Rhinoplasy, Finally… - Chicago, IL

I have finally picked my doctor and set a date for my rhinoplasty. I know how hard it is to find good intel on surgeons, so I am starting this review.

I had read a lot about picking a doctor over the pat few years, and a lot of articles I read said to bring pictures of the nose you want. That really didn't ever make sense to me. It is not reasonable to expect something entirely different then what you've already got. Cosmetic procedures can enhance or slightly alter your features quite well, but attempting huge changes that are really contrary to your existing features/structures is not realistic. I also didn't want to be the one telling my doctor what to do.I don't know the first thing about noses! I wanted to find a doctor that told me what he would do, and see if his idea matched mine. I spoke with Dr. Epstein in Miami, Dr. Slupchynskyj in NYC, and Dr. Shah in Chicago. I am sure they are all great surgeons, but I am confident Dr. Shah is the right surgeon for me.

Dr Slup seemed confused, and even irritated that I didn't have a nose to tell him I wanted. As if it were a bother for him to decide what to do with my nose…um…don't you look at nose everyday? And you can't tell what is unappealing about my nose? His morphs horrified me, and made me reconsider having surgery all together. He, apparently, does not believe in fixing a hanging columella.

Dr. Epstein apparently cannot be bothered with too much patient interaction, and expects a $2,500 deposit before he will even meet with you. Go [RS bleep] yourself, Dr. Epstein. There are a ton of great surgeons out there.

Dr. Shah met with me, and told me he was first going to tell me what he would do to my nose before hearing what I would like. Perfect. He mentioned EVERYTHING I would have said. This is definitely the surgeon for me. It still took me a few months before I balanced out the risk/reward enough to scheduled my surgery. I am scheduled for April 24.

I was extremely nervous. Last night was AWFUL for me. I hadn't really slept in days, and I had a tension headache, which resulted in me tossing and turning with weird dreams until 4:30am when I had to shower. My surgery was moved up to 6:30. I was so anxious I thought I was going to vomit before I left my apartment. I live a pretty unstressfull life, and the anxiety really got to me. I even broke out in a nervous rash (NEVER happened before). My head was spinning as I filled out the consent forms--what the hell am I doing?!?!

They took me back to the room, took a urine sample, and put am IV in me. The IV felt uncomfortable (all in my head), and made me even more anxious. After a 30 minute wait, the Anesthetist came in and spoke with me. I found him to be warm and confidence inspiring…probably because he prompt had them start my IV sedation. Shah came in to go over the morphs. I have complete trust in him, and I love his aesthetic. Even if I don't get the morph nose, I have no doubt I will like my nose better than my old one, so that conversation was short. I was wheeled in the OR and put to sleep before I even knew what was happening.

When I woke up in recovery, I was berthing though my nose! Something I thought was not going to happen. That alone was a big relief. I asked for come ice to chew on, and took about an hour getting myself mentally prepared to go home. During the walk down to the car my nose saturated bleeding, and it bleed the whole way home, until I laid back down. I promptly stopped once I reclined. My day has been easy. I ate homemade apple sauce, popsicles, and yogurt. I am breathing mostly through my mouth, but I occasional exhale through my nose, and I think that is adding a lot to my comfort. I expect to be too swollen for that tomorrow. I am already pretty swollen and bruising, but so far, so good. I actually feel really good. I took 1 pain killer because I had an awful headache.

I am the worst picture taker, but I wanted to update. I had my cast off yesterday. It was uncomfortable, but not painful. I was in a bit of a daze afterward, and terribly exhausted, for some reason that isnt apparent to me. Oh yea, I had surgery 8 days ago.

Obviously, I'm very swollen in my nose and cheeks. My black eye persists, but is slowly resolving. So far, I'm extremely happy with the result, but I also know I haven't even seen the result.