From Big Nose to Small - Beverly Hills, CA

Alicia requested I post a more recent photo so here it is. This was taken August of this year

It's been almost a year now, and I feel this was the best thing I ever did formyself. I only wish I would have been able to do it years ago

I had rhinoplasty done by Dr. Kotler about a month and a half ago and I couldn't be happier. For years I hated my nose. I felt like my nose was humongous and because of that I felt extremely UGLY, not just ugly but F-UGLY. I used to feel that I was the ugliest of all my friends. When I went out with them I felt sorry for them that they had to be seen in public with such an ugly person. I have a small face. Huge noses and small faces are not a good combination. It made my nose look even bigger. I used to cringe whenever I was tagged in a photo in facebook that was a side view. I felt like all you could see was my huge nose. Thanks to Dr. Kotler I no longer feel ugly. I have a nose now that fits my small face. I no longer feel that I am the ugliest person I know. I can now look in the mirror and not cringe and hate the face I see looking back at me. I still can't believe how good my nose looks now. Dr. Kotler told me it's going to continue to get even better as it takes about 3 months to heal and the swelling to completely go away. My nose looks so good just after a month and a half, actually it looked great to me after just a week and half so the fact that it could continue to get even better is amazing to me. I did a lot of research before choosing Dr. Kotler. I had wanted rhinoplasty for years but was not able to afford it till this year. For years I watched shows such as Dr. 90210 and Plastic Surgery Before and After whenever an episode had a rhinoplasty in it. I cut out and saved any magazine articles about rhinoplasty. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the procedure because I knew one day I was going to get it done. I researched the surgeons I had seen on the shows and in articles I mentioned above. I read lots of reviews. I reviewed the surgeons’ websites and looked at before and after pictures. I particularly looked for huge noses that were now small. I ruled out a couple surgeons because I didn’t see any nose as huge as mine in the before pictures. I needed a surgeon that would not just straighten a bump but make a huge nose smaller. I ruled out a couple of surgeons because people had complained in several reviews I had read that they were pompous, arrogant, seemed annoyed when a patient asked a lot of questions and once the surgery was done seemed like they couldn't be bothered with the patient. I had lots of questions and was nervous about the procedure and how much it would hurt as I have a very very low tolerance for pain so I needed a doctor that would take time to answer my questions. I ruled out another surgeon because the office refused to quote me a price over the phone. I would have to go for a consultation for $250 and only then get a price. I didn't like the fact that they refused to give me even a range. When I looked at Dr. Kotler’s website I saw some really huge noses that were greatly reduced in size in the after photos. A couple noses were even bigger than mine! I also liked the fact that you could email a photo of yourself for free and they will email you back a computer generated image of what you could look like after. No other surgeon offered that. I emailed a photo and then spoke with Tricia on the phone from Dr. Kotler's office. I asked about the price she did give me a range over the phone and suggested to come in for a consultation. She told me if I decided not to have the surgery I would not be charged the $200 consultation fee and if I did decide to do it that the $200 would be applied towards the surgery which made me feel much better. She assured me that Dr. Kotler wants everyone to feel comfortable about the procedure. I went for the consultation armed with lots of questions most of them about pain which was a major concern for me. Dr. Kotler was very patient and answered all my questions even ones I thought were silly but still had to ask. He even took notes on some of the questions I asked and never once made me feel like my questions were annoying or stupid. He was so personable and felt approachable. I felt comfortable around him, and I knew I had found the right surgeon. His staff was so nice too. I can’t tell you how many times I emailed Tricia and Mary with questions in the weeks before my surgery and even after and they too never once made me feel like my questions were bothersome. I even apologized in one email for all the questions. Mary assured me there was no reason to be sorry and I was not a bother at all. One thing that really impressed me was when I had a question about the surgery which I emailed to Tricia, she forwarded the email to Dr. Kotler. I sent the email on Friday. Dr. Kotler was away on vacation but he called on Sunday from his cell phone while on vacation to answer my questions. That really showed me that he really does care about his patients and wants them to feel comfortable about their surgery. The procedure did not hurt as much as I was afraid it would. I never had surgery before so I was nervous about any pain I would feel or that I would wake up during the procedure. The anesthesiologist called me the night before surgery to see if I had any questions, again I was very concerned about any needles that would be used and how much they would hurt. The anesthesiologist assured me it would be just a little pin prick and he was right. I was so afraid the needle and intravenous would hurt. It was just 2 little pin pricks and that was it. The night of my surgery Dr. Kotler called me to see how I was doing. He was so nice and caring. There was some discomfort that for me started about 2 days after the surgery when the plastic nose covering started to feel heavy and itchy but not the extreme pain I was afraid of. Once the covering came off after 5 days my nose felt much better and lighter. The next day I went back to the office to have the breathing tubes and packing removed. That too was only about 5 seconds of pain for each the tubes and the packing to come out. I’m also very thankful for the breathing tubes that Dr. Kotler invented. Since I had done lots of research for years I knew about packing and how people could only breathe through their mouth, felt like they couldn’t eat and felt very uncomfortable. Thanks to the breathing tubes I could breathe through my nose even with the packing and was able to eat. Having rhinoplasty and choosing Dr. Kotler as my surgeon was the best decision I’ve ever made. I only wish I would have been able to do it years ago. For the first time since the 4th grade I no longer feel ugly. That’s the age where fellow classmates started making fun of me and telling me I was ugly, which even though I moved and went to different schools with a complete set of different students continued right up to my senior year in high school and even at my 5th year reunion . For several years I looked I in the mirror and accepted as a fact that they were right. I was ugly. I now look in the mirror and no longer feel that way. I am also getting a lot of compliments now. I’m not sure whether or not people have noticed that I had a nose job and think it’s’ not PC to mention it or they just notice something is different. People tell me things now like “Wow you look really good” Your make up looks really good today” I haven’t changed how I apply my make up though. Or “your eyes look so bright” “you look really bright today.” I have a friend who is a Mary Kay consultant. This past summer she did a makeover on me and posted the before and after picture on facebook. It got one like from one of her friends who liked the eye shadow. A couple of weeks ago, about a month after my surgery I went for another makeover. Again she posted a photo, only this time the photo got several likes from my friends. It was the first photo on facebook with my new nose and I’ve never had any photo of myself get so many likes before. Funny thing is I don’t think it was the makeup they were liking. To be honest I didn’t like the makeup that much, I felt it made me look older, but with my smaller nose my face just looked better. Most important to me is how I feel about myself, which for the first time in several years is not ugly. Thanks to Dr. Kotler’s excellent work I now like the face I see staring back at me in the mirror and love my now small nose.