Finally Doing It! - United Kingdom, GB

I have always had an issue with my nose since I was a teenager when someone commented on the size of it although I never until recently considered doing anything about it. My best friend nurses in a private hospital that does cosmetic surgery so one day I asked her about her discount and if she could recommend a surgeon. That was when the obsession began....

I spoke to my boyfriend about it who said I do not need it but as I kept going on about it finally agreed. I also spoke to my mum who has a very similar nose to me (thanks for passing that on!) and as she was reasonably supportive and told me if she was younger she would do the same so I booked my consultation.

14th Jan 2013
I went to the hospital with my friend sarah to meet the surgeon today. Sarah recommended this surgeon highly for rhinoplasty so I was anxious to meet him and hoped he could tell me what I wanted to hear! When Id researched rhinoplasty Id came across articles that stated sometimes if you have thick skin its not possible to get a rhinoplasty done, I was very nervous this was the case with me.

Anyway I met with the surgeon who spent the first few minutes of the consultation asking why I wanted this done and mainly accessing if I was mentally stable I feel! After that he made me look in the mirror while he fiddled with my nose. He told me he agreed it was too large for my face and it was slightly squint (which I hadnt noticed!). He told me that he would overall give me a reduction in size and refine the tip of the nose. This was exactly what I wanted to hear! I was told that it could be done through open or closed rhinoplasty depending on what was necessary. I liked the surgeon, he was a pleasant man but a typical kind of not too talkative doctor type! I knew he was the doctor I would get the surgery done by and I wouldnt need to meet anyone else.

6th March 2013
Finally booked my surgery! Its not until the 23rd of may but Im so excited! Ive spent years looking in the mirror and at pictures hating my nose and trying to convince myself its not that bad but now I can look in the mirror and know its going to change! I avoid wearing my hair up as I feel it draws attention to my nose so after my rhinoplasty I can wear it up which probably excites me more than it should! I slightly battle with the thought of spending so much money but it will be worth it! My surgeon did say that I should take photographs to my surgery to give him an idea of the kind of nose I like which seems slightly like going to the hairdressers! I will look into it though!

Can anyone advice me the typical time it takes to get to looking normalish? I havent taken too long off my work and Im concerned its going to be obvious I have had surgery when I would like as little people as possible to know!

Yesterday I finally went through with it. I was at the hospital at 12 feeling slightly anxious but I met quickly with my anaesthetist and surgeon and I was up in surgery at ten past one! Getting the general anaesthetic was easy enough, just lay on the bed was told I'd feel like I'd had a few glasses of wine then I was out.
I woke up so drowsy in recovery, not in any pain I just could barely open my eyes. Once I was moved down to my room my throat started to ache and my nose just felt so bunged up. I was honestly thinking 'what have I done?'. The nurse thankfully brought me a throat sweet and that really helped. Once that ache passed I felt ok. I could eat quite happily but I couldn't taste anything and the bloody drip pad was entirely getting in the way.
I managed to get some sleep but the mixture of being somewhere different and the nurse taking blood pressure every so many hours and the lack of nose breathing meant I only got a few hours.
I woke up today quite swollen and slightly bruised but I feel a bit horrible having a bloody drip pad on and my cast feels like its taking over my face. I will leave at half nine so I need to get the packing out and needle out my hand soon!! Not looking forward to it!!