Rhinoplasty/Septoplasty/Turbinate Reduction - Glendale, CA

I made the decision to reshape my nose this past fall of 2014. I had been unhappy with the shape of my nose for about 4 years and after no longer "getting over" how I felt about it I decided to make a change. I researched doctors online for about two weeks--literally spent hours reading reviews on this forum and looking through before and after pics. I found Dr. Grigoryants and loved all his before and after pictures. I called and booked a free consultation to see him mid October. Took me about two weeks from calling to our consultation date. I went alone to my consult. Having told only one of my friends (excluding family members as well) about my surgery I felt very nervous going into it. Anyways--the consult went wonderfully--far better than I could have anticipated. I was seen with Dr. Grigoryants within 5 minutes of my arrival. He was personable, friendly, and after taking a look at my profile made suggestions of what he could change about my nose and it was exactly what I was thinking! He told me my nasal tip had very little support and was dropping when I smiled creating a hook like shape. He also told me I had a deviated septum which could be corrected during surgery as well. He told me he was going to run my insurance and get back to me within a few days. The next day, I got a phone call from his receptionists telling me my insurance went through and was approved. They covered the septoplasty portion (deviated septum) and I was due the cosmetic portion (nose reshaping..around $4k). After hearing this news I was estatic because I could actually afford to have the procedure done now. I booked my pre op for Dec 13th and my surgery date for Jan 12th.

Pre-op dec 13th: Went to this appointment with my mom (after telling both her and my dad about the surgery the week prior). The pre op consisted of reading a lot of paperwork and getting instructions on pre op related things. Couldn't take any herbal supplements, garlic, or pain pills (minus Tylenol) for 2 weeks prior to surgery. I met with Dr. Grigoryants again and he took my before photos and explained to my mom what his plans for my nose were. He also took a video of the inside of my nose to see my deviated septum. He is a very busy man and talks extremely fast but he definitely knows his stuff. I'd call him a no bs type of doctor who is passionate about what he does.

Surgery day-Monday Jan 12th: Went to the surgical center at 9:30am as I was to be his third case of the day and expected to begin in between 10:30-11am. I was told to expect to be there for approx 4-5 hours. Both my parents came with me which was comforting. I showed up showered, no hair product, moisturizer, make up, nail polish, all the fun stuff. A nurse called my name after I finished more paperwork and took me in. She had me give a urine sample to check for pregnancy and then undress into a medical gown. The gown was confusing and had multiple snaps and I ended up asking the nurse for help. Then I laid down and she put an IV in my right hand to start my saline drip. I had to look away and it burned quite a bit. Then my parents came in and I was so happy to see them. It was starting to all become really real and the hospital room was so bright and cold and left me feeling extremely vulnerable. Thankfully my parents sat with me and distracted me with conversation. We met the anesthesiologist who was wonderful. He had such a calm persona which I was really appreciative of due to my high nervousness. Then Dr. Grigoryants came and got straight down to business--had me sit up, explained to my parents and I what he was going to be doing, and then was on his way. I was then told to say goodbye to my parents and I walked with my nurse into the surgery room. Got there and laid down and began talking to my anesthesiologist who calmed my nerves a lot--thank goodness for him.

.....few hours later and I woke up. Had a different nurse with me and she was telling me to open my eyes. Things were a bit blurry and I was groggy. She gave me apple juice too. My throat was super sore too and she said that was from the breathing tube and is normal. My parents showed up moments later and helped me put my clothes on. Not too much pain I remember just it was really hard to stay awake and keep my eyes open while coming down from the anesthesia.

Day 1 recovery- got home from the surgical center around 3pm. Didn't feel too much pain and just relaxed in bed watching Netflix. Ate some pasta too and that wasn't painful--I could also still taste the food. At night-couldnt sleep too much...I would probably fall asleep for 45 mins then wake up to a completely dry mouth.

Day 2 post op- Had my mom go out and buy a humidifier so I could sleep without being woken up by dry mouth. She also called the doctors office and they recommended having a spoonful of honey before sleeping to coat the throat--which I tried and was helpful. Also bought this blue skin sensitive tape from CVS which was a life saver in switching out the mustache gauze. Day 2 in the afternoon the bleeding began in my nose and was painful I could feel it hitting the stitches of the sides of my nostrils and plus exhaustion--I was done. Took my first pain pill around 2pm and passed out for a few hours. Throat still sore and lips constantly chapped so applied aquaphor a lot. This night of sleeping however was the worst...took a pain pill around 8:30pm and woke up around 1am after super intense nightmares. Woke up practically crying it was awful. Could of been a combo of the pain pills and the fact that that was my first deep sleep in like two days. Got my parents up because I was so overwhelmed I started panicking. The pain was coming back too. Took another pain pill and fell asleep until around 5am. Woke up feeling extremely nauseous and dizzy and took a nausea pill that dissolved under my tongue which was very effective I found.

Day 3 post op- Getting more used to sleeping on this day. Overall lots of pressure I feel on my face and bruising has appeared under both eyes. Right eye is very swollen and makes me look like an avatar on one side. Can't taste anything either because I am so blocked up.

Day 4 post op- Bleeding has stopped in my nose and now only mucous is dripping--kind of like a running nose, however I have sooo much dried blood from the previous days dried up in my nose that I have this running nose that is also clogged at the same time. It gives me a big headache and my eye sockets feel exhausted as well. I have been icing all day to ease the pain and want so badly to have to dried blood cleaned out of my nose. Oh also no more pain pills, however I have been taking the nausea pills as I feel my stuffed nose is causing overall dizziness, headaches, and nausea just thinking about all the dried blood and stitches stuck in my nose, eek.

Bleeding has completely subsided and the bruising under my eyes is now yellow. I keep icing my face and it seems the swelling has transferred to my lower cheek and lip area. My upper lip is extremely heavy and quivers when I try to smile. I assume this will go away with time but it is still pretty scary. Also, I think I may have a sinus infection. I have so much pressure on my face/ears and constant forehead headache. Going in tomorrow to meet with Dr. Grigoryants for my cast removal so I will ask him about the sinus infection/smiling thing then. Also, I am very nervous that the cast removal and blood clean up in my nose will be painful. Crossing my fingers everything runs smoothly.

After resting for a few hours now my nostrils have opened up and pressure had gone down a bit. However now I can smell and at first the stench was terribly awful. Literally everything smells like dead bodies. The more I breath the more used to it I get but at first it was unbearable. Has to be all the dried blood and stitches in my nose, yuck yuck yuck. Cannot wait to get it cleaned out tomorrow!