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

I just scheduled and put a down payment on my rhino surgery for June 10th with Dr. Athre! I'm super excited but also REALLY nervous - I've never spent this much money on something that wasn't really "needed" before. I'm kind of starting to doubt if I should go through with it. My husband and I can afford the monthly payments, but it's still a lot of money to pay for something cosmetic!

Dr. Athre has a lot of positive feedback on here and other sites, but if anyone could provide any additional feedback on the procedure or him, it would be really great!

So a little history - I've had a large, hooked nose my whole life. It was the source of a lot of teasing, low self-esteem and depression in my middle school and high school years. I got bullied a LOT. My mom actually took me to get a nose job when I was 12 because of it. She was set to do it, but I told her no. Even at 12, I knew I was far too young to get anything like that done. I didn't know why at the time, but it just felt WRONG (even though getting it done would have meant an end to the teasing and bullying).

So fast forward to today: I'm 36, I have an amazing job that I love (I'm a high school teacher), a wonderful husband who loves me for who I am, awesome friends, and great hobbies - I feel like I'm my own person now. I have established myself and my personality and I really like who I've become. :)
Unlike when I was 12, I have a deeper sense of self now - I feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be, with who I'm supposed to be with, and if I got this surgery done now, it would only be for me - not to fit in, or to get more dates, or to stop bullying..

This surgery never came up while my husband and I were dating, and only the past few months have I talked about it at all. He's very surprised by all this, but supportive. I cringe inwardly at all of our wedding photos that are profile shots because of my huge nose - I hate looking through our wedding album because of it. We are talking about having a baby next year, and when I think about taking photos with my child and my huge nose, I cringe all over again. I think now would be a good time to get the surgery done before we have a baby. After the baby comes, it's all about him/her for the next 18 years! :)

So that's the status as of now - I'll post some before pics in a few days.

Here are a few pre-op pics. I didn't get one from the front yet, but I will soon. You can see how when I smile, the tip of the nose kind of hooks down a bit.

Ugh. Not happy at all with these...but I'm still conflicted about having the surgery. I'm really hesitant to spend that much money on something that isn't necessary! I'm not broken or dying or anything.. I have until May 21st to change my mind!

Although it looks like my surgery date will be pushed back a week. There's a family function the weekend after my surgery, and I can't show up with a bandaged face. It's looking like my surgery will be June 18th or June 19th.

Yesterday I had my pre-op appointment with Dr. Athre. He went through all the necessary information and gave me a packet of steps to follow for before the surgery. He also took a bunch more photos, and gave me a prescription for some antibiotics and pain meds. My surgery is scheduled for June 19th. Honestly, I wasn't excited before but now that it's definitely happening, I do feel myself starting to get excited - the nervousness is still there, of course, but it's starting to be a good kind of nervous instead of dread :) I'm trying really hard to just trust the doctor and what he wants to do with my nose instead of freaking out about what it'll look like afterwards..

It will definitely be nice not to always worry about taking pictures from the front, or to not self-consciously turn my head away when I walk by a large group of people!

Uploading a pic from the front.