Rhinoplasty: Stories

So I've decided to go ahead and get rhinoplasty surgery on my nose. I've thought about it a lot for the past 2 years and had my first consultation with a PS in the DC area. At that time I was not in a position to even think about having surgery, mainly for financial reasons.

I am 25 now and as I get older I see that my nose fits my face less and less. It didn't quite bother me as much when I was younger. I discussed the issue before with my parents but I never really pushed the issue with them, I was busy enjoying my time in HS and college and not worried about my nose. In general I am happy with my appearance. I am an attractive girl and have a lot going for me (career/education wise), but being self conscious about my nose has gotten to the point where I dislike looking in three way mirrors or certain pictures because of my profile.

This isn't even due to "societal" influences or celebrity pictures, but my own personal ideas of facial aesthetics. During my consultation I am also going to bring up the idea of a chin liposuction, since you can see from my profile that I have some jowls and may as well improve my entire profile since I am already undergoing a surgical operation.

I've gone ahead and applied for various forms of cosmetic credit as I cannot afford to pay for the surgery in full but have a stable income and can definitely afford the monthly payments. Unfortunately, I told a few female friends about it and they were not very supportive in the matter, thinking it was overly superficial, etc. While I understand their side of the matter, it's not necessarily just a "vanity" thing for me but also to help me be more self confident and bolster my next step in my career.

The reason I decided to get the surgery now is that I am in optimal health (minus a slight heart murmur), am applying for new jobs within my career (looking for a promotion, essentially), can afford to pay for it and made the decision on my own as an adult. I also have a good chunk of vacation time in April that would be ideal to heal over. Additionally, since I think elective surgery is not a joke nor was it an easy decision to make (due to anesthesia, surgery of the face, etc) I am thankful of being in DC and having access to the areas top surgeons. Here's to hoping it works out - I'm going to keep updating here and I figure out more information/set the date!

So now things are getting a little complicated. I've been approved for various forms of cosmetic credit and now one of the appointments/doctors I am seeing doesn't take it. So I've scheduled 2 other consultations. Things are getting a little annoying at this point, hopefully I like the doctors I can see who accept cosmetic credit.

So I finally picked a date and a doctor. Pretty excited. I really clicked with Dr. Lindsey and he accepted the cosmetic surgery financing options I had originally picked out. The date is about 6 weeks away and I am pretty nervous but overall really excited.

My whole life I've been told I was cute but every now and then I always get comments on my nose and the bump that is on it. I don't think it's held me back per se but when I see pictures of myself I think they look great but you always focus in on the most noticeable feature: my nose! Dr. Lindsey is going to remove the bump and bring in the tip. He thinks he may not even have to break my nose, which is great news.

Anyway, I used to check this site like 5x a day and be really scared, but I think now that I've set the date and have things figured out I am much more calm and just excited. Also, finding Dr. Lindsey has helped a lot. I had 2 consultations with him and he's just been amazing. I am really excited to have him be the surgeon to help me out with this procedure.

Surgery today! Things went fairly smooth, as in the fact I'm still here. Got to center at 11, into surgery by 12:30 pm. My doctor almost had to cancel because HE was having medical issues over the weekend (irregular heartbeat). Luckily, he felt better last night. We went over what I wanted again, then basically right into surgery. Felt a little pain when I woke up so they gave me more meds.

Taking lots of meds right now. I was feeling weird about the whole thing b/c I haven't told anyone about the procedure. I kept it private from family, friends...even my roommate who took me there and picked me up didn't know what I was really having as a procedure until today. Now that it's done its finally a weight lifted off my shoulders......like I don't have to hide this anymore.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty tired, groggy. I'm walking around and texting, etc but...I am not able to do much. Lots of swelling on my face. They say to ice it but its really tough to keep the ice bags on my face. I have a feeling I'm going to feel way better tomorrow.

Day 2 - So I didn't mention at the time yesterday that at some point I did throw up. I thought I was suppose to take my anti-swelling medications and anti-biotics yesterday but I wasn't suppose to start 'til today. My doctor said he told me all that but I guess I was too foggy to understand.

Today I did a lot. I probably woke up every 4 hours or so last night because my tongue would get so dry I couldn't move it anymore. I was a little more active today...ate some eggs and bread.. still avoiding dairy as per doctors advice. Then I had an appointment where he cut off some of the bandage and took out a little gauze (he doesnt "pack the nose") and I could breath better. So far no bruising, lots of swelling in my cheeks. I'm very uncomfortable but not in much pain.

I had to wear anti-clotting tights yesterday and she said to keep them on for 3 days since I wouldn't be moving much...but I actually moved around a fair amount today so I decided to take them off. Anyway, the doctor said the surgery went well, he did have to break my nose (he wasn't sure originally) and he de-projected my tip (that I can definitely tell..but said not much bleeding. He said from here on out just to be careful not to bump it and if it starts to bleed a lot or I start to get into a lot of pain than I need to call him.

I did pick up a few things from the grocery store and sure got a lot of looks...also probably because of how weird/tentative I was walking. Oh well. Only 6 days and this cast comes off. So far it's really not so bad... just annoying. Plus its gorgeous here so I want to be outside running around and having fun, lol.

So technically this is the 2nd day after after surgery. So Day 2 or 3...whatever. Today has been the worst, actually. I'm more swollen today, bruising around my eyes (yellow-black bruising) and slept most of the day. The doctor said swelling today would be the worst. If this makes any sense, today I can actually "feel" that my nose is broken. I'm not in pain (taking tylenol only) but I'm all congested. I probably slept for most of today. Again, no pain, pure discomfort. I can breath through my nose actually, making sleeping really easy for me. Maybe thats why I am sleeping more today. Anyway, I woke up, moved around/ate, went back to sleep, did the same thing, lol. Hopefully tomorrow/over the weekend I can feel a bit more peppy and move around more.

So its been.. 5 days since surgery and things are going well. I mean, I can't say for certain when the cast comes off I'll be happy, but I can pretty much see more of my tip and have a general sense of what the shape of things are and I love it! I mean, I couldn't be more excited for the cast to come off just so I can not have this big bulky thing on my face more than to see my actual nose...'cos from what I see so far I love it! Friday was the first day I was actually able to move around and feel like "a real person."

I went for a walk today, 5 miles! But I kept it at a really, really slow pace and made sure I could breath through my nose the whole time (I typically run 20+ miles/week, so this whole "no exercise thing" has been a real bummer for me). Still sleeping elevated, I was able to wash/clean myself w/o getting my nose cast wet... taking some pain pills but... no real pain and the discomfort has gone down considerably. A little black and blue under my left eye.. but it was covered pretty well with make up yesterday. I am thinking about taking off work on Tuesday (I'm a teacher and have been on break since last Monday) but I really don't think it'll be necessary. No softball for another 2 weeks though...

Tell you the truth, before my nose job I was breaking out with acne, my knee was really bothering me, I had big bags under my eyes... with all this no alcohol, bed rest/sleep and relaxation my skins cleared up, my knees feel great and I'm feeling way more energized.

I'll post some pictures once I get the cast off and let you have a gander... =)

Cast off! It was a bit of a shock looking at my nose without the cast on. It looked so much smaller....and it didnt look like me. Around my nose is yellow, swollen, puffy and the cast has left marks on the skin that look funny. I put on make up to cover it and I can see casually it doesn't appear to be weird but when you come close to my face you can tell somethings amiss about my face.

It feels a little more tender w/o the cast, more vulnerable. Anyway, no doctor for a month, told me to be careful and not bump it! But I love it! It's def. all become of Dr. Lindsey. He told me when I first came in - "you don't have a terrible nose, but its distracting from your other features. So we'll get rid of the hump, take the tip in. We'll make your nose less distracting from your other features and but the rest of your face in balance." Thats just what he did! He's a real no nonsense kind of a guy and totally friendly, reliable... I wish I had more questions, etc. for him but I never did! He said I can run, go back to work, do whatever.....just don't bump the nose. I can feel how fragile it is, so I'm going to be careful for sure.

So today is 8 days after my surgery and I officially returned to work....but I wish I hadn't. The stress from the commute/working made me very congested. The skin around my nose is also very dry and still have marks on it from the cast. The make up didn't cover it very well because my skin was so dry the make up just sort of flaked off. By the end of the day people were commenting that I sounded sick, looked a little pale and two of my students noticed my black eye and asked me if I was OK (aww).

Ideally I would have left early and taken tomorrow off for more rest but I'm not. I took a huge nap today when I got home and am not going to exercise this week. (Also note: I teach special education at a small private school so I don't have the physical stress of a typical classroom teacher ...I have only 3-4 students per class so I don't have to move around very much since we all sit a group. I do have to talk a lot, though).

I'll update the pictures in a few weeks and let you know how its going.