I'm scheduled for surgery on September 9th. I'm so excited and nervous. I'm having a septoplasty and turbinate reduction as well so my insurance is covering about $4k of the surgery. My surgeons fee for the cosmetic part is $2,250, facility fee is $600, anesthesiologist fee is also $600; and those prices are for the extra 90 minutes of OR time. I've always wanted my nose done, for years. I hate the dorsal hump and find that it holds me back. On my wedding day I didn't want to wear my hair up or back because I thought I made my nose/ profile too noticeable. How sad is that? I often don't like wearing my hair in certain styles for the same reason. It's just something I've been really sensitive about. I've had some breathing / sinus issues for years now and I finally have great insurance so when I finally got in to an ENT, the diagnosis was that I needed a tonsillectomy, adnoidectomy, septoplasty and turbinate reduction. He offered to do them all at once but I always told myself that if I needed anything done to my nose, I'd do a rhino at the same time, so I decided to break up the surgeries. I had my tonsillectomy/ adnoidectomy 6-22-16, and I would have had this sooner, but my eye doctor surprised me and suggested I undergo an operation to correct my eye misalignment. I decided to do that before my nose job since the eye dr may need to rest his hands on my nose. That surgery is this Wednesday and I'm actually kinda scared to have that one done because, well, it's my eye and they are cutting the muscle and reattaching it to my eye. *shudders* the idea of people touching my eye freaks me out, lol. Updated on 31 Aug 2016: I had my pre-op yesterday, and paid my surgeons fee! No going back now, lol. I'm actually really excited about this. At my appointment, the dr ad I went over my goals again and I showed him the photo shopped version I did (profile view) and he said it looked good with reasonable expectations. So some of the details: This is a closed rhinoplasty, and I'm crossing my fingers that he won't need to break my nose (but he reserves that right and decides in the OR.) He told me that sometimes after shaving down the dorsal hump the nose can look kinda flat/wide, so breaking the nose allows him to set the nose so that its nice and narrow. My nose is already pretty narrow though so we might not need to. He also said that if he does I can expect 2 black eyes for about 2 weeks. If not, I may get smaller black eyes but mostly on the inner eye. Other details, he told me to expect the cast and internal splints with breathing tubes in the nostrils. After all this I should be able to breathe better, which will be nice. I cant blow my nose for 2 weeks, which will be hard for me. I also brought up concerns for when I go to Disneyland in October and he said I should be fine but to "listen to your nose" if being on really bumpy rides hurts, then maybe don't do those, but if I do it won't effect my results. So we'll see how that goes. Now all thats left to do is wait... But I'm going to do some more research and see if I can find a list of anything that might be especially useful to help with healing for afterwards. I'll make a post about what I find. Updated on 31 Aug 2016: This is the photoshopped version I showed him. Updated on 8 Sep 2016: I just got a call for my surgery time and they want me there at 7am, which means my actual OR time is probably 9am. I've had 2 other operations this year and there is always a few hours of prep before they get you to the OR. I'm so nervous! But I'm excited too. I've been getting things gathered up for tomorrow, some things I already had, like my recliner, lap tray, q-tips, tissues, dry shampoo, Chapstick, But I went out and got some Sinecch, topical arnica cream, I got my medications; an antibiotic and an ointment for inside my nose, I ordered some head wraps from Amazon since I won't be able to shower for a few days. I also bought 3 bottles of saline spray, and some facial ice packs, which should come sometime tomorrow. I'll make a list with some pictures of what I've got. My mom should be here later tonight, and I'm so blessed to have her come. My husband can't take time off work, so my MIL is watching my kids and my mom will be taking me to the hospital. She is uniquely qualified to take care of me 1- because she is my mommy, 2- she is an RN, and 3- before nursing school she was a hair dresser. Which means she can help me wash my hair in the sink, lol. She'll stay for the weekend, at least and possibly next week if I need her. It's comforting to know I'll have a nurse taking care of me. I was told to not eat anything after 11pm tonight, and not to drink anything after midnight. The typical stuff; like no jewelry, bring photo ID, insurance, and I also need to bring the $600 for my portion of the facility fee. I can expect a bill from the anesthesiologist later. Everything for tomorrow is pretty much taken care of as far as the hospital goes. I still need to go grocery shopping tonight, make sure I have lost of good foods in the house, snacks for the kiddos. My Dr recommends getting soft foods for the first couple of days in case it hurts to chew? I was given a packet of information at my first appt for the rhinoplasty and that was mentioned in there. I imagine I might need to drink through a straw for a few days, but I'm not sure. I'm just trying to think of anything I might need. At this point it's just a waiting game.... Updated on 9 Sep 2016: I've been up all night. My stomach is in knots. I have very bad OCD and anxiety and I usually take klonopin for it when it gets this bad but I don't know if I should take it right before surgery so I'm just going to take it with me and see if I can have it then. My mind just won't stop. I keep thinking "what if it doesn't go as planned?" What if, what if, what if.... What if I don't like it? What if he messes it up? What if I regret this? Will I miss my old nose? Am I going to miss this face? The face that my husband fell in love with, that my children are used to seeing? I feel bad for my mom right now because I get my nose from her and she thinks I'm beautiful, but.... She my mom, so she's biased. So isn't getting cosmetic work done like a slap in the face for her? I mean, she is here, she supports my choice. And I love her for that. I think my mom is beautiful, and I love her very much. I've just always wished I could change it and now I have that opportunity. I feel guilty for wanting to get this done, even though I know I shouldn't be. I shouldn't feel like I have to justify why I want this. But I do feel like that. Sadly. Any hope for sleep tonight is gone. I think I'm going to take a shower and take my time getting ready. I leave for the hospital in almost exactly one hour! Updated on 9 Sep 2016: Just photos, I'll write an update when I'm not on so many drugs, lol Updated on 11 Sep 2016: So the surgery yesterday went very well. I arrived at the hospital at 7am, and by 8:30 I was heading to the OR. Upon arrival I paid $600 for 90 min of OR time for the Cosmetic rhino, signed some paperwork, and was shown to my own room, which was a first for me given that I've had 6 surgeries in the past 4 years. I'm not complaining though, lol. All of my previous surgeries had been at Intermountain Medical Center, but this one was at LDS Hospital, in Downtown Salt Lake City. So I'm not sure if private rooms are just how they roll there, or if getting cosmetic work had anything to do with that. I was also allowed to wear my own underwear and given a gown and a pair of scrub bottoms and socks. This was nice since hospitals are usually cold. At IMC they give you a pair of disposable undies (boxer type) and a gown and that's it. I have to say, being allowed to keep some of my own clothes on and having pants made me feel much more secure laying on the OR table. I got to talk with Dr. Bennet again right before surgery to talk about what my goals were for surgery (again) and to triple check that we agreed on his plans for my nose. Next thing I knew I waking up in recovery. I don't remember feeling much pain. I could obviously feel that my nose was taped up, but more than anything I just had to pee, lol. Whenever I get an IV, my tiny little bladder can't handle all the fluids. My memory is bit fuzzy but I remember them telling me to spit and not swallow because a lot of blood was draining down the back of my throat from my nose. That lasted a few hours. My mom got a lot of instructions from the dr and nurses. I don't remember seeing the Dr after surgery but my mom said that my tip was taped up higher, and "over exaggerated" on purpose, but that my tip would drop into place later. So it looks a bit upturned right now. My actual surgery was about 3.5 hours, then 1 hour in recovery, and 2 hours in Post-Op. I was discharged at 4pm -ish. I was feeling pretty good so I asked my mom to drive around down town for a few minutes so I could play Pokemon Go. Lol. Yes I'm serious. Why the heck not? Then we stopped for gelato. I met up with my husband and kids at my mother in laws, who had made dinner for us, so we ate dinner there and headed home after wards. I got home around 6:30-7pm. I had to keep replacing the gauze under my nose every 45 minutes or so that night. But the bands that go around your ears to hold it in place were so irritating that I found some clips and clipped the bands into my hair right above my ears and that worked out so much better! In general I felt pretty good on the day of surgery and was pleasantly surprised that I didn't bruise anywhere close to what I had prepared myself for. Maybe the Arnica pills are doing their thing! Today I noticed more bruising. The dark pink on my inner eye turned purple and was a bit swollen. Not much pain to speak of because I've been taking Percocet every 4 hours. I feel pretty drugged and I'm having a hard time relaxing for sleep, also because it's hard to breathe through my nose and breathing with my mouth makes my throat too dry and uncomfortable. My nose is still draining, mostly blood, but some clear fluids. I'm supposed to mist it with saline every 2 hours, but I still have to wear the gauze under my nose until the drainage is under control. I have a couple of humidifiers going to help with recovery too. My mom is keeping track of all my different medication schedules for me, which is awesome because I cannot think straight on this Percocet. I do great with 2 5/325 but these are 2- 7.5/325. I'm getting 15mg verses the 10mg I'm used to taking. I'm cutting back to 1 Percocet for this reason and because I'm having other side effects like urinary retention. Basically it's hard to start going pee. Not a UTI, and not painful, but feeling a full bladder but not being able to relax enough to go. I had this problem with my tonsillectomy in June as well. Hopefully cutting back to 1 Percocet fixes that. I'm so glad my mom is here. She has been so helpful with taking care of me and my kids, and she's also been cleaning my house and doing my laundry, which is amazing. I feel so grateful already. Updated on 11 Sep 2016: Updated on 11 Sep 2016: I'm a little behind in my posts. Day 1 was the 10th of September. Today, Day 2, has been just ok. I've noticed that my eyes are swelling underneath and the bruising is migrating down to the under eye as well. Not super noticeable with the tape on, but I believe the tape is coming off tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. I can't wait to see what my nose looks like! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Today was a bit foggy like yesterday because of my dosage of Percocet. But 2 concerns today, horrible dry mouth. I already have dry mouth issue from a no-rhinoplasty related medication, but add the Percocet, and the fact that I'm breathing through my mouth all day and night, well, It doesn't take long for my mouth to dry up . And I don't just mean a little bit. I'm talking tongue is sandpaper, I can not move my lips or tongue because of lack of lubrication. I have to drink something for my mouth to come alive again. My mouth being so dry has caused my tongue to become sort of raw, so it hurts to eat acidic food now. Problem number 2 is urinary retention. I talked about it briefly in my last post but it really sucks. I have the urge to pee, my body just won't go pee. Or at least not easily. I've had this before so it didnt surprise me. But it does mean I need to back off the narcotics. Which also sucks, but I can do it. I'm working on some solutions to those issues. Until then, Wish me luck for my post -op appointment tomorrow! Updated on 13 Sep 2016: Yesterday was day 3 and I had my cast removed! But oh my gosh, the freaking splints. I could see them in my nostril but the looked so small. He told me he was going to pull them out and for the love of all things holy it felt like my nose was giving birth! Those things were huge! I didn't even know something that big could come out of my nose! He gave me the splints to take home. It's gross but I'm adding the picture here. You have to look closely by the shape is more of a half circle. The eye bruising was a bit lighter though. The dr wants me to keep taping my nose night and day for the next week. At my next appointment he will show me how to massage my nose. My nose looks good! It's super swollen but I can already see the dorsal hump is gone, and the tip is elevated. Surprisingly when I look in the mirror I feel the same. It still feels like my nose and I still look like me. I almost expected to feel different. My dr gave me some tape, but it was white so I went to 3 different drugstores looking for paper tape that was tan. Finally I went to a medical supply store and they had it! Much cheaper too about $1.30 a roll. I figured if I was going to be taping it night and day that tan tape Gould be less obvious. I'm excited for the swelling to go down and really see my new nose! Updated on 14 Sep 2016: Bruising is diminishing. I got a good nights sleep last night, other than my hubby accidentally smacking me in the face! Ouch! I got backhanded by my toddler today too. Not gonna lie, it felt like punch to the face. Oh and for the first time since I got pregnant with my 13 month old, (that's almost 2 years, folks) I got my period. Yay me.... I just want to crawl back in bed. I did take the tape off to shower today and took a few pictures. I can definitely see the changes in the dorsal hump (or lack there of) and the tip. My nose looks a bit wide, but I know that's just the swelling. It hurts but I can tolerate it without any Tylenol now. I'm really liking the straightness of the profile view, but I'm waiting for the swelling to go down enough to see the curve. I asked the dr to make it slightly concave because that looks more feminine. Right now I'm taping night and day, and to be honest if feels much better taped. Without it my nose get achey really fast. I wish time would speed up so that I could my results. I'm so impatient. Updated on 16 Sep 2016: Here we are one week out! Overall this experience has been better than I expected. I don't need anything for pain, haven't even taken Tylenol in days. (My tonsillectomy in June was much more painful than this!) bruises are fading nicely. I had to go out last night so I was able to take the tape off and put on some concealer, sorry I didn't get any pics. No one could tell though. After 2 hours the tip of my nose had gone numb and and it started to throb. I headed home to re-tape it, and it felt better within minutes. My dr gave me the ok to take mucinex for some congestion I was having, and also Alavert for seasonal allergies that just started. I asked if I could use my neti pot now and he said "as long as I was gentle" that would be ok. My next appointment with him is next Tuesday, Updated on 16 Sep 2016: Excuse my messy living room. We were painting and looking at new flooring. Updated on 16 Sep 2016: I took the tape off and put on a little bit of makeup. I wish I got a before picture but 3 hours without tape and my nose is swollen; especially the tip. But even with it being swollen, the dorsal hump area is still smaller/ straighter than it was before, so there's that. Please ignore my super red eye, thats still healing from my eye surgery. Wearing contacts all day (so that my glasses don't ruin my nose job,) plus going to the fair with all the smoke and pollution, and animals= red eye. Updated on 20 Sep 2016: Dr said I'm healing on track and to start massaging my nose and in particular any little bumps I feel. It doesn't feel good, but he said to rub as hard as my nose could tolerate, once every hour. Seems excessive to me, but I'll do my best! I still have some slight drainage from one side, so I have to keep tissues close by. Still taping at night and when I'm at home. My next appt is in 2 weeks, which is a week before my Disneyland trip! Hopefully I'll be looking good by then!!! Updated on 25 Sep 2016: Things have been pretty good. I'm wearing the tape less and less. If I'm not going out I'll keep it on but I can go most of the day without it if I need to. I still sleep with it on though. I'm supposed to be massaging it "every hour" but I wondering if my doctor was over exaggerating because he knows people aren't going to actually do it every hour. I do it several times a day, but it really hurts to rub it like that. It's just so sore still. It has been looking less swollen, but maybe that's just me. Idk. What do you think? Updated on 27 Sep 2016: Holy Moly! Tonight Sucked! Here I was sitting down after hanging Halloween decorations, watching hocus pocus, the light were off and then BAM! Shoe to the face. My one year old stood about two feet in front of me and threw with all his little baby might; his adorable squeaky shoes at my face. Hit me square in the nose. Not gonna lie, the pain was comparable to birth. I let out a blood curdling scream, several moans, and I doubled over, then I cried like a baby for another good 5-10 minutes. I finally stopped because my son was crying hysterically too; seeing me so upset. He had a pretty rough night after all that emotion too. I called my Dr. And he said because the throw came from a baby, he's Hoping it didn't do any damage (though it hurt bad enough, I wouldn't be surprised.) he told me to sleep with my head elevated and see how it looks in the morning. I already iced it but it still hurts. After the initial stabbing pains were gone it just started throbbing. It looks so swollen and possibly bruised. I may go in to see the Dr tomorrow just to be safe. But damn, my baby has a good arm. I know he didn't mean to, and he caught me so off guard. Wish me luck that nothing got damaged! Updated on 27 Sep 2016: Updated on 2 Oct 2016: It would seem that my nose is ok after getting hit. The next day it was still fat and sore but the swelling and pain has come back down again. My nose still hurts if I bump it. Occasionally it will get pressed agains hubby's face when we kiss and I can feel it. You really have to be careful after surgery. And I didn't even have my nose broken. I cant imagine how much worse it could have been as far as recovering from that. I've lost some of the stitches from inside my nose. I sort of had a L shape incision inside my nose, with the short side going vertically up the interior nasal wall and the long side going horizontally along the very top inside the nose. Those stitches are still there, the ones from the short side fell out a few days ago. On the plus side, I've been able to blow my nose this week! And it's getting to the point where I'm not seeing blood every time. I have had occasions where it feel like a stone if falling down the back of my throat, or I sneeze and I get out these hard chunks of I guess clotted blood. But it looks semi-dry. Gross details; I'm sorry. I'm also getting to the point where my nose isn't constantly draining. At first it was a constant bloody nose for almost a week, the slowly over the last two weeks it's gone from draining blood, to draining a clear-ish fluid. Now it's almost completely gone. On a happier note, I was finally able to get Lash extensions! I have another review about my eye surgery that made wearing contacts possible. Which was nice for the rhinoplasty recovery. Before now, the extensions would hit my lenses and it was annoying. But I'm feeling really happy right now. Aesthetically, I've improved my eyes, eyebrows, (microblading) and nose. I've also had my teeth bleached and I've lost 40lbs in the last year. I still have 40lbs to go, but I'll get there. I just wish I wasn't so top heavy. I carry probably 2/3 of my weight in my midsection and boobs. I'm like a DDD/E cup (still nursing though) so on top I'm like a size 14 dress, but I'm a size 10 pants. Anything bigger than a 10 literally falls off my butt. I'm also excited for Halloween because this is the first year in a long time that I'm dressing up and feeling confident in my costume choice. It took a while to decide but I will be Vanessa (aka Human Ursula) and hubs is Prince Eric. I'm so excited cuz we'll be in Disneyland in 2 weeks for the big Party. I'll add a few pictures for ya! (Hubs photobombed me, lol) My next post op is October 11th, so I'll post more after then. Updated on 11 Oct 2016: It been a few days past the one month mark. I'm loving my new nose so far, and it's still swollen so I'm sure it will only get better. My nose is still tender to the touch. I've been bumped a few times. And it hurts. My recovery is going well, other than the swelling so today the dr did steroid shots across the bridge of my nose and the tip. Those hurt too. More of a teeth-clenching, eye watering kind of pain. Like getting numbed up at the dentist. My nose is all red and achy now. ???? I'll post a few pics of earlier this week and and just now, after steroid shots. My nose looks bigger today, and I'm wondering if it was from being head butted a few days ago by baby, or because I put too much pressure on it trying to extract blackheads, lol. As an esthetician I can't stand having visible blackheads. It's an obsession of mine. But I should probably hold off until I'm more healed. ????
