Rhinoplasty: Stories

Well lets see, I am 40 years old and as birthday present to myself, I have decided to get my nose reshaped. Since the age 15 I have had a love hate relationship with my nose. I hated it when I was younger, being tall slim and having what I consider at big nose, feeling very awkward. I couldn't afford to do it then on my own and my parents didn't support the idea. My first husband said he really didn't want me to change it because he liked my nose...so again it was tabled. I then decided that I needed to accept how G** had made me and embraced looking exotic,striking, a little ethnic, different. Yep these are the words that have been used to describe my nose. Hahaha I tried to go with this for a few years. However, whenever I saw a picture of myself I was still surprised that nose was still on my face! Just to explain, my nose is a bit wide at the bridge, has a bump too, slightly hooked, points a bit down when I smile and the tip is a boxy. Overall distracts from the rest of my face. The Dr. said it is hour glass shaped. Not exactly where the hour glass should be huh!?

This past January was the tipping point when a beautiful picture of my daughters and myself was taken and the nose looking longer droopier than ever. And I made the decision. My present wonderful husband is happy with what ever makes me happy. :)

I researched Dr.s and narrowed it down to four. One in Omaha, LA, and two in Seattle. After two consults here in Seattle I made my choice. I have scheduled the surgery for April 5th! Yep just a couple of weeks to go. I am excited and nervous. Mainly my nervousness is about the outcome...and the excitement is that it is going to be different!!!! Better. I am posting this because I have enjoyed and found great comfort in reading about other peoples experiences through this process and hope I might help/share/comfort/support others out there. I will continue to post through my experience. Pictures will be added later.

I added some pictures. and honestly I hated doing it. I guess I really don't care if anyone out there knows me...if they're looking at this page maybe they want some work done too :) I hated doing it because there's my nose for all to see...
I hope you can see the wide bridge and bump and droopy tip. Also the big smile pulls it down and makes it look so long with a round ball tip.
13 days to go :)

I have been gathering old pictures so I have reminders of why I am doing this as well as a reference for after. Also to compare new results as the emerge through healing. :)

Ok geez today this friend of mine I have known for years. Who knows how I feel about my nose and also knows my surgery is in a few days sent me this link!
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/31/living/kinsman-nose-beauty-essay/index.html?iphoneemail
Yup a whole article on how this woman learned to love her bigger nose at age 40!
I just don't think my friend gets it. I don't love my nose. I have tried and have decided to change it! Ugh.

Today got my prescription for meds filled, cleaning house, wrapping up job stuff, picked up arnica, and still need to get groceries. I have a schedule for my kids to follow : who's taking them to school, walk the dog , helping their mommy :)
The excitement of all of this is really sinking in. I have wanted to do this for so long and now it's really going to happen! Wow! I get really caught up in what the final result will be...and the truth is I just don't get to know until I have the surgery and after it heals...geez not easy for this girl who likes instant gratification.
I am trying to just let go, and know that it is going to be better than what is.
Surgery in 3 days!!!!
The weird thing is I still don't know what time the appt is. They are going to call me the day before with that information. I just hope it's earlier than later! I love to eat breakfast :)
I guess I am nervous because I can't seem to stop writing...blah blah

Tomorrow is my big day!!! They called with the appt time 8:15 am. Perfect. The first one of the day. Also I wont have a chance to get too hungry for breakfast :)
My plan: Have a small salad and drink plenty of water this evening. take a valium and go to bed tonight. Get up at 6:30 get the girls off to school and then my bestest girlie friend is taking me to my appt. and bringing me home.
I am so excited! My nerves have calmed down a bit, but I am still a little anxious.
Thank you all for the support on this site! It has been incredibly helpful.
There are a couple of you who have just had your surgeries and all your tips are great! Thank you :)
Wish me luck on a great outcome!!!!!!!

It's done!!! The whole experience with the surgery was perfect!
I had taken a valium the night before which helped me sleep but I think the residual from it kept me calm in the morning. I got there right on time, filled out some papers and as I was doing that, Dr. P walked thru the lobby, saw me, and said "Hi good morning, how are you? are you ready?" All smiles. Everyone at the office treated me like an old friend, and were all relaxed and friendly. I could hear in the back ground the Dr say that he was ready, and the other person say " terrific, early start time".
I was getting hungry, so I glad I was the first appt of the day:)
I first met with my nurse and went over a bunch of post surgery info,then met with the Dr to review my desires of the outcome, then met my anesthesiologist. I then followed him in the OR and I lay on table and my nurse covered me with heated blankets. The Anest, started my IV and my patient care woman Janet was there talking to me, stroking my hair and before I could say another word I was in the recovery area. Felt nothing!
The strange thing to me is, I woke up in the best almost elated mood, happy and feeling great!? I had a sip of water and a couple crackers with my pain meds. I am very grateful for the pain meds. There is a lot of pressure and just general discomfort,
My nurse was with me and helped me get dressed. Dr. P came in and smiled and let me know it went great and he thinks I am going to really like my new nose. I thanked him and off I went in a wheelchair to the car.
I was very surprised to not have a sore throat, no bruising, feel great, breath through my nose a bit, and have no nausea....It was a perfect experience as far as a surgery is concerned :)
I will write later and fill in on the recovery part a little later...must rest :))

When I got home I was feeling pretty surprisingly good. The bruise under my left eye was different every time I looked in the mirror. It got a little bigger, darker, more red, then black, then faded, then came back...I kept up the pain meds every four hours thru the night. Didn't sleep well at all. In fact at some point I woke up on my propped pillows and freaked out grabbed my cold compress, threw it and caught myself almost trying to get the cast off!!! In the morning, I thought I was doing so good I could drop down to one pain pill every 6 hours. The swelling started happening between my eyes and under the bruises. The tip is so hard and the skin is pulled really tight it feels a little itchy. The right side of my tip is sort of bigger than the left, I am assuming that is swelling.
By the last afternoon I was not doing well at all. I had gone for a stroll around my neighborhood which was great and then just felt awful. Congested, pressure in my face and neck, a little shaky. My friend who is taking care of me decided I needed to be back on more pain meds. She was right! I feel more comfortable now back on 2 pills every 5 hours.
It's not so much pain as it is discomfort and the meds just make it tolerable.
On the upside my appetite is fine and I have been drinking TONS of water. Swabbing the nostrils with hydrogen peroxide is very soothing. I tried some saline drops in the nose but they just made me feel more plugged up. Think I will wait a couple days to do that again.Aquaphor on the lips constantly because of mouth breathing. I have been so caught up in how I am feeling that I have almost forgotten what this is all about! My new wonderful nose is healing under all the bruising and swelling :)) I realize tomorrow I still might be pretty uncomfortable...but am hoping that the swelling will soon be on its way going down instead of growing.

I think the swelling peaked yesterday at Day 3 post op. Today everything is about the same except my nostrils have soften up...meaning I can flare them, silly I know but they were so swollen and had no feeling. Flaring them feels kinda good. There is still swelling on my cheeks and in between my eyes but I don't think it's getting worse. My bruises look like reddish purple war paint under each eye (lovely). The bruises don't feel like anything just look bad. Honestly I feel like I have been punched in the nose! People on this site and other places have said it's not painful...well I would say there is some serious discomfort! I have a tremendous amount of pressure in the whole nose area and a constant vague throbbing headache. And my eyes might be a little sore from the swelling...I hope I am on track to seeing the out come :)
I have been keeping up on cold compresses, arnica, lot of water,( yep ) a laxative, short walks, and rest. My spirits are a lot better today!

I am speechless! Will write later...amazed

Wow! I can't believe my eyes! My bump and bridge width are gone!!!

Let me back up to taking off the cast, which I did myself per Dr's instructions.
I took a very long shower with water soaking my face. I hopped out and tried to work the cast off, but it wouldn't budge. Knowing how tender my nose is I was sweating bullets afraid I was going to bump it or make croaked! I took the suggestion from a friend, here on Realself, and applied oil under the taping. I put it on a Qtip slid it under the tape and gently lifted up. Off it popped! Revealing my new baby nose :)))

I am so impressed with my doctors work!
I am having very mixed feeling about how it looks on me. I just love the profile, which I had hated before, but the front is strange to me. I am not sure if it is the swelling of tip or what, but it looks long and seems to lack definition? But I am sure as the swelling goes away and time I will adjust to it. I think putting my make up on and kind of looking normal again will help. My stubborn bruises are not helping me feel normal.
The skin where the tape was is getting oily and I have a large black head (gross) by my nostril. I think I am just going to gently wash every day and night, apply hydrogen peroxide to affected skin area then gently moisturize. We will see how that works...
I am so happy I did it!
I will post pictures of healing along the way.
I can not thank all the people here on this site enough! Your stories and kind encouraging words were so needed and appreciated!! The support was wonderful!
xoxox

My daughter came home from school and we greeted each other. I asked her about her day and offered her a smoothie. We chatted in the kitchen for about 10mins then sat down across from one another and drank our smoothies. I was smirking at her and she said "What?". I said "Well, I was wondering how long it was going to be before you noticed my cast was off". She just about fell over!! She hadn't even noticed! i will take that as a good sign that i still look like myself ;))

Just a little update:
So today being 8 or 9 after surgery, my nose is still swollen. If I touch the skin on the bridge it is soft and kinda of squishy and still very tender. I don't know how to explain that very well. hmmm ?. I am still trying to sleep elevated but I woke snuggled on my side this morning and there was a little dent on the side of my nose maybe from my hand? It seems to be more swollen in the morning...the dent went away after being up for a while. The skin on my nose is back to normal with the exception of a little flaky skin where it was very swollen. I have been washing my face with gentle face wash and applying non oil moisturizer. I don't think it is so normal yet that I can apply makeup with out it looking dry...hopefully soon!
I still have congestion in my left nostril, the right is clear :) I want to blow it so bad, but was still instructed not to.
I am loving new nose even with the swelling :) All the things that bothered me about my nose are gone! Amazing! Yes I probably should have done this a long time ago...but never too late :)))
I am going to meet a friend for a walk today bruises and all...Oh can I say how wish those bruises would go away!!!!!
Not needing Tylenol really, meaning the headaches have subsided... :)))

Nose is still swollen and tender. And my football bruises are still there :( I tried to cover them up but it didn't work very well... Here are my day 10 pictures.

day 12 after surgery. I had closed rhino by the way...I can breath pretty good, but still have a little congestion (swelling inside). My nose is still swollen. The swelling that happened after taking the cast off is about the same. I can see just the slightest changes in contour above the tip. I had tiny spreader graphs put in just above my tip, where it was pinched, and that area is hard and swollen still which looks like a little bump. I am very happy with my new nose. It looks very natural I think. I wonder if I should have had the tip slightly more deprojected and up? my nose appears long...maybe it's to soon to really tell. Or maybe I am just obsessing because it is so new?
I have my first post op appt tomorrow and I am excited to see what Dr. P thinks :))

Had my post op appt this morning day 13. I have to say I love my Dr! He is just amazing! Personable, attentive, honest, good at what he does, and very reassuring. His staff are all wonderful and like I said before treat me like an old friend :)
So he says I am healing great and that for 2 weeks out it looks fantastic and will only get better. In 2 more weeks 80% of the swelling will probably be gone but there will be gradual changes over the next few months. He confirmed that the spreaders take longer to heal and release the swelling. Also the changes made to the tip cartilage as they heal will very slightly lift the tip...so maybe I will be pleasantly surprised :))
Again we revisited my before pictures and I am really ecstatic that I had this done.
Next appt isn't until June :)
I will post pictures after my bruises are gone...

Day 18 post op- Back to work today. My employees were very nice with comments like "Oh wow you look so beautiful!"or "It's just perfect!" "It suites you so well that nobody will probably notice, just that you look good" I am lucky to have such nice employees! I just pretended the bruises weren't there :) I had one suspicious customer say "and why were you gone for 2 weeks?" kind of fishing for an answer to my bruises, but I just said I was out for spring break with the kids and went on with work, smiling.
I did run into a friend of mine last night that I have know for 11 years...At first he said "oh man did you break your nose of something?" referring to my bruises. And then he said "wait a minute!" he was studying my face "Your BUMP is gone!!!!" I turned soooo red and then told him about it... He said I look great and he was happy for me :)
I went to a hockey game tonight and some young 14 year old boy asked how did you get your bruises? I was trying to think of some clever story but just said I had some nasal surgery.

I have a lot of other friends that do not know...hopefully my bruises will be gone by the time I run into them too :)
I am soooo tired after being at work all day. Not sure if it's because I had 2 weeks off or if it's because I am still healing?
The bruises are fading...they are about half as big as last week...still can't wait for them to be gone!
I went through my before pictures from my Dr's consultation and wow! I am so glad I did this!!!
He had taken a picture of me smiling really big from the side and seriously you can see inside my nose hahahaha Not anymore! Granted I can't smile all the way yet :)

Hey tomorrow is 1 month post op for me! It has gone by so fast.

My nose doesn't hurt anymore like when I wash my face or give kisses. The tip and midsection feel stiff like wood and the skin over the bridge is still a bit squishy. Maybe it just hasn't shrunk down to size yet...which would explain why I can see some pores that I never saw before. I still have some swelling where the grafts are and have developed a couple of little bumps along the bridge. Nothing you can see but I can feel with my finger. Hopefully these are what they call callus' and will shrink down with healing. When I put on my make up I can feel along the sides where the bones were broken, but it's not sore anymore. I have just a small reddish spot left from bruising under my left eye and a tiny smidge under the right at this rate they will probably be gone next week. I can't believe I have had bruises for a month!!!! I tried the arnica tablets and gel. My verdict on those is still out. I am sure it works for some, maybe not me. :)

When I get up in the morning it looks swollen, but within a 1/2 hour its back to its healing self. Honestly day to day I have a hard time seeing it shrinking. It is when I see a picture that I really can tell the difference. Eating salty Thai food in particular makes my nose swell the whole next day :( which I have done a couple of times.

I like my new nose ok. It is an enormous improvement...it is not my dream nose hahahaha but I guess it suits me.
Oh and I had a customer say "Wow you look great! You have really slimmed down!"( I haven't) I didn't believe my PS when he said people will think you lost weight. Hahahahah
My daughter is going to take a couple pictures and I will post them. :)

Here are some pictures of my new nose a 4 weeks. I sure don't look my best, it was a long day and my kidlet took the pics :)

I have to just say "THANK YOU" to all of you wonderfully positive kind angels out there! All your positive words and thoughts have carried me through this process, and I am so incredibly grateful for all of you. :) Your support, questions answered, comments, stories and feedback have made this experience amazing. I thought I should have done this 20 years ago, but then I wouldn't have been able to share with all of you, and have this added experience. Any doubts, insecurities, and negative thoughts have been lifted.
I think this site is wonderful!

I am going in for my 2(+) month check up today...update later with pictures.

I just got back from PS and I got 2 shots in my nose!!!!!!! Scary for sure!...I was sweating bullets and thought I was going to pass out!!! But it wasn't too painful and was over really quick. Just the idea of it was scary and seeing it all completely awake. Lets hope it helps with the swelling above the tip. He said I will notice probably by the weekend...He said there is fluid/swelling between the skin layer and the cartilage and that the cortisone shot will help the healing.
So now after right after the shots: there is a little swelling where the shots were placed and I have a headache. The headache could be from me stressing out over the whole experience though :) I will post a couple pictures this weekend.

question to all you of out there in Realself land: If you have had steroid injections after rhinoplasty, did you find them helpful? Did you notice any changes? And were you pleased with this procedure?

Here's a quick profile pic

Hey, what a hectic summer!
I have missed you all :(
I will update with 5 month pics next week...and look through and see how everybody is doing :)