Well It's DONE! - Folsom, CA

Had my surgery on May 13, 2013. I'm on day 8 recovery and today I got my cast off! Feeling good. Still swelling in the bridge of my nose and the tip is hard as a rock. So glad to have the splint off. It was glued to my face pretty good and it hurt like hell to get it off but it was itching so bad and now that it's off, there's no more itching. I am pleased with my results so far. It's still very early to tell. I had a more difficult nose. Mostly because of the changes that I wanted and because I had extensive nostril flaring as well. I was very specific in the many changes that I wanted and I feel that considering the extensive requests I made, my surgeon did a great job.

I have been wanting rhinoplasty for 20 years (I am now 36) So many things stopped me. I was chicken to have surgery. Even canceled having my wisdom teeth out for 15 years. I worried what people would say. I worried that somehow I was telling God that his canvas of me wasn't good enough. I thought I would just "get over it" someday. I have 4 kids (3 of them daughters) and didn't want to send them the wrong message about their appearance. Worried they would have my nose and then I would be essentially telling them that their nose wasn't good enough. The list goes on... But it never went away and it started to affect my self esteem even more as I got older. It just became depressing. I smiled less. I avoided people standing to the side of me. I deleted 95% of all pictures of me. And it worried me (being a photographer myself) that my kids would one day think I didn't love them since I was in pretty much NO pictures with them. I have the best husband in the world. We are not well off at all and pretty much live paycheck to paycheck but he said to me one day that he wanted me to be happy and money was just paper. It really didn't matter to him - just my happiness.

I had started a preliminary search about 8 years ago. Chickened out.

Then two years ago, I decided to do it! I met with several surgeons and they all scared me! I did not trust any of them to cut my face. It freaked me out. Got depressed and decided to spend the money on a camping trailer for the family instead to avoid the thought of it again. Time passed. Insecurities did not.

Finally my hubby said, DO IT! So in February of this year, I started my search again. Even considering Beverly Hills. Met with several more surgeons in my area and even did an online consult with a Los Angeles surgeon. Decided there was no way I could spend $20K of my family's money to head down there. So the local search continued. It's hard in my area because there aren't necessarily rhinoplasty specialists. All the surgeons kinda do it all. None of them impressed me. Their morphing was not at all what I wanted. They all seemed dishonest and cocky.

But then, I met with Dr. Kaufman in Folsom. He was genuine. Honest upfront with what he thought he could do, and what he felt his limits were with my case. Finally someone who listened to my concerns and expectations and had a real discussion about what could be done and what he felt confident in doing. I knew instantly that this would be someone I could actually see letting cut my face. LOL It was just a trust thing I guess. None of the other surgeons felt right for me.

Staff was wonderful!!! Very supportive. Cost was right in the ballpark with other local surgeons. Surgery day went welll! Doc answered my many many emails and concerns leading up to my surgery day - promptly. So far, it's been great!

I will update as things start to calm down with the swelling etc. I am happy with my results at this point but it's still hard to tell what my final result will be. I am a bit concerned that one nostril is still a bit more flared than the other. A little less symmetrical than I had hope but it could be swelling. But again, I had a more difficult nose and knew going in that that would be the biggest challenge was bringing the flaring down. I knew my new nose would not be perfect (for my case) but it would be a huge improvement. And that was the risk I eventually decided to take!

Good luck to you all! It can be a scary thing to make a decision to change your face forever. I feel blessed to have had this opportunity to improve my self esteem and move on with life and enjoy my amazing family!