36 Years Old - Rhino Finally!! - Houston, TX

Haven't updated in a while, so I thought I'd post today. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks post-op, and I have to say, I'm really starting to like my new nose! It's still swollen and the nostrils are still uneven, but the bruising is going ever so slowly away and I'm starting to see what the final results will be. I'm pretty convinced it's going to take a while for all of this to calm down..

I went on the internet the other day and looked up ways I could help the process along (reduce the swelling quicker). I found that a bunch of stuff contributes to the swelling... things like drinking alcohol, being in the sun, consuming a lot of salt, etc.. - Well, I'm a teacher on summer vacation so I've been doing ALL those things! :) I'm sure it hasn't helped the process much! I'm leaving to go on vacation in August, so I'm going to really try to buckle down on those things and see if I can encourage the swelling to lessen.

I can breathe a lot better through my nose but not 100% - I had a dance performance last night and it was so hard to dance with a smile on my face because I couldn't breathe! I was making all kinds of weird faces in the performance lol..

Just thought I'd give a quick update - not much has changed the past few days. Lots of mad swelling still. Hoping that'll calm down soon! Went out last night with some friends and actually wore makeup and got dressed! Amazing! LOL I tried to put makeup on my nose to cover the big purple bruise I have over the bridge, but it HURT. SO. BAD. I don't know how you ladies cover up your bruises with makeup - I wanted to cry when I barely touched it. I just put makeup on everywhere else.

One of my friends said I look exactly the same from the front - I think she's kind of crazy, but that was nice to hear - made me feel less self conscious about the swelling.

Oh - and I sneezed a lot last night. I guess being out in the city just was too much for me after not going out for a while? I don't know - something in the air I guess. I managed to sneeze all of them through my mouth so it's all good. :) I've become a pro at that!

Still using my Neilmed rinse and have started doing it 2x a day, per my dr. instructions. It really does help.

Here's a pic from last night with my makeup on - you can really tell the nostril issue here. (And the bridge looks a bit crooked but it's not - I think that's the bruising making it look weird in the photo)

So today marks 1 week post-op. I'm still sort of anxiety-ridden about the results, so I'm hesitant to push that 'worth it' button until the front calms down and decides what it wants to be. I've cried a few times over the past few days - I think it's some sort of post surgery shock or something. If I was going straight on the profile, I would say YES definitely it was worth it!! My breathing is improving daily, so I know the swelling is going away - it's just going to take some time and I'm going to have to be patient. Which is something I'm NOT good at ! :)

Noticed today my nostrils are 2 different shapes and sizes - I think the right side is losing swelling faster than the left, which is common or so I've read. (for one side to lose swelling before the other) I think this is giving my nose a sort of lopsided shape at the moment.. The right side does look pretty good tho..I'm hoping the left catches up soon! The bruising is almost completely gone - there is a faint yellow-ish tint if you look at my face in the right lighting, but otherwise it's unnoticeable. I've started to kind of break out along the base of one nostril and I have a few zits developing there - lovely.

Been using my saline spray and NeilMed rinse. The first time I did it it freaked me out a bit, but the 2nd time was much better. I think it's going to help tremendously.

I got out of the house for a bit today. (It's been raining non stop here for the past 2 days, so walks haven't really happened) I went to pick up some dry cleaning and went to the pharmacy. I know it's not much, but it got me out in public and I had to interact with other people so it's a small improvement :) My friends are taking me out on Saturday for "New Nose Margaritas" so I hope I feel up to being social by then!