Jaroslaw Tribull-Potapczuk, MD, PhD

I was 14 years old when I first noticed the hump on the bridge of my nose.

People would always tell me my nose wasn't "that bad" -- and they were right. From the front I had this cute little button nose, but it was the profile that I heavily disliked. I was told not to get surgery by friends and family because I would just end up looking fake or botched. This scared me into never looking into it -- along with the cost a teenager could never afford.

However, I finally realised that fixing a personal insecurity wasn't a failure, nor was it me not being true to myself. It is a personal choice and no one else sees what you see everyday in the mirror.

I wanted to still look like me from the front, but with a profile that matched.

Dr. Jaroslaw was everything I could've asked for and more. I don't need to say anything, the photos themselves proves his expertise. But what made him stand out was the care and attention he gives to his patients before and after the operation. He is not a surgeon motived by money, he is truly interested in the well-being of his clients and is very honest and upfront about what would and wouldn't look good.

We did a closed rhinoplasty. The operation took about an hour, maybe less. The worst part was the anaesthesia, I cried like a baby when I woke up. Not because of pain, I was just disoriented. Getting my cartilage pierced hurt more than the entire healing process of my nose. After photos look scary with black eyes and a cast on, but it doesn't reflect how minimal the pain is. This really surprised me.

No one has noticed that I got a rhinoplasty so far, and I don't think people will. When a nose naturally harmonies with the rest of your features, there's really no reason to question it. I sometimes have to look back at my old photos to realise that a change was made. The result is so natural, even sometimes I have a hard time believing anything was changed!

Updated on 11 Sep 2020:
I am now almost 6 weeks post op. I haven't noticed that much change since around the 3-4 week mark in terms of swelling. I do have a very small hump left that is noticeable from the right profile view only but was told by my surgeon that nothing can be done about it until after the 6th month mark.

Of course, I am being hypersensitive as it is my nose and I am probably staring at it like 20 mins a day lol. Don't obsess like me! I trust everything will turn out great, and I am so happy still with the results.

The swelling has gone down a lot and my nose is much less sensitive. The stuffiness is gone as since a septoplasty was preformed as well, I feel my nose is working at 150% capacity. I can breathe in so much air at once it feels like my superpower. I can't believe I lived so long having troubles I didn't even know about since no one told me how a "normal" nose was supposed to breathe!

Here is a side by side comparison. It may look like a small change but for me it's huge.