I had four goals in mind with my Rhinoplasty/Septoplasty as my nose has always bothered me since I was in my young 20's. My goals in order of importance were: 1. Straighten my nose 2. Make my nostrils symmetrical (they were off because my septum was deviated 3. Help me to be able to breathe better 4. Lower the profile/pitch of my nose (you would basically be looking right into my nostrils otherwise).
When discussing these goals with my doctor, he was very perceptive and had drawn up an elaborate plan, complete with cartilage spreader grafts, some of which was to be harvested from my ear. I felt confident in my doctor's ability and his demeanor, he made me feel very comfortable and promised to deliver a beautifully straight nose that I could breathe out of.
On the morning of surgery, I was very nervous because I knew I would be under general anesthesia for approximately 5 hours. I know the surgery was very involved and the longer you are under, the more room there is for complications. Additionally, I just kept thinking that this will be on my face for everyone to see if it does not go well. That morning, my doctor cam in as I was waiting to go into the operating room. He told me that he was not going to give me stiches on the outside of my nostrils as previously discussed. I didn't know how that changed anything, I just thought it meant he would be able to do something else from the inside or once my nose was opened, as this was an open rhinoplasty. He took a look at my nose once more and made a few marks on it and then assured me that he would take good care of me.
After waking up from surgery, the nurse told me that the Dr. did not need to take any cartilage from my ear. I smiled, thinking that was great not to have to have an additional wound to care for. The doctor came in and told me that everything went well and double checked that I had all of my medications before my husband took me home.
The day of surgery when I got home, I vomited standing up with a trash can. The anti-nausea medicine seemed to have no impact. The next morning, I went to see the doctor to have the packing taken out, which was a huge relief. I expressed the concern of my nausea, which he thought may have been my medications or even the anesthesia. He then switched my medications. However, when I got home, I omitted uncontrollably about 15 times. When I vomited, it was full of blood. My husband called the doctor's office several times. They were very accommodating and helped to find solutions to make me more comfortable and to stop the vomiting. Unfortunately, nothing worked. It turned out that I had blood draining down my throat and going into my stomach, which was causing the vomiting. Luckily, the next day, it had stopped.
For several days, I felt horrible. I was very swollen and sleeping upright in a recliner at night. I was gently swabbing the outside of my nostrils with peroxide to remove the crusted blood. I could only eat yogurt for about a week.
At one week, the doctor removed my splint. At this time, it was obvious to me that my nose was still not straight and my nostrils were still uneven, even more so now. My nose looked broader as well, due to the spreader grafts (although, this seems to be improving some now that I am 3 weeks out). I really liked the look of my profile from the sides however. He did a great job with the shape of nose, and it does look slightly straighter, but not enough. I expressed this to my doctor by saying I had a few concerns regarding my nostrils and how the tip of my nose still leans t the left. He actually became quite snippy with me, which took me by surprise. He said that in order to get my nose straight, something had to be sacrificed. He didn't address the fact that my nose is still crooked. He said that he decided to not give me stiches on my nostrils and that would have been the only way to fix them. I noticed that my left nostril has much more flair to it from the spreader graft and asked if the other one could be pushed out the same way, which would make them look the same. He said, it did have a spreader graft in it and no, noting could be done more. I then asked about the scarring from stiches to fix the nostrils and he said it's not worth it, so just forget about it, it's not that bad. I felt very trapped, scared and at a loss from this interaction with my doctor. I almost left the office in tears.
Two days later, I had the stiches removed from my columella. Unfortunately, my doctor pointed out to me that there is a "step-off" on the incision and it will need to be revised. He said he will look at it again in 12 weeks once it heals more. I'm not sure what that means exactly, will he cut it out and make a new one? The incision was curved towards my right nostril, which he said was intentional as it would heal better if it's not straight. However, my incision seems to have made the columella look bigger on the right side like it's puffed out into my nostril. Not sure if this is swelling, or if this might be resolved with the scar revision.
I'm three weeks out and feeling hopeless. I have read several posts and research online that says you have to wait a year to know what you have and before you can have any revision surgery. However, I'm feeling that since the leaning of my nose is the same leaning that was there prior to the surgery, it's probably not going to change, same with the asymmetry of my nostrils. If I gently push the tip to the right )from the current left leaning position) then my nostrils and nose look totally straight and symmetrical. I spent a great deal of money ($10,000) and went through a lot of pain and neither one of my two most important goals were met. My doctor is not receptive to my questions or concerns and I feel like I don't know what to do. Please advise, any help you can offer would be most appreciated.
When discussing these goals with my doctor, he was very perceptive and had drawn up an elaborate plan, complete with cartilage spreader grafts, some of which was to be harvested from my ear. I felt confident in my doctor's ability and his demeanor, he made me feel very comfortable and promised to deliver a beautifully straight nose that I could breathe out of.
On the morning of surgery, I was very nervous because I knew I would be under general anesthesia for approximately 5 hours. I know the surgery was very involved and the longer you are under, the more room there is for complications. Additionally, I just kept thinking that this will be on my face for everyone to see if it does not go well. That morning, my doctor cam in as I was waiting to go into the operating room. He told me that he was not going to give me stiches on the outside of my nostrils as previously discussed. I didn't know how that changed anything, I just thought it meant he would be able to do something else from the inside or once my nose was opened, as this was an open rhinoplasty. He took a look at my nose once more and made a few marks on it and then assured me that he would take good care of me.
After waking up from surgery, the nurse told me that the Dr. did not need to take any cartilage from my ear. I smiled, thinking that was great not to have to have an additional wound to care for. The doctor came in and told me that everything went well and double checked that I had all of my medications before my husband took me home.
The day of surgery when I got home, I vomited standing up with a trash can. The anti-nausea medicine seemed to have no impact. The next morning, I went to see the doctor to have the packing taken out, which was a huge relief. I expressed the concern of my nausea, which he thought may have been my medications or even the anesthesia. He then switched my medications. However, when I got home, I omitted uncontrollably about 15 times. When I vomited, it was full of blood. My husband called the doctor's office several times. They were very accommodating and helped to find solutions to make me more comfortable and to stop the vomiting. Unfortunately, nothing worked. It turned out that I had blood draining down my throat and going into my stomach, which was causing the vomiting. Luckily, the next day, it had stopped.
For several days, I felt horrible. I was very swollen and sleeping upright in a recliner at night. I was gently swabbing the outside of my nostrils with peroxide to remove the crusted blood. I could only eat yogurt for about a week.
At one week, the doctor removed my splint. At this time, it was obvious to me that my nose was still not straight and my nostrils were still uneven, even more so now. My nose looked broader as well, due to the spreader grafts (although, this seems to be improving some now that I am 3 weeks out). I really liked the look of my profile from the sides however. He did a great job with the shape of nose, and it does look slightly straighter, but not enough. I expressed this to my doctor by saying I had a few concerns regarding my nostrils and how the tip of my nose still leans t the left. He actually became quite snippy with me, which took me by surprise. He said that in order to get my nose straight, something had to be sacrificed. He didn't address the fact that my nose is still crooked. He said that he decided to not give me stiches on my nostrils and that would have been the only way to fix them. I noticed that my left nostril has much more flair to it from the spreader graft and asked if the other one could be pushed out the same way, which would make them look the same. He said, it did have a spreader graft in it and no, noting could be done more. I then asked about the scarring from stiches to fix the nostrils and he said it's not worth it, so just forget about it, it's not that bad. I felt very trapped, scared and at a loss from this interaction with my doctor. I almost left the office in tears.
Two days later, I had the stiches removed from my columella. Unfortunately, my doctor pointed out to me that there is a "step-off" on the incision and it will need to be revised. He said he will look at it again in 12 weeks once it heals more. I'm not sure what that means exactly, will he cut it out and make a new one? The incision was curved towards my right nostril, which he said was intentional as it would heal better if it's not straight. However, my incision seems to have made the columella look bigger on the right side like it's puffed out into my nostril. Not sure if this is swelling, or if this might be resolved with the scar revision.
I'm three weeks out and feeling hopeless. I have read several posts and research online that says you have to wait a year to know what you have and before you can have any revision surgery. However, I'm feeling that since the leaning of my nose is the same leaning that was there prior to the surgery, it's probably not going to change, same with the asymmetry of my nostrils. If I gently push the tip to the right )from the current left leaning position) then my nostrils and nose look totally straight and symmetrical. I spent a great deal of money ($10,000) and went through a lot of pain and neither one of my two most important goals were met. My doctor is not receptive to my questions or concerns and I feel like I don't know what to do. Please advise, any help you can offer would be most appreciated.
