21, Rhino/Septo/Turbinates. - Scottsdale, AZ

I used to be conscious of my nose ALL. THE. TIME. It was negative baggage that followed me everywhere. I'd catch small reflections of myself throughout the day - car mirrors, building windows, whatever - and have the same depressing thought of "Yup, I still look like Snape." Well ... not anymore! I can honestly say that I'm no longer focused on (or even thinking about) my nose during everyday social interactions. My new nose is by no means perfectly straight - it's still a little crooked and the right side is a little bit stronger - but it's still *me* and that's all I wanted.

I'm still waiting on the *official* before/after photos but will post them once they arrive.

I got bumped in the nose.
It was the absolute most physically painful thing that has ever happened to me. I'd just showered, meticulously cleaned my nose, taped it, and was about to go to bed when I made the mistake of going downstairs to chat. My boyfriend's 6'4" 200lb little brother went to pat me on the head (WHY?!), and at the same moment I leaned back in my char. Wabam. His giant, hairy gorilla hand palmed me in the face. It was an instantaneous explosion of pain, I immediately screamed and sprinted into the bathroom. Blood started pouring out of my nose and I started hyperventilating. I was convinced he'd broken it, that I'd had the cast off for one damn day and now I would be back to having some crooked f'd up thing on my face. It's hard for me to say this, but I truly broke down emotionally and was sobbing, and shaking, and sitting on the floor while my nose drained blood into my mouth. The pain subsided and was completely gone about 5 minutes later, but it still took much longer (and lots of supportive words from my boyfriend) before I could actually stand and look in the mirror. It was extremely swollen, and full-feeling, but otherwise still looked centered on my face. It was around 2am at this point and I was extremely exhausted, so I miraculously passed out after calming down.
I called my PS immediately the next morning and he was extremely reassuring, that he'd never seen a post-cast removal blow to the nose significant enough to ruin someone's results. I also had been having some odd nostril swelling, and the sutures in my left nostril had peeled back and dried, which he assured me wouldn't permanently affect nostril shape.
All of this happened two days ago, my nose is fantastic and my nostrils are looking great. I don't think getting hit on the face did any lasting damage. My nose feels stronger everyday and is much less tender/painful to touch. I almost have my full smile back and am back to being able to eat everything. :)

"Do you look like Michael Jackson now?"
No. The dude had like twenty nose jobs. Nobody likes or wants his nose.

I used to resent him growing up for giving rhinoplasty a bad name, but if you think about it ... wow. It's really sad. I love my results, but holy crap I will not be happy if I ever have to go through this again. Can you imagine the self-loathing he would have to have experienced to do this TWENTY times? In addition to all of his other surgeries? To have that cast taken off and, again and again, hate your results? To not be happy with how you look, to the point where the tweaks outweigh this miserable recovery ordeal? That's horrible. I can't imagine being trapped in such a dark place. And because this guy suffered from an addiction rhinoplasty has earned a stigma.

Anyway. I still like my nose. It's surreal to not have a bad side. :)