Finally, a normal looking nose! - Chicago, IL

Hard to believe it's already been two months. I decided to have a little fun with anonymizing photos and gave myself purple "hair". :) FINALLY, the late summer allergies have subsided so that I don't wake up sneezing 20 times. Swelling is slowly going down. From some angles my nose looks great! From others...it seems a bit projected (especially the oblique view). The tip is still hard though so hopefully that means it will get a bit more refined. I meet with the doctor later this month... and some feedback from him should help with the occasional "worry days" (like the last update). Recently it seems that a small bump on the bridge has been revealed; not sure if this is compensatory swelling from where that area was made smaller, but it does feel more like bone than swollen tissue. I'm not super worried about this, though--if it doesn't disappear, I suspect the doctor can rasp it down without much difficulty.

One month down. Do things get worse before they get better? Is it just me or did my nose look better a couple weeks ago? I am definitely in the worrying stage now! It's difficult to notice drastic changes from the past two weeks, mainly because it seems that the size shifts almost daily. I also think that starting up regular exercise has meant that the nose will swell right after working out. Still taping diligently every night (would love any tips on how to make the morning tape removal routine less painful, though!) Taping seems to be working, or at least is better than the alternative...the couple of times I forgot to tape, it seemed much bigger the next day. That said, right now I'm feeling kind of frustrated with the 3/4 view, which is why I included photos of that angle. To me it still looks too projected and dare I say witchy, similar to the way it was before. I worry that Dr. Shah was too conservative. I want the result to be a small, delicate, feminine nose. But of course, there was complex grafting so presumably that area will take the longest to shrink. My skin is pretty fair and thin, so it's unlikely that kenalog injections will be an option to speed that up. However, coming back here and reviewing the post-op timelines of others is helpful. I'm also starting to consider whether another procedure (a chin implant) will benefit and make me feel better about my profile. Right now, though, life is busy enough that there are other things to worry about first. :) Otherwise, and happily, breathing has been much better, tenderness has decreased overall, and numbness is almost all gone.

Week 3

Had my 3rd week appointment with Dr. Shah yesterday. He seemed like he was in a good mood and said that everything was healing well. One gets the impression that he gets a lot of complaints about the healing process, though, because he really emphasized how long swelling can last, etc. All of us at RealSelf should know this by now, right? I am trying to be pretty relaxed about it but it was helpful to listen to him spend some time talking about the recovery timeline and its somewhat protracted course for revisions and more complex procedures. This experience has been very different than my first rhinoplasty, and of course the first one was long enough ago that I don't remember as many details. For anyone else considering a revision (or even a first-timer), it's so important to keep in mind that each experience is different and the recovery process is highly variable, depending on the doctor, the complexity of the procedure, open vs closed rhinoplasty, and other individual differences. I try to remind myself of these when reading about other experiences and thinking about my own healing process.

The only real problems I'm having are excessive runny nose in the mornings and when I take walks, and increased numbness & discomfort during walks (haven't been cycling or doing heavier exercise yet). This is pretty frustrating because I can't blow my nose or sniffle too vigorously, but Dr Shah suggested regular irrigation with saline solution. I've sneezed several times and it seems fine if a little uncomfortable, and I try to let the sneeze come out through my mouth, if that makes sense. Tip sensation has improved but has a ways to go, and he doesn't want to do kenalog injections yet. Also, on a couple of days I taped a little too firmly and got a minuscule bump where the tape was. I've been told that all of this is normal and will disappear... sooner than later I hope!


Finally...before I start nitpicking about swelling, tips, perfection, and so on (as will surely happen in the coming weeks/months), I'd like to note that the result so far is natural enough that it's almost too easy to forget how bad it looked before. Look at those photos. My original rhinoplasty was BAD. Even at this early stage in the healing process, I can say with confidence that Dr Shah took my hack-jobbed nose and made it look normal. For that alone I am so thankful and happy.