Septo/Rhinoplasty with Bone Spur Removal, Chin implant and Otoplasty- Cool Springs, TN

I can't believe I'm writing one of these right nowww. I have my surgery date set up for the 29th of December and I'm starting to get nervous! I've always had such a masculine nose (big tip and a hump and I hate how it curves under when I smile) that I've wanted to get fixed. I recently went to a ENT and was informed of my deviated septum and that I have a spur in the left side of my nose. Not sure how I got this spur since I don't remember having any trauma to my nose. But either way, I was told that I barely have a passageway on my left side. So luckily the surgeon that I booked with back in June is also an otolarynogologist who does reconstructive surgeries. Does anyone know if a septoplasty can be done in a closed rhinoplasty or does the rhinoplasty have to be "open"? I really don't want scars around my nose from an open surgery. What do ya'll think? Also, I see people having steroid shots for swelling.. is that common? Is that included in the price of surgery or is it extra? If not included, how much is it usually?
Thanks ya'll!

Old nose and nose I want...

Alrighttt. So I only have 13 days till my pre-op appt and less than a month till surgery! Does anyone have any tips for healing? Supplies I should buy? Also, the doctor talked about a chin implant to make my face more symmetrical... I'm not 100% sure I want to do it. What do ya'll think?

Pre op is on Monday! Hoping all goes as planned and the surgery is still on (will update as to why when I'm allowed to talk about I). But for now I've done another morphing of my nose and chin on an app on my phone. That's what I want to look like..well without the Halloween costume on. Lol

I'm way more excited than nervous now. I had my pre-op last night with Dr. Clymer and it went amazing. He let me ask him every question I had, ridiculous or not. He was very informative and gave a lot of insight on things I never knew or thought I already knew. He put me at ease with everything that's going to happen and now I'm at the point where I just can't waittt. The pre-op with the nurse was a little intense because she tells you everything you can/can't have before, during, after surgery. I started eating a cup (or more) of fresh pineapple a day and taking 3000mg of vitamin c (I think that's so I don't get sick and so my immune system will help me heal faster/better). I went to Kroger after my appt and got mostly everything that I need/am gonna need. I got: 2 tubes of polysporin, a box of gauze, paper tape, qtips, vitamin c, a baby toothbrush (because she said I won't be able to really open my mouth much), mac and cheese, and stuff to make homemade chicken & rice soup (lowww sodium). I feel like there was something else, but I can't remember.. all that stuff was expensive. So when you budget out your surgery, account for $100 or more in supplies. Oh! Another thing, I'm having a mentoplasty (chin implant) and otoplasty (to pin my huge ears back).. I probably should've mentioned this before. Woops! I wonder if my medication (pain, antibiotics, etc. etc.) is going to be covered under insurance.. let's hope so. I thought I'd have to go pick up arnica from gnc but it's something they call into my pharmacy along with all of my other medication. The nurse that's going to take care of me was awesome though. I feel like she said something about washing my hair for me twice... has anyone else had that done? Lol.
So my surgery is on the 29th and I have to be there at 6:15am and my start time is 7:30am. Which is good because I'm usually starving in the morning so I'd rather just get it done and over with so I'm not having hunger pains before hand. I was told that within a week I'm going to be pretty much back to normal.
I still owe the hospital and anesthsia $2800, which is so hard to do around Christmas time. I don't know where I'm gonna get that money from. =/ So hopefully it all works out and I find the money somewhere.

I think that's all for now..
Anyone have any tips or suggestions?


P.S. sorry that was all over the place

Don't judge me.

So my surgery is a week from today and I thought everything was all squared away. All I had left to do was pay the facility and anesthesia fee and I planned on doing that today. Since I'm having a (somewhat) medical procedure, my insurance was suppose to cover almost $1000 in those fees and I got told yesterday that my insurance is out-of-network. So I either had to come up with that thousand or reschedule my surgery. Mind you, I haven't had a day off of work since June.. I've been working 2-3 jobs, 7 days a week and sometimes I'd go from job to job in one day..all just to pay for this surgery. I've worked my ass off and I finally thought I made it and could stop stressing about the money portion of it all. I honestly didn't know what to do. I couldn't reschedule because I can't miss that much work (my surgery is in between Xmas and new years so we are already off) and I have somewhere I have to be on January 26th and I have to look/feel/sound as normal as possible. I'm leaving to go to NC today to spend Christmas with my boyfriend's family and there was no way I could work more to make that extra grand. I'm literally using every penny I have to my name. I don't know how some people just book a surgery for like a month later and have the funds to pay for it. Well, good for them lol (not sarcasm!). I'm just not one of those people. I live pay check to pay check and (again) had to pick up 2 more jobs on top of my full time job to pay for this. So basically I called my mom crying and my mom is the BEST. She already gave me a little to help pay for my surgery (bday and xmas presents) and she offered to give me a loan for the grand I needed. I'm so so lucky to have her. So I did my calculations and am only off by $600 (I guess I ended up with more money than I thought!) so she's going to help me and then my boyfriend (who has also helped me and is the most amazing and supportive person in the world) is going to pay her back next week. And then I'll pay him back. lol. Ahh just so much stress.
I'm not speaking ill of the dr./practice I'm going to; they just found out too, so I can't blame them for telling me last minute. I'm just glad that I can actually have my surgery done!
So for now: still eating my pineapple and taking my vitamin c. Got all my meds and supplies. And today I'm going to make homemade soup (before I leave for NC) that has lowww sodium in it so I can eat that the whole recovery lol.
That's pretty much it. Just wanted to inform ya'll of my experience and let you know to makeeee sure months before if insurance is going to help or not.
I'll see ya'll on surgery day!
Merry Christmas!

Out of surgery. Holy crap. I have a lot to tell y'all like we almost didn't go through with the surgery and the surgery ended up taking almost 3 hours longer than expected. I was in a lot of pain on the way home and when I got home but I took some pain meds so I'm feeling a little better. I'm gonna put the ice pads on my eyes and rest for a while. I'll tell you guys everything tomorrow!!!!

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't updated. I've had a pretty rough recovery. So here's all what happened:
Surgery was on Tuesday 12/29 and I got there at 6:15am. The day before surgery I started to feel like I was getting the flu or strep (throat hurt and super achey) but I kept pounding vitamin c and I even took my antibiotics early (doctor said I could). I was told that as long as I didn't have a fever or develop a virus that we can proceed. So I get to the surgery center and my nerves are wracking. They call me back and start to take my vitals..it turned out that I had a mild fever. The anesthesiologist came in and asked how I was feeling and if I was coming down with anything. I said I felt better than I did the night before and I only had a scratchy throat. I guess my heart rate was up as well. So with both of those things the doctor came in and said he thinks I'm in the earlyyyy stages of developing something (too early to tell what it could've been). He said if I had a fever any more than I did, that he would postpone the surgery. And he honestly recommended I postpone it anyway. He did say that if we went through with it that there are a few more infection risks but he thought we'd be okay. I couldn't postpone and got really upset and said I'd rather do it. I felt fine. The doc agreed that I was fit for surgery and we went through with it. Y'all I don't remember a thingggg. I was on the bed wheeling to the OR and they asked me to get on the next bed. And poof..I was out. My surgery was suppose to only take about 5 hours but my doctor is such a perfectionist (thank god) and wanted to make sure everything was as good as it would get. I'm so thankful he did. So I woke up and they pretty much gave me ice chips and wheeled me to the car. Side note: do notttttt sniffle when you first wake up from anesthesia. It was a natural reaction but I got in trouble for doing it lol. On the way home (45 mins) I was in soooooo much pain. My chin hurt so bad. My nose was fine. And my right ear hurt. We got home and I took my medicine and an hour later I felt okay. The first night I barely slept because every time I'd start to fall, I'd close my mouth. And I'd wake up instantaneously cause I couldn't breathe. (Duh, can't breathe through my nose). So my body had to get used to it.
The next day we went to the doctors office and I got my head cast removed (only because I got my ears done..not from my nose). She also said I didn't need the drip pad anymore. She taught us how to clean everything and we went home. My sister and her husband sent me an edible arrangement which was amazing! I had fresh fruit almost 3 times a day! Along with other low sodium foods. And lots of protein.
The days were all basically the same. I'd wake up feeling okay and by mid day i would be exhausted and go to sleep. It got better as the days went on though. The pain was gradual as well. Some nights I wanted to cry. I didn't have my pain to my actual nose. Like almost none. Just more discomfort. The pain I did have was from him breaking my nose. My head hurt sooooo bad. All over. That was also because of my ears too. After the first day and a half, my chin didn't hurt. I just could barely open my mouth. So when I would eat, I'd dribble. lol. I had a towel on my chest when I would eat and drink because some of it would come back out.
I didn't feel good enough to do anything. I thought I'd color (got some adult coloring books for Xmas) or paint or play on my iPad but I did nothing but sleep and eat.
So fast forward to today. We went to the doctor at about 9. The nurse (who was amazing btw) took my chin stitches out and took my nose stitches out. My chin cast came off and then the doc came in to do my nose splints and cast.
I only had 1 or 2 stitches that hurt coming out. A tinyyyyy bit though. Don't let that worry you like I did. Lol. The splints were probably the worst part. There's really no way to describe it but weird. My right side did kind of hurt coming out though.
My nose looks like an avatar from the front. Still very swollen. But I love the slope so far. I'm not gonna post a pic of my full face cause my chin looks like rock jaw and jay Leno. It's huge. But it'll go down. It's weird cause I don't really look like myself. So I'm excited for all the swelling to go away and bruising to go away. I'll post a pic of my ears and chin in a few days. My ear stitches come out on Wednesday. My ears look so good btw. I was always called dumbo growing up because they were so big and out there. He did an amazing job. If anyone's looking for more detail on otoplasty, let me know and I'll go into more detail.
So far so good. I still can't really open my mouth. Or rub my lips together (like putting on Chapstick lol) but it's all good.
New year new me! Literally! Lol

So I'm 2 weeks post op tomorrow. I'm feeling good. Still some pain around my ears and my ears themselves but that should go away soon. They're actually quite bruised still. But I had my doctor appt today and it went great. Dr. Clymer is seriously the nicest and best plastic surgeon, in my opinion. He reassured me that I'm still very swollen so not to be too freaked out. I do kind of look like Jay Leno from my chin implant but he said it will go down halfff of what it is now. So I'm excited. Oh and i still don't have much motion in my face. Smiling is pretty non existent right now. My nose is looking good. The tip kinda looks like my old nose right now but the nurse said that your skin has memory and went back to what it's used to but the tip will go down a lott more. I'm very happy and excited so far. Can't wait for a few more weeks! Here are some pics:

Sorry! I was updating before and my boss kinda rushed me out of the office so I shut everything down. But here are the pictures.

Hey guys. So I'm about 2 1/2 weeks out from surgery and I'm having concerns. I'm looking back at pictures and getting really nervous about chin. I had a decent chin before and I thought it was just going to get extended a tiny bit to make my face proportionate. I look like Abe Lincoln still and don't like the way I look in pictures. I really hope I didn't make a mistake by doing my chin too. What's everyone else's experience with chin implant swelling?

Hey guys! I'm almost a month out from surgery and I have a question for anyone who has had a rhinoplasty! Ever since I got my splints out, my right side has been "stuffy". Not sick stuffy but it just feels like blocked. Sometimes if I'm laying the right way, it'll open up. I want to know if anyone else has had a similar thing happen? I'm just worried it's gonna continue to be this way. It went from not being able to breathe out of my left due to a bone spur and now I can't breathe out of my right. Is it a possibility that it's just swelling still? I just don't understand why my left is open and my right isn't. I thought you were suppose to be able to breathe even better after surgery and I'm breathing worse. I hope it's something that'll go away but it's been almost 4 weeks! =/

Anyone else have an issue with their nostrils being high up after surgery? I'm really hoping it's still just from swelling but it's making me nervous. I've looked at other peoples post ops from a month out and I don't see people with this problem.

Had surgery on Dec. 29th. Here are some pics! 1/26. 2/5. 2/6. 2/7. 2/10

Hello everyone!
Today I am 8 weeks post op. My nose feels better and better every day, like it is MY nose. My chin still had/has me a little concerned, it's definitely better than before, but we will see what happens. And my ears are doing great..just my left one still has some healing left to do.
So yesterday was my 8 week appt with my doctor and I had some concerns/questions walking in..but before I could even address anything, he answered all of them! He does that every time actually, so I always feel so confident in his hands. I DID have to get 3 steroid injections into my nose (where the bridge meets the tip) and let me tell you...OUCH. He was very gentle and I had a nurse hold my hand but it definitely hurt, not even gonna lie. Since my nose is still so swollen, he is trying to prevent scar tissue form forming so he started me off with the lowest dose and we'll see if it does anything. He said I could need 1 round.. I could need 5.. it depends on my nose. But it all takes place within the year of the surgery, not all at once. I'd rather not have that done again, but if it helps my nose out..then it's okay. I was actually more nervous than I was for surgery day.. but it wasn't as bad as I was thinking it would be. I had to get a steroid in my butt once (I had a really bad allergic reaction to something) and that definitely hurt worse than this. Don't fret too much if you have to get it done..just think of the final result =]
I go back April 11th.

Thinking about getting lip fillers.. because now that I have the chin implant it makes my lips look smaller or atleast appear smaller when looking at my profile. My top lip is so flat and I just want a little volume to help make my nose/lips/chin look proportionate. Has anyone gotten them done? Does it hurt really bad?

I'm praying that it's still REALLY swollen. I've been taking progression pictures since cast removal and there's literally been no difference (see picture). Has anyone else had this problem? It will go back down to the size it was before surgery..right? I just don't understand how I haven't seen any differences yet..

Can't believe it's been 8 months. Feels like so much longer. Here's an update:
I'm still so happy with my ears. If anyone is self conscious about putting their hair up because their ears are too big/stick out, getting an otoplasty is the best thing you can do for your confidence (at least it was for me). I never have to worry about people looking at my ears anymore and I can wear so many more hairstyles!
My nose is okay. For some reason my nostrils are crooked. And my tip is still so bulbous (something I stated I wanted smaller before surgery and it's not any smaller). But my doctor is going to give me another steroid shot in November to see if that'll help. If not, he said he will take out some more cartilage from the tip and fix the crookedness at no cost to me. Just have to wait for the year mark. My profile is amazing, it's just the front view that is messed up now. :(
My chin shouldn't have been done. It's not huge but it has definitely made the shape of my face more manly. I told my surgeon and he said to wait for the full year and if I still don't like it, he'll remove it. It was honestly my mistake. I shouldn't have had that done too. It's just not what I expected it to look like unfortunately. I'm getting into acting and now I have to wait to take headshots until next year now because my face has to be fixed first. =\
So all in all, there are some pluses and minuses right now but I hope it all works out in the end.