Rhinoplasty: Stories

I had an open rhinoplasty last December to correct a bulbous tip and generally large nose. The surgeon I selected assured me that my goal for my nose--which I illustrated using Photoshop--was both realistic and attainable. Surgery was fine; I felt no pain during. When I awoke after 3 hours of surgery--an hour and a half longer then expected--I was very uncomfortable, but not in a large amount of pain. My nose bled for about 4 hours and my face, especially eyes and cheek, blew up. I was very swollen and bruised for about 7 days. Recovery was a debacle. About 4 days after surgery, I went to the E.R. It was sooo painful to swallow and I hadn't been able to eat anything. I thought maybe the breathing tube used during surgery scratched the back of my throat? They never figured out what was causing all the pain--worst pain I've ever felt! went to the hospital finally after breaking down in tears! It went away after about a week. I had something called 'dissolvable' packing in my nose, which sounded very nice (I wouldn't have to go back to see the Dr. to have the packing removed). Unfortunately, the packing was hardly dissolvable and took a very long time to come out! The cast came off on the 7th day and my nose looked swollen and 'poofy.' The Dr. said that the majority of the swelling would subside and I would be very pleased with the thinner, less protruding nose underneath. Six months later my nose looked almost exactly the same as it did prior to surgery, but with an ugly scar on my 'columna' and an assymetrical interior that was very noticable--deviated septum, from a broken sutre. I was very relieved to hear that the Dr., too, was unhappy with my result and did not dispute any of my disatifaction. We decided to do the revision a year from the original surgery date. The Dr. would charge no surgeon's fee, but I would have to pay for the facility and anethesia--an additional $2,000 after already paying $5,500. The Dr. says he will be using a different surgical approach this time--removing sections of cartilage and sewing the remaining parts back together. This sounds like a nightmare, but I didn't spend so much money to have the same nose. I'm scared, but hoping for the best!!