Rhinoplasty at University of Maryland Plastic Surgery Residency Program - Baltimore, MD

Well, first of all, I have always had a prominent nose. I think a strong nose goes with my face shape, but as my face has shrunk with age, my nose has not , so it looks even larger. I feel like I am maybe a 7 in looks, but my nose makes me like a 5. I have researched rhinoplasty for a long time. Finally, this year, I had saved 5K. I was thinking that I could wait two more months and have 7K, but on the other hand, that would mean I would have to go to all these summer weddings with my huge nose. Also, now that I am in my 30s, I have a more urgent attitude towards all the goals in my life.
So I started looking at different chief resident clinics. Some had dates so far away; others wanted amounts like 6K, etc so I did not go with them. Anyway, when I called University of Maryland, I asked the lady what is the time between the consult date and surgery date. She said consult would be June 2nd, and surgery date would be discussed during consult, but would be before June 30th, because the resident had to do a new rotation after that or something. I said ok that sounds great, because I’m out of state…I will call you back.

My temp job position had ended, and I had nothing to look forward to except sitting at home applying for jobs. I searched for sublets in Baltimore (and two other cities with residency programs) and Balti was the cheapest. Plus the UMD program is with JHU, and JHU has a very reputable surgery program. I found a sublet for $400, and I thought, okay, surgery is $4400, staying is $600, airfare is $200, and I can still do my job search there. So after one month, I'll perhaps have a job and also look better. I called UM and booked my consult.

I arrived in Baltimore. I took the train straight from the airport, then from Penn Station, there was a JHU shuttle direct to my apartment. So my roommates were all grad students getting ready to go home for summer vacation. We got along well and the place was right across JHU campus.
CONSULT #1 $25
My consultation day! I went to the fifth floor of the med school building, waited about half hour, and a nurse took my weight and checked my blood pressure. Then I had to wait in a room. The room had a bed that seemed way too high, and a small chair in a corner. I decided to sit in the chair and wait.

The resident doctor came in. He was an attractive Asian guy with pink scrubs, early 30s. He asked me what my complaints were about my nose, and took pictures from various angles. He was very thorough and nice. He was not a joker type, really focused, which I liked. He seemed positive that he could give me my desired outcome (slim bridge, define/project tip).

I asked him if I could email the pics I had, but he said if I had any reservations, I could have a second consult before the surgery at no charge. So I guess maybe they are not supposed to receive email or they didn't want to be bombarded by mail. He then had to go, and I went to meet the surgery coordinator. She said it was $2200 to book the date, and then another $2196 ($1494 UMMS, $702 UMAAPA) due one week before surgery. She said the earliest surgery date was June 17th. I was really happy! That way I could have my cast off even before July 1st! Anyway, they wanted the booking fees as money order, which meant I had to transfer cash to my account, then wait some business days for it to complete.

I NEED BLOOD WORK
The surgery coordinator said to come in on June 10th for a second meeting, where I should bring the pictures. She said it's ok to bring the money order then too to save myself a trip. I was worried that I would lose my date, but she said that no one had booked it.

SECOND CONSULT+BLOOD WORK
I had a bunch of pics of my nose and noses I liked, so I uploaded them to Rite Aid, and stopped there before my consult. Anyway, they wouldn't give me the pics because of copyright or something. So annoying. When I was there, the surg coordinator called me to change the address of where we were meeting. Ehh well it was only a block away.

I went to the 8th floor, and gave the money order to the secretary. Then I met the faculty doctor. He said the res doctor might not come in, but he wanted me to tell him what I want done. He had my pictures from the first consult printed out. He was tall, like 50 something, sitting on a sofa, with motorcycle helmet and jacket on it. The res doctor came in and they were discussing my nose; they said they would use an open approach for better access.

I then went downstairs for a blood draw. The phlebotomist tied this thing very tight on my arm, and then stuck a needle into the inside of my arm. It was like a one second poke. Afterwards, I was so relieved that once I left, I almost fainted in the atrium. I sat down for a few minutes, and then left.

EMAILED PICS
I emailed the pics to the surg coordinator that I was supposed to get printed out. First I was just going to attach them but then I decided to put them in PowerPoint. I was kind of thinking this might make them think I'm a BDD/annoying demanding patient, but on the other hand, if i just sent them pics without explanation, it would not be clear what that pic exactly meant.

RESCHEDULED DATE FOR JUNE 23
I was kind of getting concerned because I had heard nothing from the surg coordinator! And my surgery was supposed to be in two days! I emailed her again to ask about the date, and re-sent my credit card info in case the other secretary hadn't given it to her. Anyway, she called me back and asked if the 23rd was ok. I said it's fine.

UM WHAT'S GOING ON
my email:
sorry to be annoying, but is the surgery going to be on the 23rd? Just asking because I have to tell my roommate what day to drive me. :)

SURGERY RESCHEDULED AGAIN FOR JUL 8
Got this mail
oK So did everything I could think of to see about getting it done 6/24 and nothing. I can lock it in for 7/8 and it will not be moved. It will be with Dr -- and the covering phys would be Dr ---.
You would be ready to go for surgery no pre op or anything needs to be done again

Ugh I felt so disappointed here; I mean the sublet was until July 1st. I could stay two more weeks, but then I would have to pay more money. I thought of flying home and coming back, but the money would be same. I thought of cancelling but I had already spent so much time here..so I just convinced myself that it's just three more weeks. I got scared that how if this girl does the reschedule thing again? But she had wrote the confirmation quite clearly. Anyway I talked to the landlord guy and he was cool; he said I could stay as long as I wanted.
DATE CONFIRMED
me: Ok, please schedule for me July 8th. I am going to stay in Baltimore until July 16th so please make sure that the date is confirmed. Thanks
surgery coordinator: Done you are good.

JUST WAITING
Well, I had two weeks to burn. Weirdly enough, I've made a lot of friends here. Literally everyday I go out with people to Inner Harbor, Canton, etc, and people text me to attend their house parties. My friends even took me to their academic events at JHU Med campus. It's strange that back home I go out maybe once a month, but here I have not had more than two days without going out. I also visited Boston for July 4th. My friends in Boston were confused because I only stayed two days. They did not know the reason was that I wanted to be back early for my surgery on the 8th. I told my roommate only that I am getting this done. He offered to take a half day off, and drive me home after! It's kind of amazing how nice people are here. I don't have any friend like that at home.

Also, he said I know you said you are here for a medical procedure, but can you tell me what it is? I told him the truth. He looked so shocked! He said "omg!", I answered "what?"". He said "I thought you had a STD so that's why you came here alone for treatment." I was amazed that all this time he thought I had an STD lol. Maybe that's why he was 100% noncreepy with me.

NO PREOP INSTRUCTIONS?
I kept checking my spam mail thinking I would find some preop instructions. So yesterday (Monday), I emailed, "Hi are there any special preop instructions that I need to follow for tomorrow? Do I need to bring anything and also what time should I ask to be picked up?"
My roommate told me not to worry; he said it's a big professional med program, you have your bloodwork cleared so you are good to go. I said, "yeah, but i literally don’t even know where to go the day of the surgery!!”
NO SURGERY
So today I decided to be good and come to the library early. My aim is ten job apps. I was also concerned that I hadn’t received a response from the surgery coordinator. Anyway, I was sitting here on the computer, and received a call from a weird area code. I picked up, and it was the resident doctor. He said he just came back from vacation, and he saw my emails, and they won’t be able to proceed with my surgery. I was so taken aback. I just listened to him. He was very sorry. He said he is not happy with the way the staff handled things. I asked, “so is it because the time frame is too short, or do you think that perhaps my expectations are unreasonable”. The doctor said that he talked to many of his colleagues and some of them think my nose is perfectly fine and what I’m looking for might not be easily done by a resident surgeon. He said he would not feel right taking my money. He was apologetic, he said he wished I could have been told earlier.
He talked to me for a good ten minutes. I felt like my voice was cracking so I said bye. Literally after I put down the phone, my eyes just welled up with tears. I know this is dumb of me, and doesn’t solve anything. It’s just that I felt like I was an on-call afterthought for them.
I mean, I am glad that someone who was not comfortable operating on me told me that. It is good to see a doctor with this type of humility. But…couldn’t they have told me right after the second consult that what I wanted was not feasible? Or maybe June 19th when I made the appointment? I sort of feel like a girl whose boyfriend was planning to break up since November, but extended it until New Year’s because he didn't feel like dealing with this during the holidays…or something. I mean, even if the relationship/surgery doesn’t have a chance, it’s not fair to just extend it..right? I don’t know. I’m kind of wondering what was the point of all this, what is the point of my life, could I have done somethign different, etc. I don’t know. I feel kind of sad. But what can I do now? Maybe no one is going to comment or read…but I guess I feel a little better typing like 100wpm for the last half hour and writing down all my thoughts. But yeah…if you read this last line, I would recommend not to go here unless you want to feel like a side piece. :( Booking my return flight now T_T