Rhino and Septo 23 years old - Encino, CA

Ahh! so after more than 6 months of saving and contemplating from my initial consult, I picked up the phone a month ago and made the appoint. I went with Dr. Dishell in Encino, CA because a friend of mine from college went to him and was very happy. I maybe should have looked around more but after my consultation, I felt comfortable with him.

Dr. Dishell specializes in cosmetic surgery specifically for the nose and eye lids. This was a selling point for me because he basically only does noses and has done hundreds maybe thousands over the years. I was a little thrown off by his older age at first but I'm going to trust that all that extra time just gave him more experience haha.

My initial consult was so exciting. I had my dad go with me for support. Dr. D looked up my nose and told me I had a severe deviated septum and that the surgery would really help with the breathing. But my main concern was the bump on my nose. I broke my nose in one my my many sports injuries and because of that, I have always felt very insecure about my profile.

I remember my siblings always teasing me about it and calling me big nose, or my older brother telling me to go get it fixed. As a 13/14 year old girl that stuff really gets in your head. I remember in 8th grade going on Paint on my computer and just taking the eraser and erasing the bump. I hate profile pics and I hate when people look at me when I drive, for the sole fact that its my side profile. I have tried to accept and embrace it but I always reverted to wishing it was not like that.So as you can see, its been an issue for about 10 years now and after finally graduating college and having been able to save up some money I went for it.

Dr. D said that my nose is a perfect candidate for a surgery like this because my tip is "nice" he just needs to fix the bump. He said it will be a pretty easy surgery. I'm technically getting "Septoplasty with intranasal reconstruction, and bilateral submucous resection of turbinates" just lets just call it a nose job haha.

I am going for a very natural look, the last thing I would ever want is to have "nose joby nosejob" you know the ones that was super curvy and pinched and the nostrals are all turned and stuff. I don't even want people to really notice, so instead of getting a slight curve, I requested just pretty straight.

I have done almost all my shopping and tried to refrain from watching hulu so my shows would rack up and I would have something to do for the week that I am locked inside. Tomorrow is the day at 8:15 am. My boyfriend and my parents will be there. I'm super nervous and I just hope i made the right decision going with my first guy. My stomach is in knots. I started the arnica montana and the bromelain and everything is set... just waiting on the day. ahhh god, send good vibes.

Had the surgery yesterday morning! My stomach was in knots all morning. I put on my fuzzy socks, comfy sweats, a comfy button up shirt, my warm slippers and brought a fuzzy blanket and giant floppy hat for after.

I met the nurse, who introduced herself and was super sweet. I got shown to the room and changed into the gown and little hat and they let me keep my fuzzy socks on. My eyes were tearing up because I was so nervous and scared. The nurses and the anesthesiologist were super comforting and kept reassuring me that everything was going to be alright. Dr. Dishell came in summarized what we had talked about in the consults and what we were going to do: Straighten it out, remove the bump, open up the airwaves, and just barely touch the tip. He knew I wanted a straight profile and asked if I was sure about that vs a curved. I told him I would be okay with a very very slight curve if we did one but my main concern was that it looked natural.

They IV was inserted in my arm (not painful, just felt like a bee sting) and they put some anti-anxiety and anti motion sickness meds in there. Within minutes I felt better. I hugged my dad goodbye as he wished me luck and I walked over to the OR bed with two nurses on each side of me. I remember being cold and them putting an extra blanket on me. I remember them putting these bootie massage things on my feet and I remember closing my eyes. The next thing I knew I was waking up in the room I started in (where I got my IV) and the surgery was over! I couldn't believe it was done.

No pain, no conception of time. I was a loopy and unintentionally slurring my words. Both the nurse and the anesthesiologist told me that I did great and everything went perfectly. They told me it looked great and how pretty it was. An oxygen mask was placed on my faced as I fluttered my eyelashes in an attempt to stay woken up. The Dr. came in and told me that after making it straight, he decided to leave it and not curve it anymore since it worked best with my features that way. I was really impressed that he looked at the entire picture and was conservative in his choice. It reassured me that this dude really knew what he was doing. I was given a cracker and a little water and eventually was on my way home.

I already had bruising on my eyes immediately. My left eye bruised much worse and everything was super swollen. I just kept icing as much as I could and taking the meds. Looking in the mirror is the worst. I just looked like a fat purple avatar but I understand its the healing process. My nose was bleeding a lot yesterday (day of surgery) and the dressing kept having to be replaced. I really had no appetite but managed to eat a banana when I got home and soup a Thai ice tea later in the night.
I kept icing so it was hard to watch TV. I listened to music instead which works nicely as you have to be laying on your back with your head raised. I got a horrible sleep with all that packing inside my nose and my mouth was super dry from having to breathe through it! it was hard to drink with everything being so swollen. I would only take horrible little naps throughout the night until the morning finally came.

I went in today to get the packing removed after having the surgery yesterday. Let me tell you, it hurts like a [RS bleep]. There was packing stuffed so far up my nostrils it felt like he was pulling stuff out of my brain. The pressure it super intense. But after it was out, I could breathe out of my nostrils again which was such a nice feeling.

Since I was coherent today we talked about the surgery and any questions I may have had. He confirmed after being inside the nose that it was definitely broken and that I would finally be able to breathe out of my left side after his work. What a relief! My advice is make sure to take your pain meds before you get your packing removed.

Came home and slept and ate today. I still look super silly and not at all like myself, but I just have to be patient. My nostrils will depuff and my nose will slim down. The color will fade and I will once again look human. Gonna ice some more now!