Rhinoplasty: Stories

I am going to see Dr. Ciardullo in White Plains for a free consultation June 11th and hopefully getting the rhinoplasty in the beginning of July. I am very nervous for the consultation and the surgery but I have wanted this for almost 7 years now. I am posting these pictures for how my nose is now. I am still contemplating on what I want done and what would match my face better. I will update on everything and feel free to comment or message me. (p.s- haters don't even bother because I don't care what you have to say.)

Hello! Sorry I have not posted in a while, I have had a lot to think about and the last thing I wanted to do was post about the topic that was hurting my brain! I have had my consult with Dr. Ciardullo on July 9th, 2012. Let me just say, I was sooo nervous I almost cried. But I was guessing that that is a good sign..I mean it shows that I care. A lot. Haha :P Anyways, the consult went very well and Dr. Ciardullo was extremely nice and welcoming. He actually really like to say my name! He told me what he thought I wanted done and he was correct with everything. Then, he showed me a before and after picture of a woman who had the same nose that I have. My mother was amazing at how exact he was when he compared my nose to someone elses.

Next, he showed me around his office and where he did the surgery. Yes, he does do the surgery in his own private facility and he also has his own, reliable team of anesthetics. Also, you are free to go home about 4 hours after the surgery. (The surgery its self takes about 1 hour) Another perk is that he right across the street from the hospital, so god forbid something goes wrong, you will be okay. Although, he has said he has done 3000 noses and he has not had a problem. He told me that my surgery will be easy because I do not need packing. (YES!)

Other information I feel is important to bring up: If you are thinking about doing this surgery with Dr. Ciardullo, you can not exercise for about 3-4 weeks. If you have glasses, you need a type of material to put on you nose or the glasses its self so that the glasses will not make an imprint on your nose. (The nobs on my glasses that touch my nose creates a dent in my nose= not good) You will need 1-2 weeks off of work and depending on your age, bruising will also go away in about a week or two. (For me, since i am 17 it will probably take about a week) Lastly, if you are getting or thinking about getting the surgery in the summer, whenever you go outside in the sun you have to wear sunscreen.I am scheduling my surgery date for around December 27th because I have tennis in August and would not be able to play if I had the surgery :( But, good things come to those who wait. Thank you for reading and PLEASE feel free to message me: I am on this website for YOU so don't be a stranger. Lots of love.

My scheduled date for my surgery is December 27th, 2012!

New update: my mother decided to pull a fast one on me and cancel my surgery because she thought I was changing my mind. Fortunately, I found out in time and I called Bobbie in order to reschedule the surgery. (I am now 18, so I can do the surgery on my own) But, now that my mom canceled my surgery for the 17th of December, I now have to have the surgery January 3rd. I was happy to have it on the 17th, but oh well. I am excited about the surgery and to meet with Dr. C again on December 10th for the pre op meeting.

Hello everyone,
yesterday I met with Dr. C to hand in the money for the surgery and to talk about what is going to be done. I waited for a half an hour in his office and I must say, I am not exactly pleased. I felt completely rushed and he wasn't being as caring as everyone on here has been saying. He took pictures and showed me an example of what my nose would probably look like after the surgery. (He showed me pictures of 2 women who had noses similar than mine) Although those noses looked great, I felt like it wouldn't match my face. When I tried to show him a picture of the kind of nose I like, he shrugged it off and basically pressured my mom and I out of his office. There were 2 patients that were waiting after me, but come on. I just gave him $5,500 of my own money. I would at least like 20 minutes with him. My mom said that he pushed us out because he knows what he wants to do and to trust the professional..But I don't know. It seemed kind of rude to me and it worries me about the outcome. I don't want it to look unnatural because a small nose would not really look good on me. Surgery is still set for January 3rd and I am excited/scared.

Oh. In addition to all of this my sister made it a big point to me that she hates that I am getting surgery. At dinner she said that I am going to look fake and ugly and am making a mistake. Meanwhile, my mom is just sitting their letting her say all of these hurtful things to me. I think I can say with confidence that yesterday was not my day...

Hey guys! Today was the big day! I got the surgery around 1 pm and it wasn't bad at all. Everyone was very kind and made my nerves disappear. I don't even remember being knocked out. I did not need any packing so I can breathe out of my nose. There is no pain, just some minor discomfort. There is a little bit of bruising around my eyes, but nothing too serious. So far, I am loving it! I fear that my nose looks a little too risen and it makes the skin above my lip look long, but I'm not that worried. I will keep on updating and time goes on :) Any questions, please ask!

Day after surgery! Here is a picture of me without the drip on. I'm feeling great! Barely any pain and discomfort. I am worried that the tip is raised too much, but I am pretty sure that the tip will drop as time goes on. Any opinions? It is kind of worrying me.

Day 6 of recovery! I'm feeling a lot better and I stopped taking my medication yesterday. Every day I feel better and better! Although, I am still tired and bored from not being able to go out. Well, tomorrow is the big day! From what I can see, I am very happy. I can see that the tip dropped a little bit already! Cast comes off tomorrow, I will post pictures!

So, I just got my cast off today and I am really happy. For me, it was very strange seeing my new nose that at first I didn't like it that much. Luckily, my mom and best friend made me feel good about my nose, and assured me that it looked amazing. As the day went on, I found myself liking my new nose. My nose is swollen, mostly at the tip, but it looks good. It just takes some getting used to. My friend's sister almost started crying because she liked it so much. Her mom even said because of my new nose, now she understands why I hated my old nose. I am really looking forward to the next few weeks because it only gets better from here!

So, today is day 19 after surgery and I would like to share my experience with you. I am finding that after the surgery is a lot more difficult then I thought it would be. Right now I feel like my nose has gotten worse from the day the cast was taken off. My nose has gotten a lot bigger, and so has my nostrils. I am looking back at pictures from the day I got my cast off, and I like how it looked there a lot more. But, Dr. C has said that in 7-8 weeks I may have to get a shot of cortisone in the tip on my nose if it is still bulbous. I was looking forward to the days following after the cast removal, but I just feel my nose getting worse. My nose now droops when I smile, like before and it is upsetting me. But, this is known as the waiting game, so I will do my best to stay optimistic.

Another thing I wanted to discuss, I am sure anyone that is reading this review is scared of the reactions of others after the surgery. Questions I was constantly asking myself consisted of: Will anyone notice? Will I be embarrassed at work? Will anyone say that I look worse than before? Are people going to ask me what I did to look different? So, to make myself feel better after the surgery I dyed my hair black. When I went to work only the people who knew I was getting a surgery commented on my new nose. Everyone was positive about the outcome and they love how it looks. On the other hand, anyone that does not know that I had a surgery comments on my hair and tells me how AMAZING it makes me look. (I actually find this quite funny) I find my hair as an easy excuse to explain why I look different, it just made makes my life a lot easier. I have not been embarrassed by anyone and I have only gotten positive reactions towards my nose. My one co worker couldn't get over how great my "hair" made me look. Oh. One thing I find hilarious is that despite my sisters protests towards me getting the surgery, she LOVES my new nose. She looked at the before pictures and said "Wow. You really did have a big nose...but now it looks a lot better. Good job." So now I have my sister's support too haha :P If anyone has anymore questions feel free to ask!

36 day post op! Sorry I haven't been on in a while. I have been extremely busy with my school work and job. So, overall I am happy and the nose looks super natural. There are only a few things that I do not like about my nose. These things include: my nostril size is still big, (even with the nostril tuck) my nose continues to droop when I smile, both sides are not exactly the same, (my right side is longer than the left) there are bumps in my nose, (on the bone) and the tip is still slightly bulbous.

Dr. C explained that 8 weeks after surgery I would have to come back into his office to see if I need a cortisone shot in the tip of my nose to reduce swelling, if it doesn't get reduced on its own. From the looks of it, I will need the shot and hopefully that improves some of the things I dislike about my nose. I mean, it has only been a little over a month so things are still bound to change. I just hate this waiting game and I feel like my nose changes everyday. One day, I love it and the next I think it could be improved a lot more. But obviously, my nose is a lot better than before so I am still happy!