Septoplasty Turbinate Reduction and Possible Rhinoplasty - After Nose Fracture

I have broken my nose several times throughout my life but have never gone to the ER or the doctor. Basically I have just iced it and moved on. 7 days ago I fell on some ice and hit my face on my car...(I'm very graceful) and since then I have not been able to breathe out of my right side of my nose and hardly out of my left. My nose was swollen and visibly crooked but I was really concerned about my breathing. I have been waking up in the night out of breath and its been scary!

So Last Monday 1/28/13, I went to an ENT who said that my septum was deviated in three places and was blocking my right nose and my turbinates were somehow blocking the left side of my nose and that my nose also needed to be re-set. So he recommended I talk to another ENT who is also a board certified plastic surgeon. He also suggested that I do that so I can fix any cosmetic concerns I had at the same time. Seemed reasonable so I did that last Thursday 1/31/13.

My experience with the Surgeon was kind of nerve racking. I think he spent a total of 4 minutes with me. Looked up my nose and said it would be a really easy fix and left. I ended up calling the office back to ask about cosmetic changes and I was kind of nervous because the nurse just said 'oh you can just discuss that the day of your surgery, he's taking everything out and has to put it back together anyway so it shouldn't be a problem to alter it...' and 'he will tell you about the cost then and I'll make him aware before that this is something you'd like to do'

I don't know! I have no idea if that means it will technically include a Rhinoplasty too or if he will reshape the tip or what. I guess I wouldn't mind any improvement but I hate not knowing. Now that I've researched more I kind of want to fix everything and feel good breathing and have a straight thinner nose. I hope that's possible. Maybe not. I guess I'll find out Thursday. -__-;

I called the office today (the day before surgery!) and I got a rough quote from the receptionist of 1000 for the surgeon fee for a tip adjustment. I'm still not sure if that's what he's even willing to do. My anxiety is high. I know hes the best surgeon in Idaho but I still have no idea what my outcome is going to be... However if i can get some improvement I supposed that will be better than none. I feel very confident I'll be able to breathe better at least and that will be a definite relief!

So I went through with it. The surgery started late because of some meetings and so I was fairly anxious about taking to the DR. He came in about 5 minutes before surgery and I discussed what I wanted to do and he said that doing a full Rhinoplasty other than fixing the fracture wasn't going to be necessary and he has to take out all the components out of the nose anyway and when he puts them back he can make it smaller/thinner and still make it subtle. That sounded pretty good to me. I made sure to let him know that I didn't want a slopped upturned nose or anything and he said he wouldn't do that. It will be my same nose just slightly improved! I'm excited.

So right after that they wheeled me into the OR and I don't even remember what that looks like. I woke up in Post-Op with a LOT of pain. LOTS. but they wanted to only give me my Norcos so I could go home I think. So the first four hours after my surgery were honestly really miserable. My eyes watered up, everything hurt and I felt disoriented.

Luckily, once I got home and got my meds on schedule, I've felt fine. I'm not in any real pain and I'm walking around great. I wasn't really able to eat anything today other than a banana and smoothies. Maybe tomorrow I'll have an appetite?

Overall I'm happy I'll be able to breathe soon and am excited to see what sort of subtle changes my nose has.