Post Bicycle Crash Rhinoseptoplasty - Detroit, MI

So about two years ago, I was 20 years old, I was riding my bike home late at night, I was in a hurry, going down hill pretty quick, and a delivering car came flying through an intersection. I would tell you more details but all I remember next is flying over my handlebars and smashing against the pavement (no helmet, and no I was not under the influence of anything). I broke my nose, suffered a level 3 concussion, and blah blah blah. And against medical advisory, I still competed in my triathlon the next week (which was not beneficially for the healing process buttttt nobody was going to tell me otherwise). Immediately I could tell I looked like a different, I wasn't happy about it, but I was so busy with school, triathlon, working, I took a few months to travel Europe, and general life that I just hadn't given the time to look into fixing it. So this summer, Im 22, and finally sick of looking like a rugby player enough to just go through with it and get the long needed patch work done. My septum had deviated, affecting my breathing, my nose looked bigger than it use to, and kind of hooked down, which of course as a college student affecting my confidence.

My doctor was great, the best around, I won't name names but feel free to get ahold of me if you're in the area and looking for a good doc. Septoplasty, being for functionally purposes was covered by my family's insurance. But unfortunately Rhinoplasty is purely cosmetic, which will NEVER be covered by insurance. of the about $8000, $3860 was not covered by insurance. Im a college student, I'm poor, I have no money, I have the opposite of money. So of course the only option is a loan. I went through United Medical Credit, based out of California and I loved them! I worked with the nicest woman named Gina, I talked to her all the time through the whole process, she was so friendly and I was so comfortable working with her, if I call her now I can just say "hey its me!" and she will just know I am calling her. Seriously I would recommend them to anyone. Im paying a minimum of $206 a month on a 36 month, $4000 loan, APR doesn't kick in until after 12 months, totally manageable.

Day 1:
Surgery Experience: I was nervous, I mean it was my first surgery ever, of course I was nervous. But it turned out to be the easiest part of all this. They took me back to the operating room, switched me over to the operating bed, and thats the last thing I remember (anaesthesia is a gift from God). The next thing I knew I was waking up in post-op. Anaesthesia made me nauseous, it sucked, when you get you're nose fixed up getting sick just isn't an option, so just suck it up. My nose bled for hours so I had to keep gauss taped under it. Which only sucks because the tape pulls at your skin, and every time you change the gauss it only makes your skin hurt more, but it will all be worth it once its all over.

Day 2:
Sleeping sitting up is super annoying, I can't breath from my nose, like at all. Probably a combination of just being clogged from bleeding (blowing your nose is also not an option), normal allergies, and being swollen. Ohhhh man am I swollen, mostly the bridge of my nose, the cast keeps pressure on the majority of my nose but it doesn't keep my bridge or my cheeks surrounding from being swollen. Eating can be a bit difficult, but Im doing my best. As much as this sucks, I can see my nose is improving compared to pre-op, once I get through the hard part then this will all so be worth it.

Day 3: TBA!

I assume people come on this site to hear and see what it is really like, so I'm not gonna sugar coat this at all. Recovery sucks, my day consist of naps, watching Game of Thrones (great show, not complaining about that part at all), eating slowly, and taking pain killers. My nose hurts, I'm swollen, and i can't breath at all. Im on Narco and some kind of Acetaminophen every 6 hours. They make my head super fuzzy , like I dropped my iPhone in a bowl of soup today my head was so fuzzy.
Showering is a bit of a pain too. My doc gave me a water proof cast, so i don't have to worry about it falling off, but I'm still not suppose to soak it. So I've just been showering to clean the rest of my body, I turn away from the shower head and wash my hair with my head back, then I use a wash cloth at the sink to wash my face separately. Rather be slow and safe than sorry.
My nose still bleeds slightly, nothing like the first day, but enough to where I need to keep a tissue handy.
I still say this is all worth it, yeah this isn't a walk in the park, but it won't be a pain in the butt forever.
I plan on uploading more pictures around day 7, hopefully by then some of the swelling will have subsided.

So I saw my doctor today, just because I felt like it really. My sister had an appointment with him about having a mole removed (I guess Ive started a trend with my family for getting some work done), and I just decided to crash her appointment with her. He gave me a look over and told me everything is looking good! I mean Im still miserable and I am hating every minute of the recovery phase but hopefully things keep going well. Im finally seeing some bruising, I have a yellowish tint under both my eyes, which I can't complain too much about since most people look black and blue for a while after their surgery. My doctor said that my cast should fall off around day 10 since the swelling will have reduced enough by then. So send some good vibes my way and hopefully in the next 5 days things will get a little less miserable. Ive got too many exams this week to be all pain killered up!