Rhinoplasty: Stories

Hi everyone! I've been following this site for a while now and finally joined as I have scheduled my first consult for rhinoplasty for next Wednesday 3/1!! I'm SOOO Excited and could not be happier :) I've ALWAYS hated my nose!!! I've been reading through so many posts and it makes me feel better to know there are many more people out there like me!!! I too have had a lot of "comments" regarding the large size of my nose every since I was in grade school. I have a very small frame (5'7" and 110 lbs) so it makes my nose seem that much larger. I have my Dad's nose and while I think a larger nose on a male looks better, on a female it definitely does not. My husband is behind me 100% and I've only told one very close friend who supports me whatever I do. I actually had scheduled 2 consultations back in 2002 but I was in high school yet and my parents were very against it. 11 years later I *think* I'm finally ready to go through with it. My biggest problem is that I am from the Toledo Ohio area and there is really only one doctor that I feel comfortable even scheduling a consult with as he specializes plastic surgery of the face. I've read post after post that said to schedule consultations with a lot of different doctors but what do you do when there are slim pickins????? This doctor is definitely board certified, and what I really like is that he volunteers in missions to South America to perform surgery on people with facial deformities. If after my consultation, I do feel comfortable with him, do you think that one consult is enough???? I really don't have the means to travel hours away for a surgeon....

Oopsies!! Just realized I commented instead of updating my review!! So today I took the plunge and told my twin (we are not identical) about my wanting to get my nose done and it did not go as I wanted it to... I actually was not really wanting to tell anyone until a firm decision was made but at the insistence of my husband I did go ahead and tell her. Now we are really close and I do tell her a lot but a part of me didn't want to tell her. Her first response was "WHAT, WHY?" And then followed by the typical, "YOU WANT TO LOOK LIKE MICHAEL JACKSON" .. umm no... I'm not a very confrontational person so I just basically told her I'm going to do it and didn't feel the need to further that with any more of an explanation. She then confided that she was thinking about possibly getting her stomach done because after her daughter was born it never looked the same but she justified that with "but your nose has been like that forever, my stomach isn't" UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just kind of wish that people would realize that I understand how much of a big deal this is. I would not voluntarily go "under the knife" if it wasn't something that I seriously despised!!! It's not something I just decided overnight, it's been probably about 15 years in the works now and I've gotten to the point where I'm flat out sick of feeling this way about my nose!! UGH!! Ok rant over :) Now on to search for some plastic surgeons in Michigan, hopefully not too far away :)

Sorry about this one too!!! This was actually March 6th!! Still getting used to posting on here :) Eventually I'll get the hang of it!

So my first consultation was TODAY!!! I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY (I could go on!) Liked the PS!!! He really did put me (and hubs) at ease! He was amazing at fielding questions too!!! He had asked me what it was about my nose that I didn't like and I ran through the list of everything I despise about my nose and he came up with an attack plan of how to correct everything and even said that he would give my nose a nice curve (which is something I really wanted but didn't outright say)! He was very professional and when he was explaining what he was going to do, he took a look at my face and basically said we aren't going to give you a tiny barbie doll nose but something that more compliments your face :) He also will not pack my nose once the surgery is complete... hallelujah since I've read so many reviewers about how horrible that experince is ;) The downside... I did ask him how many surgeries he performs per year and his answer was 5-6 per year because that's what the area requires, which I believe because Im not from a very large town and quite frankly, I personally have not come across very many people who are unhappy with their noses!! I am definitely going to sleep on it for a little while, but really that is the only downside. I was talking it over with hubs and I thought outloud... in my opinion, the most difficult surgery would be that of conjoined twins... there are not many doctors who perform this surgery routinely but there are great surgeons out there that could perform this surgery well. So that being said, although he may not do very many rhinoplasties per year (however he has been practicing for 20 years) he is a really good surgeon. Board certified, FACS... I also saw a number of before and after pictures. I was happy with the results I saw on noses that were similar to mine :) I did not however like the results of patients that were not similar to mine but it could just be personal preference.... Soooo let me ask you.. what do you think????

Yikes on all of these updates! A lot of reviewers have RAVED about the work done by Dr. Golden in Troy Michigan. However, there are a couple patients that gave him poor scores and not just for his bedside manner, but for bad work done. Sooo... how does one make a decision based on some really great reviews and some really bad reviews??? It sounds like he is the go to guy for revisions which means he would most likely do a good job the first time around (one would think!!) I guess this is all just SOOO MUCH INFO and becoming overwhelming!

I feel like I have a much better grasp on finding a surgeon THANK GOODNESS!!! Thank you to everyone who has offered opinions and suggestions :) I created a spreadsheet (I'm a spreadsheet type of person) listed out surgeons I found that had good ratings on ratemds.com and here and entered tons of columns mainly certifications that I want to see them. Then I went on each certification website and looked up each one individually to ensure they met my qualifications. After that I regrouped them based on board certifications and noses I like. I have a new front runner, Dr. Sabbagh and I will be scheduling a consult with him soon :) I also found a few at U of M hospital, Ann Arbor and Ypsi! Starting to get excited again :) More and more though I am falling in love with Dr. Sabbagh's noses. A lot of the pics on his site are "my" nose and I just love what he did with them :) So we shall see but hoepfully this new grouping of Dr's will be more promising :) FINGERS CROSSED!!

Well I have another consult :) I'm scheduled to meet with Dr. Sabbagh on Wednesday April 17th at 5:15. UGGH so far away! Since I live in Ohio, I had to schedule a late appointment to give me and hubs some time to drive up to Michigan. He takes late appointments Mondays and Wednesdays and since Mondays hubs and I are in class (we are both getting our MBA's currently) Wednesdays are the only days that work. I also requested a consult from Dr. Youn who was (get this) scheduling consults ..yes consults... for Jan of 2014 (nope not a typo!!). I was told that he does not work on any revisions (which mine is a virgin nose) nor does he work on any functional issues of the nose which makes me hesitant! I dont have any breathing issues but I would prefer a dr. that does work on those things to give me peace of mind.. so I do not feel at all like I am missing out on anything by not going to him. They did refer me to Dr. Schenden and Dr. Golden however. I'm going to set up a phone consult with Dr. Golden and possibly Schenden as well, but I am really excited about Dr. Sabbagh because I love his pics and I've seen great reviews from him. He also passes all of my "checks" in my excel spreadsheet! My surgery would hopefully be set for August 12th (I graduate August 9th so it would kind of be my graduation present!) ... hoping this all works out well :) The only downside is telling my parents.... my dad is a deacon and both him and my mom have expressed their concerns over this when I wanted it done in high school!!!!

EEEEK!!! I was so stoked to get back here and update my status!!! I have found THE ONE doctor!!! I had a consult today with him and absolutely positively LOVED HIM!!!! He answered all of my questions before I asked them, and instilled a lot of confidence in me with this procedure!!! I have not yet set a date for the surgery but most likely it will be August 12th (I graduate with my MBA August 10th and I just want to get it done!!) He will be performing a rhinoplasty/septoplasty to help me breathe a little bit better too :) Narrowing the bridge while bringing the hump down along with a deprojection of well pretty much the whole thing!!! I'm really confident in his credentials and he is pretty much everything I"m looking for :) Oh I should probably mention his name too! It's Dr. Sabbagh :) Heard a lot of wonderful things about him and I've experienced a lot of wonderful things so far :) I'm really starting to get excited that this is becoming more REAL!!! :)

Oh I should mention... Dr. Sabbagh does about 60-70 rhinos a year, compared with the other surgeon who did 5!!!