Rhinoplasty

Hi there! I've decided to write my journey for my long awaited rhinoplasty in hope to help other people thinking about going on the same journey as me. As some other girls have mentioned, there are minimal reviews or blogs about rhinoplasties in Adelaide.

My surgery is booked for next Monday (28th November!!). I've wanted this since I was 18 and only just got the courage to do it (im now 30). I met Professor David David in 2012 at a seminar he took and was mesmerised by him and the amazing work he does around the world. I also learned that he does elective cosmetic surgery which made me think about having a rhinoplasty more seriously. I got in contact with his secretary in May 2013 and when asked if I'd like to make an appointment to see him I freaked and said I'd call back when I'm ready. That was three years ago! I finally got the courage to make the phone call and even made the appointment to see him in September this year... when I met with Professor David I felt almost star struck. He was kind, polite and gracious. He asked me what I wanted done to my nose and to be honest, I didn't have a definitive idea. My nose profile is fine, it has a small bump on the bridge but it never bothered me. However... I absolutely HATE the round tip. I cannot allow front on photos because I'm so self conscious about it. So our plan is to square out the round ball at the tip of my nose, gently smooth out the bump on the bridge and reduce the entire size in general. So here's hoping it goes the way that I want it! I'll keep you updated with regular postings on this process!

So it's 9.23pm and I'm due at the hospital at 7am. I'm starting to get nervous. Less than 10 hours til I'm sitting in my room waiting.... will keep you updated. Wish me luck!!

So u was the last one the list for the day and didn't have my surgery until 3pm. That meant lots of thinking and questions what I was doing. But the staff were wonderful and get distracting me in the holding bay and in theatre.

When I got into recovery I felt like a bodybuilder had punched me square in the nose. The pain surprised me after reading people's blogs. They have me huge amount of fentanyl which worked a treat. When I got back to the ward I felt so tired (mainly because I didn't sleep the night before and because I was doped up on opioids). I kept dozing in and out of sleep but every time I fell asleep I woke again coz my mouth was incredibly dry! Other girls wrote that they felt like it was the worst congestive flu they've had but my congestion is localised to my nose. No headache. I rocked into my room with a black eye that kept spreading and puffy eyes. FUN times ahead!

So the swelling is up and down around my eyes. Wait, let me rephrase that: the swelling to my WHOLE face is up and down. The ice pack they've given me works like a treat. But if I don't use it hourly then the swelling comes back. Also, both my eyes are black like a panda. I still don't have any pain which is amazing and nothing feels congested. My nose is about 90% blocked with a 10% feeling of air movement- this excites me because everywhere I've read it says that the nose is completely blocked for 3-4 weeks. So I'm hoping it unblocks by 10% everyday. So far so good. Aside from sleeping upright with my mouth opened and needing to sip on water every half hour.
Sleep is the devil right now. But I can see the tip and it looks smaller already! Exciting!!

So it's ve managed to survive the first 48 hours. Aside from the blocked nose and stylish black eyes and puffy face, it's been pretty cruisey. I have no pain still and I'm eating pretty well. I just have to cut up my food into small pieces coz the tape restricts my mouth from opening wide enough. My tip is still swollen so it's hard to tell what it will look like. Today I also spent a lot of time obsessing with cleaning my nostrils with peroxide recommended by the surgeon. It's dissolved heaps of clots and I have about 50% air movement in my right nostril. Not enough not to suffocate though so sleeping will be awesome again.... last night I woke half hourly to hourly coz my mouth felt like a cats tongue it was so dry. I drank 700mls overnight... it's seriously a desert in there

So last night I got a little bit of sleep thanks to my half unblocked right nostril. Although I got out of bed at 4am because my back was killing me using two pillows to sleep. Today my friend visited me and made me laugh and it wasn't until that moment that I realised my nose was sore. Gotta remember it's broken! Also, the tape started to get annoying and itchy maybe because today was a warm day. Bruises are now yellow but I see that my eyelids are shadowed with dark bruising still. Puffiness is better again, still using the face mask. Currently my nose is very very blocked so I doubt I will sleep much. I'm so sleep deprived it's ridiculous- definately the worst part about this experience

Well last nights sleep was horrible. I was so congested I felt like I was choking. I haven't slept since Saturday and I'm exhausted. I had a cry today because I was so frustrated and tired. But the crying was inconvenient because my nose swells when I cry so it certainly didn't help my congestion. I took myself into the shower and stood there for 20mins feeling sorry for myself. But when I got out my nose felt like it was unblocking. This lasted most of the day which made me feel tip top. But now..... blocked again. Coz I'm wanting to sleep. When will this end? :(

So today was a beautiful summer day of 30 odd degrees. I wanted to hang outside and read my book in the shade but unfortunately the warmth made me more congested and made it impossible to breathe. So I used the chilled eye mask the hospital gave me which helped decongest me a little. My nose has been quite runny today too but because I can't blow it I'm using cotton buds to clear out my nose so it doesn't block up my nose any more than it already is. The swelling has significantly reduced and my husband even commented on how petite my nose looks :) the bruising is yellow now too under my eyes so I'm hoping it's yellow under the plaster. Plaster comes off in four more sleeps yay! I hope this will mean I can sleep lying flat coz this two pillow thing is annoying!

It's my one week anniversary since my op! Can't say it's been fun but I'm sure it will be worth it! I actually slept last night from about 11pm- 6am which was amazing!! I woke up a couple times but managed to get back to sleep thanks to my unblocked nose. I'm still sleeping with two pillows but I think I'm getting used to it a bit. Swelling looks almost back to normal with minimal swelling under my eyes. I think the tip of my nose is still swollen too but not sure. Bruises are light yellow which is awesome. Hopefully don't have much bruising under the cast. Only two more sleeps til the cast comes off :)

The plaster is so itchy!!! I've tried to call the Melbourne Street office a few times to talk to them about the itching but they haven't answered! This morning I have woken up and my nose is tingling under the plaster and it's so itchy I want to rip everything off my face! The cast is due to come off in 31 hours but I literally don't know how I will handle all that time... will try calling them again at 9am to see if I can come in today..

After speaking to the surgeon the receptionist adviced I take the plaster off myself using olive oil under the cast to gently remove it. I tried to persevere with it for as long as I could but when my husband got home at 5pm and commented on how swollen the tip looked I knew I had to get this thing off! I have no idea why it began to swell but it was causing me lots of pain for the first time in 8 days. So with lots of olive oil, psyching up, and hesitations.... I removed the plaster. Wow! I couldn't look in the mirror for 15mins and asked my husband to tell me what it looked like first. I'm not gonn lie, I had a mini panic attack. Literally thought I was going to faint- went dizzy, lightheaded and nauseous. I had just worked myself up so much I became overhelmed. But eventually when I looked in the mirror I saw a huge change. For the better! The round ball that I hated was completely gone and the whole nose looked slimmer and smaller. After regaining my cool I looked at my husband and said "y wasn't I born with this nose?? This one suits me better!" I took about a hundred photos and kept comparing them to my old pix. It's still very swollen but I can see the difference and am so happy I did the surgery :)

Tonight I went out with friends for dinner. I've told a few close friends about the surgery and they were all pleasantly surprised with the results. They all said it's a huge change when comparing my before and after photo but the nose looks like it's always been there because it suits me so much. I feel more comfortable and confident with it and less self conscious when we took a group photo (no more posing with my head slightly to the side to avoid the round tip- coz that's my best side now!!)

It's so nice not having tape and a hard plaster on my nose. My nose is completely unblocked now and I can sleep! My nose looks great. There is no bruising at all but there's still some swelling (especially first thing in the morning). After my review with Prof David he said my nose is still very swollen. He said it will take a new weeks to go down and I have a follow up appt. with him in 5 weeks time. It looks so natural on my face which I'm so happy about. I definately do not regret my decision at all and highly recommend Prof. David to the world! When I met with him I asked him to give me a nose that suited me and I told him what I hated most about it. And he did exactly that- created something for my face without making it look like a nose job! It's one of the best things I've done and it's absolutely worth it. I'm still silently concerned it's a tiny bit big but Prof David assured me it's due to the swelling so I have to wait and see. But it's a hundred times better than what it was and I can't believe how less self conscious I am!

Today marks two weeks since my rhinoplasty. All has gone very very smoothly. I'm no longer congested so sleep is great because I don't need to sleep with my mouth open. I'm still very swollen under my eyes near the bridge and the tip is very swollen still. Being the first and second week of December we have lots of hot days which doesn't help with the swelling. I've been "unhealthily" obsessed with staring at my nose from every angle n taking lots of photos and comparing it to previous pix... I'm so scared my nose isn't small enough but everyone keeps assuring me it's different but it's still puffy and to give it time. I've even had a couple private teary moments coz I paid so much for the surgery and went through quite an ordeal for little change to my nose. I know I need to chill and wait for the swelling to go down coz the bones are still broken! I have a follow up with the surgeon in four weeks so will update then unless something else comes up :) happy thoughts!!

The swelling near my eyes (on the bridge) has pretty much completely disappeared. The tip is still very swollen and very tender to touch though. It's also still numb at the tip and I can't completely raise my eyebrows because it all feels really tight. I feel so much more comfortable with my new nose but I'm still not in love with it because of all the swelling. My biggest issue with my nose was the round tip so
I am driving myself crazy with a thousand selfies and keep comparing them to my old photos. Fingers crossed the swelling resolves and I have a cute little nose otherwise I'm going to be devastated. I can feel hard bits inside my nose- I think it's scar tissue. There's quite a lot of it and I'm hoping that when that settles it'll give me a smaller nose. Will keep posting of updates :)