25 Year Old Half Persian Rhinoplasty - Glendale, CA

So I've had this surgery scheduled for June 9th, since October 2014. I thought it was such a long time to wait, but now that its 5 days away, half the time I'm super excited, and the other half I get panic attacks. I have confidence that he is a good surgeon. But its one of the hardest surgeries to perform and sometimes its out of your control.

I actually had a consultation with Dr. G about 5 years ago. I was 20 and not sure I was ready to make such a decision. I am literally the only girl left in our family who hasn't gotten it done though. I'm from Alabama but moved to San Diego 2 years ago, and moved to LA last year. So living here makes it a lot easier to undergo this surgery, and now that I'm older and still want it... I know its not something I will change my mind over.

My mom is in town to help me with my recovery so we are having another short consultation with Dr. G today so she can meet him and pick his brain to make herself comfortable. I'm happy they had some extra time to fit me because I feel he was so rushed the last time I went we barely talked about nose types. But I feel it was meant to be this way because how could he remember everything we talked about 3 weeks before my surgery? He works on so many people its not likely it would stay that fresh in his mind who is who, right? Well now that I'm seeing him once more 5 days before it should calm my nerves a bit. Wish me luck! I'll post my before pictures when I have a chance.

Here are some pictures I took of many angles normal, then smiling. Honestly if my nose looked the way it did when I wasn't smiling, when I was... because of my chin length, I wouldn't feel too much a need for this. But because when I smile it changes SO much, I feel I have to never smile with my teeth in pictures. I want to be able to make funny faces, and smile big without feeling self conscious about how big and pointy my nose gets when I smile super big. My main worry is the balance of my chin but I didn't even have to say this to Dr. G. He knew right away! He said "I don't want to shorten too much, for we don't want to offset the chin." I just hope the tip of the nose doesn't end up too bulbous because of this. SO MANY FACTORS MY MIND IS ALL OVER THE PLACE! lol...

Freaking out a little... no turning back! Took some better before pics without crappy iMac photo booth lighting lol! Have moments I'm afraid I'll miss my ethnic nose... then I see the smiling pictures haha. My brother is here for 2 more days, my mom for a week. We wanted to go to the beach but now I'm wondering if prior surgery sun exposed is a bad thing? He didn't say anything about it... have you guys heard of it being not ideal?

Made it through! The nurses are adorably funny they made everything so much easier, and made me excited along with my nerves! Even under the cast it seems smaller than I expected so I hope my long chin is balanced, but I feel I can trust his judgement. He says it looked like Id broken my nose in the past and didnt realize because there were fragments in there but he said he got them all out! I used to play soccer so its possible I guess... I'm getting it off Saturday which is amazing, cuz that's only 4 days! My mom is going back home Wednesday, so I was sad at the thought she would only see it at its perkiest Monday, and Tuesday.

Had to change my drip gauze 3 times already in 3 hours so... yay blood! Lol. Here's a selfie from day before operation at a photo shoot from a friend, and then me today. I just thinks it's funny cuz I'm all made up and nose angel hidden so I'm all pretty then BAM. Bruised post op face. HAH, lol. I'll update more when my pressure headache is a little better!

So its 1:20am...I'm changing my drip pad a looooot. And its hard not to try and see up underneath this cast and it looks like there is a dent on my left side of the definition part of my nose... I'm reeeeaaalllly hoping this is just uneven swelling, but coincidentally its the side of my nose where I almost felt dipped slightly more going from bridge to tip when I was feeling my nose pre-surgery... If that was the case I'm wondering if refining my tip brought it out? Trying not to dwell on something I can't see very well... or even know ever existed under my nose...

Because I'm scared to touch it I barely brushed my finger off of the symmetrical looking side of the tip and its so hard it makes me think more so that it IS a dent and not uneven swelling... Did any of you experience this where from under the cast the tip wasn't a complete circle from nostril to nostril? and had an uneven swelling dip looking thing? God I hope so... Its the one thing I see in surgical noses from people I see walking around that I was afraid of.

They don't want my glasses touching the bridge of my nose but not being able to see for so many hours I decided to tape my glasses to my forehead so it suspends them above my bridge and doesn't touch! Best idea ever.

I was the third surgery of the day and Dr. G was suppose to talk to my mom when I was out to tell her how it went but he didn't... I'm wondering if this was due to being so busy or behind...or if the pictures he had of my new nose showed this dent I'm fearing. Gosh I'm paranoid. And I've only been taking 1 narco every 4 hours and by midnight I got this horrible pressure headache I finally caved and took another one 1.5 hrs early because the bottle says take 1 or 2 and I've been scared of running out or getting nauseous so I've been trying to preserve them. Realizing I can probably just get more if I'm still feeling this pressure though. I might stop being so skimpy with them for the pain isn't worth it, and I have them for a reason... for pain. I mean I don't feel like I'm dying, but when the narco faids its creates a horrible sinus headache feeling. Wish me luck that this is uneven swelling and not what I think it is...

And thank you for the comments! I'll reply on them here or there but my internet sucks at my aunt's house, and its easier to just post a mass review than to keep replying. I appreciate you guys though! I def need the support this is stressful.

Ok so now the pain meds fade after 2 hours so I'm pretty much taking what it says to now. I'm so glad I did so much research on healing tricks, and to stay more comfortable because the whole swishing with coconut oil to prevent dry mouth for longer is SAVING MY LIFE. I was drinking so much water/almond milk to remedy this and having to pee every 30 min and sometimes, even though fluids are good for you, you really just want to stay put and NOT have to pee so much... Thank the heavens for coconut oil!

Also ice is too harsh and bulky. The cold really helps ease the headache though, so I'm freezing little mini baby wine grapes (random beach tip: if you ever go to the beach freezing grapes is perfect for putting in wine at the beach to keep it cold ;]). They're perfect! but you can also use frozen peas. I've heard a lot about pineapple helping with swelling so my mom went to go buy me some. And chewing is possible just very uncomfortable. So I'm sticking to eggs, fruit, mashed potatoes, soup, etc.

Also, ever since I've had this one scar on my forehead, I've had this Neosporin type stuff called "Brave Soldier." its AMAZING. Not sure where to get it in stores but I ordered mine online and had it for years. It has maximum pain relief, helps speed healing, fights infection, and prevents scar tissue from forming. It also has teetree oil in it so it smells amazinggg!

Which btw is weird I can even smell at all without trying. I mean I can't breath through it (but yesterday through the nostril on the left side I felt I had a "dent" in the tip from uneven swelling I totally could breath...weird... today its clogged though). I'm afraid to actually TRY to smell anything, but I mean the teetree oil form the Brave Soldier, and even with my mango chapstick I just can smell it... I've read many blogs about people eventually having an odd smell stuck in their nose for a while, but maybe that's after cast removal. I'm going to post some pictures from yesterday after surgery when I was changing my drip pad. My little nostrils I think are kinda cute even all bloody. >.<

About 2 weeks ago I bought some Arnica tablets, and Arnica gel therapy stuff. Its a natural organic swelling/bruising/pain medicine made from a flower. I also just read there is tea also, should have gotten that too... You're suppose to put the tablets under your tongue and let it dissolve naturally before drinking water to have it in your system before your surgery. The gel is for directly applying to the affected area, but I even put some under my eyes the night before surgery. I would have been doing that earlier, but I didn't know how my skin would react quite yet, and because of my photo shoot I scheduled with a friend... and it was the only professional photo shoot I've ever had and specifically to have documented my ethnic pre-nose... I didn't want to risk some weird reaction. BUT my mom says its amazing how much better my bruising is than it was yesterday. I'm already yellowing a little in places and its only been 24 hours since surgery. My neck started hurting on the sides today I'm guessing from the way I have to sleep, so I'm going to put a little of the gel on it to see if that helps. I could barely sleep though. The pain meds made me all energetic, but right now either they are making me sleepy now or just the lack of sleep is finally getting to me. I slept about 2 hours, woke up at 1am then went back to sleep at 3am for 3ish more hours and that was all I could manage. Pain was kinda bad when I woke up so had to take another pain pill and it gave me energy... so weird...

Dr. G's pamphlets say not to take herbal supplements etc. but Arnica isn't a supplement. I also called him to double check and he says he actually PREFERS his patients to be taking arnica before hand and during recovery. My cast removal is Saturday and I can't wait to see the basic shape of it! I just emailed him asking if he took a post surgery photo before I woke up, because he tends to do that, but he was super busy yesterday... so busy like I said he didn't even go tell my mom that I was finished, ok and doing well... But I understand. He is so reputable now its insane how he does it all. Somehow he still remains humble through all the praise.

Here are some more cast pictures some with drip pad off before changing... at this point writing this, it's about 24 hours after I got into the car after surgery and 1-2 hour recovery. Pictures are from last night this morning and an hour ago.

Not gonna lie, my nose and head are pounding a bit. Keep thinking about what h said about if I'd broken my nose before and he had to get a lot of fragments out...

Realized I didn't really give a time frame of my hospital visit. Arrived at 9:40am (was told to be there by 10am) saw the admissions lady signed things. Brought papers to front desk of the room they bring you after recovery to finish recovering around 10am. They told me to wait outside the door till they call me. I was back in there without my mom and into a gown by 10:15.

A sweet funny nurse asked me questions mostly ones on the health history form we fill out, but a few other safety ones like do I havery any piercings etc. Questions took till past 10:30. I signed more papers. I think sometime before 11, they took my blood pressure, and heart rate. Then they let my mom wait with me. We waited a while and I went to the bathroom. Sometime before 12 they put an IV in me with fluid and vitamins I think.

By 12:15 I was wheeled to the anesthesia room. Met a nurse who asked some same questions.Waited about 20 min. Dr. G came in to assess me, and go over one last time what we are doing. He left then I met the nurse that would be in the O.R. she asked me a few of the same important questions. Then I met the anesthesiologist and he asked me some questions again lol. I think sometime around 1pm I was in the O.R. but apparently they wheeled me back there before the anesthesiologist injected my IV. He ran in there right after me though, but that's what he said as he injected me, and I was being helped onto the O.R. table. Good thing though because I'm pretty sure I was out before they gave me the additional mask of anesthesia because I don't remember shit after that.

My mom says I was done with surgery sometime before 4pm but they only called her 45 min into my hour recovery waking up, instead of after I got out. Then they wheeled me back into the first room where my stuff was. They asked about my pain, gave me crackers, water and a pain pill. It was hard to move kinda cuz of anesthesia. Took out my IV got me dressed and I was rolling out around 5:30pm to the car very, very groggy lol.

Its amazing how completely different I feel since 8am this morning. My whole face was hurting, I felt nauseous, irritable from not sleeping, and irritable from the pain meds. I had been swallowing the coconut oil instead of swishing because the dryness was that bad. I was so emotional I even cried when my mom was stressing me out. I took some pain meds and waited for my mom to come back with a humidifier. I ate some much needed mashed potatoes... miserably... and I apparently really needed the humidifier to be able to sleep, because the moment she came back with it and put it in my room, I passed out 15 min later.

After about a 3 hour nap I woke up around 2:30pm feeling like a whole new person. The meds were working, the food had given me the energy I needed to process them. My bruising is all yellowed, and doesn't hurt to the touch anymore. Early this morning I couldn't even make it to the bathroom without hating my life. Now I was making my own food and bringing my mom some to try. I'm pretty sure the worst of it is over... But I guess I'll see if its just the pain meds when I wake up tomorrow.

So waking up at 5am, still felt miserable but not as bad as yesterday morning! Yay progress! I took a pain med and went back to sleep, woke up at 8:30am, I guess as it was fading because I felt groggy again. Morning and throughout the day ritual is all about lubricating.... pretty much everything to do with your face lol. I use cue tips and contact solution to clean the corners of my eyes, put hydration cream underneath and on top of my eye lids, then once absorbed I put my Arnica gel on them. Still taking my arnica tablets even though my bruises are yellow and fading.

Clean the alar base with cue tips and saline, then put my special Brave Soldier stuff (Neosporin like stuff with extreme pain relief, and scar tissue elimination) on the nostril scars, on top and around the stitches. I don't really have to use a drip pad anymore except when I sleep, but I do leak a little every now and then, and just dab with a tissue. Cannot WAIT to get cast off tomorrow morning!!! The pain pills make you itch all over so when its under the cast all you can do is distract yourself till you forget it itches.... O.o

Uploaded pictures with my phone I'll type a review shortly after posting pictures! ?

Sooo I know its really early stages but this is the part where I'm going to be very impatient... he did a wonderful job but all noses at this stage have the "freshly done" Cindy Lou Who look to them... So I'm just trying not to dwell. Part that I'm most worried about is my tip already seems too small so if its going to get even smaller after swellin goes down I'm afraid it will be too pointy for my face...

I can breath way better after the cast came off but I PHYSICALLY CANNOT PICK MY NOSE. Not that I'm an avid nose picker... but when you haven't blown your nose in days, and still aren't aloud to, and have all these crusties up in there all you want to do is get rid of them. My nostrils are litterally too small for my little fingers. And I have small ass hands... been using cue tips with saline, coconut oil back and forth to try and fix it. Feels better but still really freaking odd... Nose is SO hard to the touch its scary to try and mess with it.

I saw some family friends today and they were all so surprised that I was only on day 4 which was comforting but all I can see when I look in the mirror is a fake nose. But they kept sayin wow honey you had such a good doctor. So the fact it looks better than most noses do in their final stages I'm again, trying not to dwell. I'm not freaking out because I know this is part of the process... I think I can handle questioning and worried for 6 months when its going to be better for my whole life (yes I know it can take a year plus time to truly show results but I believe after 6 months, the "fake" nose look part fades tremendously... I hope :().

Pictures don't really pick up the Cindy Lou Who look I'm talkin about so that is also comforting because the pictures make me think well hey, maybe thats what it WILL look like in a few weeks? Thank you all for the wonderful comments. I'll type more later, but my mom is calling for me. Shes only here for 3 more days gotta give her some love.

Here are some more pictures and close ups. You can see more the Cindy Lou Who tip I'm not liking right now. But I can see and feel the swelling and am happy knowing the changes I will see in a few weeks. The things I'm seeing will heal, drop, and soften, and I can tell overall it will eventually stop looking fake, be symmetrical and fitting.

Posting these pictures and over analyzing makes me quesy though because it's hard to get over the evident swelling and carved look, but in confidence that it will settle into such a beautiful nose... I want potential, current, and future patients have faith and see clearly the inevitable healing process one must go through to truly get your 10,000 worth.

I appreciate you all so much! Your comments help me tame my worries and not scrutinize too much. I wanted to say thank you, and I love you all!

Did any of you have an estimate of when your upper lip stopped misbehaving? Its gotten a lot less stiff but I still can't smile right. I feel like a baby dinosaur with my little half front teeth showing smile lol. Just curious because its a little annoying!

The last 2 days I've been down from 6-8 pain pills a day to about 2 or 2.5. Still have headaches when I wake up but the meds take it right away! Still hurts to the touch, still swollen, but I believe after day 10 the bridge of my nose will finally be normal. At least thats how it looks in other reviews! Working from home today. I'm glad because I need the distraction!

Day 8 is a happy day! :] the swelling on my bridge is sooo close to being all the way down. Tip has maaaybe dropped a little but swelling is still the same. But it def changes with ingesting too much salt, spicy things, and tea that hasn't cooled off enough... [aka hot things]

Eat clean, because of your nose sensitivity honestly it's easy to do so. I swear I can smell salt and garlic like it's the plague. And I used to love garlic!! I wonder when the sensitivity will change too. I put on mango chapstick and felt like I had Starburst up my nose all day. So it's not just with bad smells. :]

Bought a new jumper on day 8 to celebrate feeling comfortable to go outside. :] I still have a little bruising around and under my eyes, but now makeup covers them. It truly does get better everyday! Excited my nose is suppose to change so much still, but wouldn't be disappointed if it didn't change a lot. But maybe cuz of all the arnica and habitual arnica gel applying, on my eyelid bruises, cheekbones, and directly to the nose after cast removal, maybe it really does help a bunch with swelling like it says. :D

Sorry for going A-wall. I was kinda depressed with a bunch of things in my personal life as well as the up and down swelling of my nose... My boyfriend of 4 years died 3 months ago in April, and was suppose to be here with me through this... I honestly almost cancelled the surgery last min because of that. I'd always said to myself "Davey will always love me, even if its not ideal after surgery." I also kind of feel the detoxing off the pain meds was a part of my depression as well.

My nose truly looks better every day. There is still that same uneven swelling where it looks like a dent to me, being that my left side after surgery was always more defined (aka less swollen, even under the cast I could tell), and the right side just stays swollen at the tip. I looked at older pictures of myself and can see I really did have a little more cartilage on that side, so it makes sense it would be more swollen than the other side. You can't see it too well in pictures but I still see it. But, even in person my friends say they have no idea what I'm talking about so thats good I guess lol. The uneven swelling has gone down a LOT though so its even a lot harder to see in person now, than before. I'm more confident that with the coming weeks the swelling will even out! Here are some more post op pictures. Overall I'm so happy I did this, but yeah swelling is a self conscious pain. Gotta keep focused on the finish line!!

I try my best to not JUST post the "good" ones with filters and all that cuz its easy to hide the a-symmetrical swelling that way lol... The A-symmetrical swelling has gone down a LOT though so its very slowly evening out day by day. I'm thinking it will still be a while till I don't have swelling days where I'm self conscious about how shiny it looks lol.

I'm thinking this is all worth it though. :] Far away my nose still looks weird to me but I think I'll get used to it. A lot of people tell me how great it looks so I bet it is only noticeable to me. Thank you for all the support and love!

Hey guys sorry I haven't been posing. But I took these pictures at the 4 month mark. My bridge is surprisingly still getting a liiiitle thinner and the tip by week is getting more refined. Tired of seeing the a-symmetrical swelling, but I'm glad when I bring it up to those close to me they assure me they have no idea what I'm talking about. Luckily because that part is still tender, and sometimes way smaller I KNOW its going to down, and even out. When I look at old pictures of that part of my nose it was slightly fleshy-er on that side so it makes sense that that side would take longer to heal.

The left side of my bridge doesn't feel as flush/smooth as the other and I can see a small squishy bump where it is less "flush." But some days its near invisible and some days it looks like a pre-pimple. I called the office asking about it and the nurse assured me that some people get that, like her and I, but it is just swelling and hers went away after a year.

Patience is a bitch but I'm excited for the end result. I'll take a year of weirdness for a lifetime of improvement.

Almost half way to the fully healed year mark!