just small increments. Woke up feeling pretty decent this morn. At this point, my columella is still pretty numb due to the "open" procedure I had done. Wondering WHEN my nose will start to feel normal? I know it will take a year to get the permanent look, but my nose is still feeling sensitive and delicate where I can feel it, and curiously numb around the incision and upper lip below the nose.

Starting to really look forward now that majority of the discomfort is behind me. Looking forward to better breathing and seeing my nose take shape!

Updated on 28 Feb 2012:
2 months, 10 days post-op. Sorry to say I can't give a "Worth it?" rating yet. Still need more time to see how things settle.

Had some up and downs emotionally and to a lesser degree physically since surgery. But overall, I think it's an improvement. Cool thing is, the girl at my doctor's office had a "rhino" done a couple months before me I assume, and from the time I had my first consult until now, her nose looks much better(swelling subsided).

Nose is still sensitive, and tip and columella partially numb. Seems the sensation coming back will take quite some time.

My nose already looks better post op at 2 months than it did prior to surgery since I had a bulbous type nose. So for me, that is a plus. Someone with a skinny nose that was just trying to remove a hump may feel dissatisfied for a longer period of time as their nose would look wider for a long time until the swelling completely went away.

Overall, it's been a rollercoaster of emotions, hiding inside the house while my nose is taped even now...I think if I knew what I'd be going through again, I may have seriously re-thought going through the process, but now that I'm this far into it...feeling better about things.

Updated on 9 Apr 2012:
110 days post-op. Added a pic I just took with the webcam. Doing ok. Haven't been obsessing with my nose for a while now. Breathing has been better, although there's been some details about that. My nostrils have smaller openings than before making it harder to clear blockages if you know what I mean. So, fairly often, theres a temporary obstruction until it can be blown out or tweezed out.

A higher nostril arch on one side is noticeable, but not killing my social life or anything =P Also, Also, the center portion between my nostrils isn't directly in the center...but still going to wait that out. And on the pic that I've leaning back on, you can see that one nostril opening is a bit larger than the other. Is was more pronounced several months ago, but things are evening out.

I've learned that even if many of our noses aren't the way we'd like them to be prior to the surgery, that many of them are very symetrical. Being that a doctor is human and leaning over the operating table for hours, it may not come out as symetrical as it used to be even if there are improvements to the overall size and shape.

I went in on the basis of breathing difficulties and was diagnosed with a deviated septum. Insurance usually covers these type of procedures. Although there are some details regarding that...I had orig been planning to have to shell out approx $2k for my portion.