Love my Family, Never Wanted the Nose! - Chelmsford, MA

This'll be short for now! Like many others who have undergone this procedure, I've always been self-conscious about my nose. The front view is all right, a bit shapeless, but acceptable. My profile? Oh goodness, I've never been comfortable with it. What's worse is in trying to hide my discomfort I just draw attention to it (awesome, right?).

I love my father, but I never wanted to inherit his nose. Honestly, the hardest part of this whole undertaking so far has been telling my dad what I planned to do. I went back and forth on how to present it until one day I just blurted it out. End result, he was a little worried, but ultimately he understood.

Anyhow, I've got my surgery scheduled for October 2nd bright and early in the morning. My mom has used this doctor for a couple of procedures and he's does wonderful work. While I'm not entirely psyched for going under the knife, I am happy to be going under with a doctor I trust to do an excellent job. Now all I have to do is mentally prepare myself for the whole "the swelling will fade", "the tip is high so it doesn't droop later", "that bruising is a flattering shade of purple-y yellow!"

I had my surgery this morning at 7:30. The ladies at the office are always a joy to be around and were particularly bubbly this morning. They and the doctor walked me through all the set up, we talked about what I really wanted (shape, length, etc.) once more, and they answered all my questions about recovery. The anesthesiologist talked through my medical history and made sure I had some anti-nausea stuff due to my propensity for vomiting after waking up (ow).

Despite all the care and kindness, I could not stop shaking from nerves. They put me under and I woke up in what seemed like moments later, warm and comfy. I was groggy and my nose hurt, but it wasn't searing pain.

One pain pill, a bottle Gatorade, and a few animal crackers later I was home and in bed. I slept hard, but woke up refreshed (for the most part). I don't have a drip pad, but I'm really not dripping anything anyway. The pain pills and all have made me a bit dizzy, but not nauseous (Yay!). Now if I could just blow my nose, haha. I can feel some fluid coagulation, but there's not much I can do today.

Overall, yes there is pain both in my nose and my throat from the breathing tube, but the pills are helping and so is lots of sleep. Drinking from a straw out of the side of my mouth keeps me from pursing my lips and tugging on the stitches. I didn't have any bruising initially, but it is sure setting in now! I look forward to that going away soon. All in all, it has been better than I expected.

First things first, I knew this site was a great resource, but it has also become a great source of encouragement. Thank you all for being such an awesome community of shared experiences!

On day 2 of recovery I woke up swollen and bruised, as to be expected. I was hoping to switch to Tylenol today, but I found I'm still in need of the heavy duty painkillers, oh well. I got up and, with my mom and husband, drove out to get some papers notarized (we just sold our house, yay!). I thought I would be embarrassed with all my bruising and such, but it really was no big deal.

Walking around really seemed to help the swelling around my eyes, but I can still feel a lot of pressure under the splint. My greatest, and probably grossest, accomplishment of today was removing a large blood clot from the left inside of my nose. It was very freeing to be able to breathe again.

Tuesday I get the splint off and I am just counting the days. Sleep helps pass the time!

Stay well all!