Waited Decades for Rhinoplasty - Chatswood, AU

I'm a 37 year old mother of two who has always been super conscious of my nose. At first, I tried to convince myself that I would grow to like it, that I shouldn't change the way I look because that is what I was born with and I kind of felt like I would be changing who I was if I had cosmetic surgery. That was in my teenage years. Over the years, I didn't grow to like it and hated seeing photos of myself. About five years ago I decided that I would undergo rhinoplasty. I had kids and was busy working so there was never a right time, but early this year, I left my job and decided that it was now or never.

I started looking around for a good surgeon. I went to see one who was highly regarded, but just didn't feel comfortable. He was nice but just felt distant and a little arrogant. The second surgeon I went to see was Dr Shahidi. From the moment I walked into the office, the staff were incredibly warm and welcoming. Then I saw Dr Shahidi and he was also the same. Very caring but honest and upfront about what could be done with the size and shape of my nose. I appreciated that he was honest from the start and I knew what to expect. He did the imaging right there but I wasn't 100% happy with the look. I didn't realise this until I had left his office. I called the office and expressed this and his staff member told me to send in pictures of the type of nose I wanted, and to play around on the app and send it through to her. She would pass it on to him. This back and forth happened a couple of times and every time, his staff member was more than happy to help me.

Once happy with the look, I booked in for surgery. Feeling both excited and scared, more scared than excited, I waited for the big day.

Day of surgery was upon me and my mum took me in. HSS at Bella Vista was great and I appreciated the opportunity to stay overnight. Dr Shahidi saw me before the operation to confirm what I wanted and I went in. The operation took about 2.5 hours and went very well. I came out not feeling much pain, but mostly discomfort as I was breathing through my mouth. Despite what most say, I didn't' have a sore throat. Dr Shahidi came to see me after the operation and said everything went well.

I am now writing a day after I went in to take the cast off. I can't express how happy I am with my decision to go ahead with rhinoplasty and Dr Shahidi. I will go in to see Dr Shahidi regularly for the next year as he wants to ensure that my nose heals well.