Hanging Columella Fixed - Chicago, IL

To begin with I originally wanted to get this procedure in 2012. The morning of the surgery, I felt really sick, and took it as a sign to not do the surgery. Besides me feeling sick, I don't think I was mentally ready for the procedure. I decided to wait to reschedule my procedure and see how I feel. Fast forward 4 years later, I was still feeling self conscious because of my nose. Now, my nose isn't the longest, or most crooked nose you've ever seen. I actually didn't hate my nose, besides the fact that I wanted the columella lifted. I rescheduled my appointment with dr shah and had another consultation with him. He showed me morphs of how my nose would look after the procedure, and tweaked them to my liking of how I would want my nose to look, which is something I really appreciated. I set my surgery date for April 1st, 2016. I made sure to prepare myself mentally this time around, which meant not reading any horror stories, thinking positively, and having everything prepared for the procedure. The day before my surgery, I had everything I thought I needed for the surgery, thanks to some lists I found on RealSelf! I definitely feel like having everything prepared helped me wrap my mind around what I was about to do, and made me feel more confident. The day of the surgery, I made it to the surgery center and checked myself in. I was so anxious, but the nurses really make you feel comfortable and having my mom and sister there really helped. I was supposed to have my surgery at 2 but dr shah was running behind because of another surgery he was doing prior to mine. After he was done, he came by and went over what our end goal was for my nose. Then the anesthesiologist came over, and then shortly after that they wheeled me in. All I remember was being wheeled into a room with my pictures hung up. They put me on the operating table and they asked me a few questions as they put in an IV and that's all I remember. The week of recovery was a piece of cake. I hated the feeling of not being able to breathe through my nose, but sipping water through a bendy straw constantly and having a humidifier on throughout the night really helped. I was icing the first two days for fear I would bruise and swell, but thankfully I didn't bruise at all. I was definitely swollen but only in my cheeks, no crazy eye swelling like I thought I would get. The boogers were so gross though! When I got the cast removed, I was so in love with the result! It looked very swollen, but I can still see that my columella was definitely raised, where I wanted it. I still looked like me, just a better version which was my goal. My post op appointments after have been nice. They are definitely quick, he always seems really rushed and hurries thru the appointment. Which is not a big deal to me because I'd rather be out quickly, but could be an issue for others. he gave me a shot to take the swelling down in August and it definitely has helped. Some days it is more swollen then others. Fast forward 6 months later, and I love my nose. The tip is slightly refined, my columella doesn't hang and it looks great. He's truly great at what he does!