A Dream Come True! - Houston, TX

Hello RealSelfers!

First and foremost, I am so thankful for this site as it lead me to my surgeon and to all of your journey's! You ALL have helped inform & prepare me for not only my surgery, but the journey that follows, so I felt as though I should chronicle my own in hopes to help/inform/motivate somebody else as you all have done for me!

I am 22 years old and like most of you, I always disliked my nose. I am part-Italian and I inherited my Dad's nose, which looks fine on him, not so hot on me! LOL. I thankfully was never bullied about it, but I was always self-concious about my profile view as my nose was big/long, overprojected and had a hump. I am about to finish college and have aspirations to be a Sports Reporter, so, that gave me the big push to get it done NOW. I am so blessed to have a family who is so supportive of me and stood behind me in this decision. I also told a handful of people who I am very close with and they were also very supportive!

I went to a total of 3 consultations, but I knew in my heart the last surgeon I consulted with was going to be THE ONE! My surgeon is Dr. Etai Funk, out of Houston, TX and he is INCREDIBLE! He is an ENT and specializes in Facial surgery, which was something that was very important to me, if I was going to get this done, I wanted it done by a specialist, I mean it is your face after all! lol. He is confident; he knows what he is talking about and he knows what he is DOING. He is detailed, thorough, and all-around cares about his patients and their desires.

My surgery was August 4, 2015, so I am currently at 9 Days Post-OP. I did not chronicle my recovery as it was happening, but I am going to go back now and do a little recap. I have attatched BEFORE photos with this post.

XOXO

Day of Surgery: I was surprisingly really calm the morning of my surgery (I am a very anxious person), I guess because I have really wanted this and I have beyond high confidence in my surgeon, so I was more excited than anything! I arrived to the Houston Surgery Center a little more than an hour and a half before my scheduled surgery time to fill out paperwork, take a pregnancy test, get my IV started, etc. My surgeon came to see me and I met the staff that was going to be working with him in the Operating Room and everyone was very friendly and made me feel at ease. And the rest is history!! LOL the next thing I knew, I was in Recovery with a nice cold gel mask over my eyes.
RECOVERY--
Huge shout out to my Mom for being my nurse for the week; she was absolutely amazing and I would not have been able to get through it without her!
Day 1 and 2 are pretty much a blur. Lol. I did not experience any pain at all, WOOHOO, but I had a very sore throat from the breathing tube, which made taking my medications and eating/drinking very difficult!! The night of my surgery I took half of a pain pill and I did not take any more for the rest of my recovery. I was able to sleep through these first two nights pretty peacefully, (as peaceful as you can sleep being upright) with the exception of waking up a couple times due to extreme dry mouth and needing to take a drink. *I definitely recommend keeping water/gatorade at your bedside at all times* I also recommend Benadryl! Lol not only did it help me fall asleep and STAY asleep, it also helps with the congestion! :)
Day 3, 4, 5: This is when I had my peak swelling, somehow I managed not to bruise at all, which was awesome! To help with the swelling, I used frozen peas in 2 seperate ziploc bags and zip-tied them, so it fit right over the eyes nicely without the risk of touching the nose! At this point, I no longer needed to wear my gauze/drip pad as the bleeding/drainage had stopped. I had no discomfort from my nose at all, besides it being "stuffy." My throat was still extremely sore, that honestly was the toughest part of recovery for me. I was able to sleep through these 3 nights really well too. (Thank you, Benadryl!)
Day 6: This is the day a lot of swelling went down and I started to feel like a human being again! Lol. The first 5 days I spent the majority of my time in bed or on the couch. By Day 6, I was able to get up and move and started feeling more like myself. My sore throat was still there, but it was not as bad as the first 3-4 days. My mom washed my hair too, so that was fabulous! I was also in a great mood because I knew I was going to be getting my cast off the next morning!!
My biggest piece of encouragment for recovery would be STAY STRONG and know that this discomfort is only TEMPORARY! The first couple days I was feeling like Day 7 would never be here, but, in reality, time goes by so fast! Plus, you just have to keep reminding yourself how much you wanted this and how worth it, it all will be in the end! :)
I am posting pictures of me throughout my recovery! (No judging! Lol)

I got my cast taken off on Day 7 / 6 days Post-Op. I was so excited not only to get the cast off because it was annoying, but also to get a peek at my NEW NOSE!! Thanks to this site, I knew that as exciting as this day is for us all, you also have to take it with a grain of salt, because your nose is still really swollen at this point, so I was definitely mentally prepared! My surgeon took my cast off (did not hurt at all, btw.), cleaned it out, which felt amazing, and then got the mirror to show me a peek before I got it re-taped for a few days to help with the swelling. Despite my nose being extremely swollen, I was in LOVE already!! It is so surreal to see my nose without a hump, I can not get over it! Getting that sneak peek reassured me that in time, once all the swelling goes down, I will get the smaller, more feminine nose that fits my face and features perfectly that I have always dreamed of!

I have had my tape on since Monday and I will be getting it taken off tomorrow (Friday August 14)!! Hopefully the tape has helped control some of the swelling; I can not wait to see! Ahhh! :)

I will post a couple pictures of me from the day of my cast removal and I will update after I get my tape taken off tomorrow, sometime this weekend!!