Just like a lot of others, I have been wanting to have rhinoplasty done for many years. As I have aged the hook of my nose and the tilt of my footplate have been getting worse. I finally went to see Doctor Haven J. Barlow and felt extremely comfortable with him. He is very kind, gentle and listened to all my questions and concerns. He also had a true desire to know what my expectations were.
Updated on 2 Dec 2017:
Wow. I feel great! I don't look great. But really I feel very good. When Doctor Barlow told me that he really didn't think I would need pain medicine, I laughed at him and said that I though he was downplaying my recovery experience. But, it's been 24 hours since the surgery. I have been up and about most of the day playing with my puppies and eating more junk food than I should!
I have a lot of drainage and some blood running down my throat. My nose is still bleeding a little bit. Overall feeling grateful and blessed. I will keep you all updated!
Updated on 3 Dec 2017:
Had a rough night. Lots of drainage and trying to clear my throat with blowing my nose. II also have the normal congestion and my nose is full of junk. Very nauseated with all the stuff running down into my stomach. Been cleaning my nose out gently with a q tip and Vaseline. Thank heavens for that. Still taking Advil every couple of hours. My swelling is much worse. Holding ice packs doesn't really seem to make a difference. So I got some of my essential oils out and I am trying those to see if they can help the swelling and the healing. I am feeling worn out and very sleepy, but having a hard time getting to sleep with the congestion.
Updated on 4 Dec 2017:
Felling a lot more pain in my nose and especially my head. Feels like it's going to explode.Had to take the prescription pain mess to sleep last night. I have been up walking this morning. Had some tea, but every minute my head is hurting worse. The swelling has gone down a bit from yesterday as well as the bruising which I am grateful for. Overall my entire face is still really swollen. M throat is very swollen and raw from all the coughing and spitting up drainage yesterday. I am hoping there will be less of that today. I don't think I take another day of it. I sure hope I feel better later today. I was really wanting a bath, but right now I am definitely not up for it. More body wipes it is!
Updated on 5 Dec 2017:
Yesterday things got really bad. Pain was excruciating in my throat, the drainage continued. I couldn't swallow or hardly breath. I finally had my husband call Doctor Barlow. He spoke with me and he was very concerned. He immediately called me in two prescriptions. An antibiotic, and a steroid. He was worried, not bout an infection from the surgery, but possibly that I was coming down with a virus or strep throat. My sweet 16 yer old daughter drove me a half an hour away to a 24 hour pharmacy at 1:00 in the morning to pick up the prescriptions. I started the antibiotic immediately. It's 6:28 in the morning, and we will have to see how the day goes. Starting the steroid now with some food. I will add a second update for today later on.
Updated on 5 Dec 2017:
Still been a hard day. Taking antibiotics which I feel I should have probably taken from the start along with some steroids. My head is still pounding and my throat is throbbing fire. I think maybe like Doctor Barlow suggested, somehow got Strep throats along with other all of this. Had the chills and sweats all day today. The bruising under my eyes is yellowing and getting bette along with the swelling in that location, but oddly inside of my moth and he re above it between my upper lip and my nose is very swollen and tight. I can't really smile even when I try. Haha, not that I have anything to smile about today.
Tomorrow I go for my post op appointment. Hopefully some of my fears and anxiousness from all this sickness will be calmed when I speak face to face with Dr. Barlow. I am setting myself up to be initially disappointed in what I see, because so know my swelling and all hat is really bad and from all the pictures I see hear, it looks like it takes at least 3 months to start seeing what it is that has been done. So I will try to keep my emotions in check about all of that. I just really want to feel better. I thought I would be up and about and at least getting things done around the house by now. Felling depressed and worthless.
Updated on 6 Dec 2017:
Feeling better. I had the best night sleep so far.
I could breath out of both sides of my nose!
My throat is still killing me and now I have a cough that is killing my throat worse. But, my head doesn't hurt so bad. On my way to my post op so I hope I goes well and I will have nothing but good news. I will post more pics after.
Updated on 8 Dec 2017:
1 week since the surgery I feel mostly good today. A small headache and still lots of drainage. Can't wait to stop sucking down the drainage. But my nose does not hurt. It's a little numb at the tip. Still have this gross tape on, but I will wait for the doctor to give the ok to take it off. A few stitches left to come out as well. Drove my daughter to school today. Felt ok about that. It was nice to get out of the house for a few minutes.
Overall, so far I am very happy I did this. I understand that results take time, but with that I am already liking what I see. When I first went into my pre op they had a computer image of someone I didn't recognize. A girl with a tiny button nose. And I thought, no- that's not me. So the doctor made a few adjustments that I was really pleased with. And I think what I got out of this surgery is exactly what I wanted. So far so good. Here's to the next 7 days going faster and better than the last!
Updated on 20 Dec 2017:
It's been 2 1/2 weeks since surgery. I am feeling much better and all the bruising is gone. Where my stitches were has healed so nicely you can't tell at all they were there. My nose is super dry, especially in the morning, but I am breathing quite well through it. It still really swollen and squishy. I tried wearing sunglasses yesterday and they left huge dents in my nose. So I know there is still a lot of swelling to wait on. At this point, I am happy I did the surgery. I am not sure I like exactly what I see at the moment. But I am going to be patient and give it a while. I am hoping the lower half of my nose gets a bit smaller and I have less roundness throughout. It still looks a little hooked to me and I really don't like that. But it is better than it was before. I really like the way it looks from the front. I will be patient:)
Updated on 30 Dec 2017:
So it has been a month. Feels much better. Parts of my nose are still very sore. The to is hard as a rock and still very much swollen. The footplate isn't where I wanted it to be which wood ace been centered. It was one of the goals of this surgery.. little bummed about that because I don't think it's going anywhere else at this point. It is still off to the side.
But overall I am happy with the way it's going. I still feel like I look like me. Many people haven't noticed. Which was what I wanted. And know with the swelling going down gradually. It's great that it won't be an overnight change that would be noticeable. I really like the way it looks from the front view. Hoping gain overtime that the side view will improve and the tip and swollen look will go away.
Updated on 6 Jan 2018:
So looking at a different set of before pictures, I am getting more pleased with the results so far Although my footplate is still crooked, overall it looks much better. Adding some old before pics here and then the same pics I added last week for comparison.