Rhinoplasty Diary: 19 Yrs Old - Chatswood, AU

I really cannot believe I am writing this. Today I took the plunge and booked an initial consultation with Dr. Shahidi in Sydney. This is a huge deal considering I live in New Zealand so along with it I have booked flights (and I am absolutely terrified of flying!). I will fly to Sydney and return on the same day at the end of October.

Rhinoplasty is something I have dreamed about since being 11 years old. I remember that I had never even realised my nose was big until I became the favourite kid to pick on at school, where a big group of nasty boys would yell "eagle" and "pinocchio" at me from across the class. I then became obsessed with looking at my side profile in mirrors, realising I not only had a big dorsal hump and droopy tip but my nose was also crooked (deviated septum?). I soon learnt which angle my nose looked "okay" from and made sure whenever I talked to anyone or took a photo, my face was angled correctly.

I thought I may grow out of being self-conscious once the bullying stopped, but here we are 8 years on and it's worse than ever. I'll be honest I am not unhappy with my appearance in general and it is really only my nose which concerns me greatly.

I've spent around 3 years reading about/researching rhinoplasty but have always put it off. The first reason is because I live in New Zealand and I don't believe there are many/any decent and well known surgeons here. The second reason obviously being a 19 year old student, is money. I only recently started looking at surgeons in Australia after seeing before/afters on this site and hearing a lot of wonderful things about Dr Shahidi (if you have had an experience with him - good or bad - please message me!) I have also somehow managed to scrape together what I hope will be enough for the surgery.. I may need to do a little more saving but we shall see once I get a quote at my consultation.

I eventually just thought, why not! At the end of the day it is only money and the thought of not having to worry about my nose every second of the day almost brings me to tears!

I will keep documenting my journey here as reading other people's posts has already helped me greatly already. Also, if you have had/are having rhinoplasty, please message me! I would love to have people who understand to chat to :)

Flying out on Tuesday for my first consultation with Dr Shahidi! Doesn't feel real yet! Feeling a bit less nervous about the flight now as I have convinced my boyfriend to come with me. He's always cool, calm and collected and loves flying - so it'll ease my nerves! Had a bit of a drama a couple weeks ago as I realised I needed a visa to even enter Aus! Thankfully all is sorted now :)

Thought I would write a quick update here and ask you guys what questions you would recommend me asking Dr Shahidi while I am there? Now the appointment is so close, I have a total mind blank as to what questions to ask! Any help would be super appreciated! :)

Initial consult with Dr Shahidi went great. All his staff are so lovely and welcoming. I think the time with Dr Shahidi himself was shorter than I expected it to be, but this was fine as his nurse had already seen me beforehand and covered most of my questions. Dr Shahidi immediately could see that I had a deviated septum and after looking up my nose with a camera, he could see I also have enlarged turbinates, so these two things combined mean minimal airflow through my nose. He also pointed out that one side of my face is smaller/lower than the other, which I notice in straight-on photos (one eye slightly higher, one ear slightly higher, mouth higher on one side etc). This means that he will never be able to get my nose completely straight but I am not expecting perfection and he has reassured me that he is confident he can make a significant improvement, especially with the hump and drooping tip :) The total procedure would be "Septal Reconstruction Rhinoplasty Inferior Turbinectomy" and the quoted price is a little higher than my budget, but the earliest appt isn't until Feb next year so can save up between now and then. I have not booked a confirmed surgery date yet as I need to organise with my mum/family as I will have to bring someone to Sydney to look after me, I also have to arrange time off work and hopefully fit it into my uni holidays. But definitely looking at going through with the surgery next year sometime. I have uploaded some pics with this review.
If anyone has any questions feel free to contact me! Happy to share my experience and looking forward to being on this journey with others of you who are having/had the procedure :) Would love to know your opinions on the computer generated image too, he said it is a fairly straight nose that he has created on the computer, but it would be possible to have it slightly more curved if I wanted. What do you guys think?