Rhinoplasty: Stories

I am nearly 23, and I have absolutely hated my nose since I was 13. It is something that I think about daily so I am excited to finally start feeling better about myself.

So I am less than 3 weeks away from my surgery. I am getting so anxious - now that I know it's finally happening, I just want to get it done now. I think about it every single day!!!!!

My surgery is only 2 days away. I just started reading other peoples reviews and didn't even think to stock up on anything to help the swelling and bruising or what I was going to eat. I am so nervous I actually feel sick to my stomach. I feel like once I get my nose done, I'm either not going to like it, or I am going to find something else wrong with me and start obsessing over that. I am praying everything goes well with my surgery and I don't hate my new nose.
I only booked a week off of work, but judging from everyone elses posts, I will need more than that! I guess it's a wait and see game.

DAY ONE:

Wow, that went alot smoother than I thought. Woke up at 4am to make the long drive out to Seattle. Everyone there was so nice and made the process so much easier. I did some paper work, talked to the doctor, then went and had a nice nap. Woke up with a lot of pain, but it quickly went away after the pain medication.
The drive back to Vancouver area went pretty fast. I have been bleeding quite a bit, I hope it's normal to bleed this much...... hoping it subsides by tonight. I have only taken a few pain pills and they seem to be working well. I have VERY black eyes but it is all worth it.
So far, I'm in a really good mood and so happy I went through with this surgery. Even with the splint on and gauze under my nose, I can see a difference. My doctor said it will take a month to see the results and 3 months to see the final results. I am so excited. It looks awesome already!!!!!!!!
I will post pics as time goes on.

Day two/three:

Wow, I feel like I got run over by a semi truck! Day two was a pretty uncomfortable day - I spent a lot of it sleeping and reading but day three is much worse. Thankfully these pain meds make me sleepy so I have been able to sleep okay in the recliner chair at night and I have been having naps here and there throughout the day.

Usually I am the one doing the cooking and cleaning and taking care of the house so it has been SOOO nice to have my boyfriend take care of me. He made homemade chicken noodle soup last night and ran out and got me magazines, ice cream sandwiches and a smoothie. It's such a weight off my shoulders knowing I can spend the next week focusing on recovering instead of stressing about cooking and cleaning.

My eyes are so swollen right now I can't open them all the way and my nose is so stuffed up, it's driving me nuts! I want to blow it sooo bad. I tried having a shower and cleaning the bit of dried blood on my nostrils with a q tip and warm water but it's not helping. It's a very uncomfortable feeling.

Hoping today was my peak and the swelling starts to subside soon.

Day three/four

Oh man, I spent all of last night throwing up everything that was in my stomach. Must have been the pain medication that made me so sick. I was also in and out of conciousness a lot yesterday. I took my dog outside to go pee and ended up laying down on the grass and falling asleep.
All I know is my body does not agree with those valium or vicodin or whatever I was prescribed. I went to the doctor and got tylenol 3's instead which aren't as strong. I haven;t started taking them yet..I'm a bit scared I'll have the same reaction, so as of right now I'm not taking any pain killers. It's a really uncomfortable feeling but it's not too painful.

Woke up on day four super tired, probably because I don't have any food in me.
I have to go to the bank for my brother which I am not looking forward to doing. I look like I got hit with a semi-truck. Hopefully no one says anything.

day five: Possibly the worst day so far. Not much pain but I feel A LOT of pressure under the splint. I don't think I am healing as fast as the average person does. My cheeks are beyond swollen, I look like a chipmunk and I still have really black eyes - the bruising is fading into a yellowish color but still very ugly!
I can't breath through my nose at all and have lots and lots of snot dripping out. I constantly have a tissue up to my nose. Not sure if this is normal?
My body still feels exhausted. It had a hard time just putting laundry in. I broke down and started crying today - I just want to feel normal again. I hate this feeling!!! I can't wait for all this to be over and to see my new nose.
I get my split off in 2 days which is exciting. (But I do have to make a 7 hour round trip alone...boooo for having a surgeon out of my country)

WOW! It was totally worth it. I had to hold myself back from crying when I got the splint off. It's still SOOO swollen and tender, and the tip is probabaly bigger than it was to start with, but he said it should be almost half the size it is now. It's still soo hard to smile.
I still look like myself.. but now I don't see a huge nose when I look in the mirror. It's the weirdest feeling - and it's only going to get better. I can't even describe how excited I am right now.

Day 9:
My nose is stillll realllly swollen - I do realize it will take a long time for it to de-swell which stinks. Also, my skin is super dry. I have been trying to put foundation on my lingering bruises but it just turns into a dry crusty mess, almost worse than not wearing makeup.
Overall, I am sooo happy with my nose. It's like a weight lifted off my shoulders. Finally, that voice inside my head has STOPPED. Wow, what an unreal feeling. I'm so happy I went through with this at my age also, instead of having insecurities about my nose throughout my life.
The only part I am trying not the think of is how much this has cost me. Not only the 7,000$ for the surgery, but taking 1.5 weeks off work, plus the extra costs on top of that..gas/meds, etc.. yikes. It is all paid off, but sometimes I think I should have paid off my student loan with this money....
I try not to think of the negatives much as this is a dream come true for me! So looking forward to seeing my nose more refined and less swollen!!!!!

Day 11:
I am back to work tomorrow. I am actually pretty nervous about it - I work with behaviourally challenged children and special needs children in schools and it ends up being a pretty physical job. I regularly have to pick up younger kids freaking out, I've gotten scissors to the face, I get stuff thrown at me all the time. I guess I will have to be extra careful this week not to bump my nose.

My nose is still as swollen as it was when the splint got taken off. It's so numb and the tip is rock hard. It's hard to wash my nose area so I end up mostly just splashing water on it which is making my skin pretty bad.
I can't believe how much weight I have lost too! Oh my goodness. I have been eating like a pregnant woman yet lost 7 pounds (on my less than 100 pound frame). I can't wait to finally take my dog for a run, poor girl. My PS surgeon suggested I wait another week to raise my heart rate since I am so far away from him and he doesn't want me to get a nose bleed.

So far I am still happy with my nose. Especially when I look at old pictures. I met with a friend for the first time today and she couldn't even tell I had my nose done - until I showed her the before pictures.

3 weeks:
my nose is still sooo swollen, it feels like a big potato on my face. I think at first I loved it because it was such a difference and I was expecting the tip to shrink with time. I know I still have a while until I am fully healed but so far I am like 50/50 with my new nose. It's definitely better than before, and I know a doctor can only do so much but I am not as happy with it as I thought I would be. I guess time will tell..

I officially hate taking p

2 days away from one month post-op. My nose is still super swollen and the times I do bang it or hit it on something, oh my goodness, it hurts like hell! The tip is numb and I hate touching it because it feels so weird.
I am starting to notice a big bump on the bridge of my nose. Just like I had before. It's not squishy, it feels like bone. Something to bring up with my PS.

I thought I would be so confident about the way I looked after this surgery but I am still suffering from self confidence issues. I guess it is something deeper than hating my nose. I definitely do feel better about my nose, but I don't love it like I thought I would.

Just wondering if anyone has had that injection in their nose to help the swelling go down? Is it painful?

Today was my one month post op appointment. The nurse who assisted my Dr during the surgery said I was still really swollen which I expected to hear. My dr came in and said I was still swollen 30% in the tip and it will take a while for it to subside. He tried to give me some cortezon shots but I panicked. I had just spent almost 4 hours in the car and hadn't eaten yet (it was 1pm) so I refused the shots but I so wish I had done it! I told him I would call him in a month when I'm ready to do it so I can get someone to drive me there and pop a valium before I head into his office. Maybe that will help. Instead, he gave me some tape to put over my nose at night to hopefully get the swelling to go down. I'm a bit disappointed that he didn't think I was super swollen in the tip..... I guess it's a wait and see game. I will try to get some pictures up in the next few days. Although, it doesn't look any different than before!

Added a couple new pictures. Happy with the way it looks in most pictures that aren't taken with my Iphone. I'm trying not to come on this site much and stay positive about my recovery process.

Oops - I meant pictures that I don't take of my self. The new pictures are from my phone but just aren't so close up!

Almost 3 months post op. I am starting to get feeling back in the tip, finally. Still not happy with the size of my nose, and I'm guessing it won't get any smaller than it is now. It doesn't feel swollen anymore. I'm actually crossing my fingers my Dr isn't happy with it either and I have to get a revision.
On a positive note, I don't think about my nose like I used to.... So I guess in a way it was worth it.

So I gave in and got the injections in my nose. Wow, what an awful experience. I passed out stone cold twice! Woke up to my feet on my doctors shoulders and soaked in water that they put on me. I'm horrible with needles but I've never been that bad. I felt so stupid.. I was in the office for an hour, trying to regain consciousness.
Anyways, that was four days ago. I do notice a little bit of a difference. The tip doesn't have as much of a ball at the end like before. But I'm still not happy with it. I made sure my Doctor knew that... but he just kept saying how good it looks. I have 8 and a half more months. If it still looks the same, I will raise a bit more hell to him.
Other than that, things are the same. Back to life!
I've added an updated picture.

Wow, I wish I could erase everything I wrote previously and wasn't so impatient with my results! About a week after the injections in my nose, the swelling went down drastically! I actually love my new nose. It feels weird to say that.
Finally, four months after my surgery, my nose looks how I wanted it to. I now have a cute, little nose.

6 months post op. I rarely think about my nose now. Just wanted to update with a couple more pictures. :)

Ugh, so I am 7 months post op and I feel like my nose is changing drastically.. and not for the good......... the bones in the bridge are protruding, making my bridge look wide. My tip feels like it's turning downward and the tip also seems like it's getting bigger. I went from hating my nose, to not hating it but still being self conscious, to loving it, and now I am going back to not loving it.....

I'm going to make an appointment with my surgeon tomorrow. My only issue right now is him being so god damn far away. I guess I'll just have to do my Christmas shopping out in Seattle :)

So my doctor confirmed with me that I will be a candidate to get a semi-revision. Definitely to remove the bump that is on the bridge. He did mention there was a 10 percent chance of this happening. We are going to wait a full year and see if the swelling in the tip goes down. Hopefully it does, but if not then I think he will work on that as well. I'm over the moon. Plus it is only going to cost me 204$.