Would Not Do It Again - Milwaukee, WI

I had a Rhinoplasty in October 2010 because I was always self conscious about my nose. It is a little wider than I would like as well as longer. In pictures my nose is all I would see so I always thought about getting a nose job but really didn't think I'd ever do it It was more of a thought in the back of my head.

I was at a charity event one day when a girl I knew said she had a nose job and how it was the best thing she ever did. I asked who she went to, did some research, made an appointment and got ready to finally do it. The surgery went well, I came out without much pain. The most discomfort I had was from the bandages and the inability to sleep with my head down. When the bandages came off I hated my nose. It looked bigger than it did before the surgery because the surgeon didn't change the length, only the width. The swelling added length and there was a slight bump that didn't use to be there.

The doctor was really into follow up appointments, so much that it got to be annoying because it was a 35 minute drive and I'd be there for 5 minutes. The surgeon actually asked me why it was so swollen, like I am supposed to know. The swelling has not gone down and it has been nearly 3 years now. I noticed I didn't really like the shape but since I have been avoiding pictures I really didn't notice how bad it really looks until I saw it a side view of it in a double mirror. There is a dent in the side, the nostrils look uneven and the tip is crooked. She mentioned that I had a deviated septum prior to the surgery but the nose job made that worse. I am not necessarily blaming the surgeon for my nose because people heal differently and I don't know whether it was her fault or the way I healed. I am going to a consultation for a revision next week. I no longer live in the same state so I can't go back to the original surgeon for the revision.

It's very frustrating to splurge on a surgery to make you look and feel better and you end up looking deformed and now have to spend even more to have it fixed. I would never have plastic surgery again if it weren't to fix a surgery that didn't go well.

I went to a Las Vegas plastic surgeon for a consult and we decided to go forward. I am having it done next week Thursday. He said it looked like there was too much cartilage taken in the last surgery and my nose started to twist and droop. That is also likely what caused the dents on either side. There is now a hump that I did not have before. He thinks the last doctor did not evenly shape the bone so it resulted in said hump. I also have a deviated septum which is going to be fixed. He showed me pictures of what my new nose will look like and I like that he is focusing on what he thinks will look good, not just want needs to be fixed and what is easiest.

I came out of surgery feeling pretty awful. My eyes were burning, there was lots of pressure and pain on my nose, I felt very shaky and lightheaded and I wanted to drink 10 gallons of water. I didn't feel this rough after the last surgery but this one took over 5 hours. Recovery has been more difficult and I have not wanted to do much more than sleep. The problem is when I start to fall asleep I breath through my nose and it wakes me up. The first night I got about 3 hours of sleep, the next night 4 and last night finally about 7 but I wake up a lot so it wasn't good REM sleep. Today, 3 days in, I finally feel a little better but I can't do much much because I start to feel really congested. It's a little tougher the second time around. I can't wait for this splint to come off.