Revision Open Rhinoplasty - London, GB

Before & after side profile pic.. left side was always my worst side since the primary rhinoplasty & now it looks great!

I was always unhappy with the side profile of my nose, it was too long, pointy & had a slight hump. It was relatively straight from front onwards though. I finally went for Rhinoplasty back in 2009 with Mr Umar Khan at the Belvedere Private clinic - what a huge mistake that was. A friend had had BA with him & being naive & not doing my own research (and so desperate to sort it out) I went ahead thinking if he did well with her surgery then I should be fine. I now realise that Rhinoplasty is one of the most technically demanding cosmetic procedures & so you should always go to someone who specialises in it! To cut a long story short I returned to the clinic shortly afterwards to complain that my nose was deviating since surgery plus I had a lump on the side where it was fractured. They were not interested or helpful at all! They acted like it was in my head & there was no problem. Mr Khan had left after a dispute between him & the clinic & neither offered to resolve my issues, they just said 'take us to court if you like here's some solicitors papers'. The waiting room was full of other angry, unhappy people. I left dejected & defeated. In all honesty, I buried my head in the sand mortified that I had put myself in that situation. Over the years my nose just got worse & worse & I finally started looking for the right surgeon to sort this mess out earlier this year. I did so much online research looking for revision specialists & registered surgeons with good reviews. I went to see Julian De Silva however I felt very rushed & he hardly spoke to me at all. Having gone through what I did with the original surgeon & clinic this did not put me at ease despite his glowing reviews. I again felt quite dejected thinking maybe they are all like that but booked to see Mr Simon Withey shortly afterwards anyway. Best decision I ever made! Mr Withey spent a long time with me talking about everything, taking measurements, photos & discussing what could be achieved. He was very honest although I already knew perfect was not achievable & was ok with this I just didn't want my nose to look odd & deformed any more that was all. He couldnt understand what they had done to it during the previous op & said it was one of, if not the worst, he had seen (my nose deviated one way then completely back the other way leaving it looking like an 's' but also with the lump on the side where it was broken previously). Before going any further he wanted the notes from my previous op for which the Belvedere gave us the run around on. I paid them £50 to release them & they didn't even bother to send them over prior to my 2nd consultation. I felt so relieved to find someone who put me at ease, was very thorough & who I felt genuinely cared about sorting out the mess that was my nose. Once the notes arrived, we discussed everything again & he advised that he would need to use some rib cartilage. I can't explain it but I just knew he was the man for me, I knew that he would be able to give me the best result possible & contacted his PA Aleksandra to get booked in. Aleksandra is lovely & so helpful with the logistics of everything. I was booked in for the 27th July & told that my surgery would take a long long time so he had booked himself out for me all day. Everything went smoothly, I couldn't fault the hospital staff, the anesthetist (who was cracking jokes to keep me calm) or Mr Withey at all. I went to theatre at 8.15am & woke up in recovery at 3.30pm. I wasn't in any pain but the pain relief made me feel extremely sick so I was in recovery a little longer than normal whilst they got that under control. I spent the rest of the day & night on a drip as I just couldn't stomach food or drink (but that's just me, certain painkillers seem to do that to me) apart from that all was good. The next morning Mr Withey came to see me & explained that he didn't need the rib cartilage but had to take a graft from my scalp which was why my head was a little sore. I was a lot less bruised than the first time around & the swelling came to a head 2 days later but was isolated to just my nose within a few days. I have since been back for my 1 & 2 week check up & can honestly say that so far I am so unbelievably ecstatic at what he has done, I cannot stop smiling!! Despite the swelling I can already see that it is more than I could ever have hoped for. I don't know how he did it as honestly my nose was in such a state but I finally look normal! It's straight, the lump has gone (I had two stitches under my left eye where that side of my nose needed to be fractured but a day after these were taken out they have healed with no visable sign left) & the tip feels sturdy & has been rounded off so neat and tidy. Everything is healing very well & the bruising has gone. I never expected to be this happy or excited to watch it settle down over the coming months but I guess this is how good surgery should be! I will probably share pictures once it has settled a bit more. I still can't bear to look at pictures of my nose prior to revision surgery at the moment. Please anyone considering surgery do your research first as bad surgery robs you of so much time in your life that you could spend being happy - in my case 7 years. Mr Withey has given me my confidence back & I will always be eternally grateful to him for that.