Still Taped Up But the Splint Is Off And I'm So Happy!

I love my new nose! I went to my surgeon today to finally have the metal splint taken off and he seemed happy with what he saw. I guess I must still be a little swollen towards the top because he decided to tape it back up MUCH to my dismay until Monday. It still feels somewhat bruised when he touches it but it didn't hurt nearly as bad as it did last week. Luckily the strips are like a sheer tan color so they actually blend in with my skin, but when I go back to work on Friday my coworkers are obviously going to be aware now that my big vacation was spent doing something to my nose. WONDERFUL. I'm not going to lie when they ask but if any customers inquire I'm just going to say that I have stitches from a fall or something which is pretty believable. I went to Target after my appointment because I've been housebound since the surgery and felt the need to spend money on fun things I don't need (because my nose didn't just cost me enough) and one person seemed to take my stitches story as legit so I'm sticking to it! Anyway, so when I first saw my nose I was worried that it still looked large and that maybe I should have gone with a whole "remodel" but after spending some time looking at different angles I'm actually quite happy. I still look like me, and I can't believe how straight it is when I look in the mirror. I never thought in a million years it would ever be straight. I'm also loving the hump-free profile although I still haven't seen it down the skin. I'm hoping as time goes on I won't come to regret keeping it ethnic looking but for now I'm very happy! I'm even posting some pictures, but please excuse the still creepy smile (which my PS says won't get back to normal for 2 months! Eeek).

P.S. I also wanted to thank everyone for their kind comments, and I'm so happy people enjoyed my lengthy rambling in this review. My boyfriend kept telling me I was crazy for writing so much but I'm the type of person who always wants to know every little detail so I'm happy if it helped! :)

Only 1 more day left until I see my new nose! At this point I'm actually more excited about getting this damn splint off my face. I'm still a little nervous to see the new profile..I hope the size difference is not so obvious that it screams "NOSE JOB" to those who know me. I realize now I really probably should have posted pics of my recovery process for everyone's benefit on here but at the time I was sooo swollen and bruised that the thought of breaking out a camera was too terrible. Also, in terms of a recovery update, my face is back to its normal size but I still have a tiny bit of red splotch under my eye that I guess I'm just going to have to deal with. I also keep sneezing for some reason (I make sure to keep my mouth open) and today a stitch fell out from my nose? Weird and kind of gross. Much like other people on here, my upper lip is SO creepy when I smile (or try to smile I should say) and I'm really hoping that it gets back to normal soon. Anyway, I also realize after looking back at my previous posts that I should probably clarify about my "mouth stitches" because what I wrote doesn't make sense. I did have closed rhinoplasty but the whole reason why I have stitches in my upper gum under my lip is because my surgeon also cut my depressor muscle to prevent my nose from drooping down when I smiled. I don't want people reading this to think that they're going to have a sore lip after closed rhinoplasty, so sorry about that! Hopefully tomorrow after the big reveal I'll get some pics up and we'll see if it was worth it!

Sorry for the delay, I had actually updated this a few days in but my browser closed accidentally and I lost everything I had just typed so I gave up! This is my whole experience over the past week so I apologize that it is so lengthy, but hopefully it gives anyone interested an honest look into my personal recovery...

Surgery Day:

Still really nervous but kind of at peace with the whole thing (if that makes any sense)? Basically I'm nervous about permanently changing what I look like but at this point I know I’ll never be happy with my natural nose. The worse part about today is that my surgery was moved to 2:00 pm and I haven’t eaten since 11:30 last night...starving! Other than that, I made sure to enjoy my shower this morning considering I know it will be awhile before I can wash up again. I got dressed in comfy clothes. My ensemble included sweatpants, a zip up hoodie, and a stretchy tank top that is easy to get on and off (to avoid smacking my nose later). Also, I don’t know why I thought about this and planned it out, but I’m sharing it in case anyone else is in the same boat. I am pretty well-endowed and a few weeks before surgery was thinking about things I had to do or purchase to make my recovery more comfortable. For some reason I got to thinking about my undergarments, and realized that I definitely couldn’t get away without wearing a bra but wanted more “comfortable” support while lounging around. I hate the feeling of having underwire poking into my side while I’m laying down, but thought that a sports bra would be too tight after a while. I decided to go to Victoria’s Secret and purchase a wireless bra (I had coupons!) and I’m actually VERY grateful I did.

Anyway, back to the surgery day experience. The surgery was to take place at an outpatient surgery center, and once I arrived (my parents brought me, and stayed throughout the surgery) and completed some paperwork, I was given a gown and cozy socks to change into. Once I changed, the nurse went over my history and let me lie in bed while she hooked up my IV line. At this point I got a little nervous, I hate needles. After this, the anesthesiologist came over to talk and he informed me I would have a breathing tube which made me freak out a little too. Then my surgeon came over and we talked briefly again about what I wanted and he drew on my nose a little. The last thing I said to him before he walked away was that my biggest fear was waking up with a little button nose which he laughed at and promised he wouldn’t do. I was doing my best not to get nervous but everything from here on started happening really fast. The anesthesiologist came back with some midazolam for my IV which I knew would just calm me down a bit, and then they started wheeling me to the OR. I vaguely remember talking to the nurses and could still see what was going on but everything was definitely kind of blurry. We got to the OR and the nurses told me they were going to help slide me onto the operating table. I remember thinking that I should be freaking out now because above me were the big OR lights and once I was on the table they started strapping my arms down and hooking me up to all sorts of machines. The last thing I was remember was the super sweet nurse smiling at me and squeezing my hand, then I was out.

I woke up to my mom and the nurse calling my name and telling me to breathe through my mouth. The nurse said I did great but that I had some black and blues under my eyes already. The first thing that hit me was how much my throat burned. It was like the worst sore throat you could imagine so I asked for some water. The nurse said that I could have ice chips instead, which helped for a split second but then the burning would start again so I must have asked for more ice about 100 times. The next thing that really annoyed me was my dry, chapped lips. Luckily, I remembered how chapped I felt after my wisdom teeth so I made sure to bring Blistex with me. I asked my mom to dig it out of my purse and smeared it allll over. My upper lip felt weird and puffy because I had closed rhinoplasty through my mouth, but I was surprised by how little pain I felt, if any. Mostly the stitches in my mouth just felt raw. My nose felt fine, not even sore or bruised. Although I didn’t have any packing, I definitely could’t breathe out of my nose at all. The most annoying part of my “nose area” was the feeling of the drip pad underneath. Otherwise it was almost as if I had just woken up with a terrible cold. I also had a big white cast over my nose which extended up to my forehead, so I looked ridiculous. When it came time to get dressed, I felt a tiny wave of nausea. The nurse had me sit back and said that a lot of blood gets into the stomach during surgery and most people vomit it up. She said I should try to get it up now rather than it happening during the drive home but I hate throwing up so I fought it. In addition, they gave me an IV dose of Benadryl (which burned!) as well as some oxygen, which they said seems to help people. They also gave me a Transderm Scop patch for behind my ear which I could keep on for 3 days, and between everything I didn’t feel nauseous again. Once I got dressed they put me in a wheelchair and rolled me to the car. Luckily I only had a about a 25 minute drive home and I think I slept most of it. Once I got home I remember whining about how sore my throat was so my dad gave me a popsicle which not only felt wonderful going down, but the sugar definitely helped pick me up a bit. The day beforehand my parents (who are godsend’s by the way) had put a recliner in my room so that I would be able to sleep and rest sitting up easier (I’m a serial side sleeper so I knew staying upright would be a struggle). I rested in the recliner for the rest of the night kind of in a daze, but not asleep. My mom had gone to the pharmacy to get my prescriptions for my antibiotic and pain med, and I remember kind of bracing myself for the pain to kick in but it never did. Later on I started to get really hungry so I hate some Chinese food cut up really tiny and I tolerated it fine. At this point I didn’t have any swelling but had some big time bruises under my eyes. I felt good once I ate, and for the rest of the night the most annoying thing was the drip pad which kept filling up fast. I watched some TV and tried to sleep but it was hard without breathing through my nose so I took ½ Vicodin tablet which knocked me out. The recliner was actually quite comfortable and definitely kept me upright through the whole night, so I would really recommend it if any one is like me and cannot sleep on your back in bed.

Day 1 Post Op:

Woke up with the most dry, disgusting feeling in my mouth and throat. It literally felt like there were scales in my mouth but luckily my throat was only mildly sore compared to the day before. I chugged a glass of water and slathered my lips in more Blistex. I was a little more swollen today, especially under my eyes so I was unable to pop my contact lenses in. This was a bummer because I'm pretty blind without them and since you can’t wear glasses on the bridge of your nose, I was stuck holding my glasses up to my eyes if I wanted to see anything which got old really fast. My upper lip was also pretty swollen today. The stiches in my mouth were the sorest part of my day, still no nose pain! I had continued using the drip pad, although it definitely didn’t fill up as quickly today. For some reason I didn’t have much of an appetite so I just had some applesauce and yogurt throughout the day. I took another ½ Vicodin because I was still convinced my nose would start throbbing at ome point (it didn't). Halfway through the day I decided to remove the drip pad because most of the dripping had stopped. Instead my nose was now crusted with dried blood which felt gross so I cleaned off the outer parts of my nostrils with some saline nasal spray that I poured onto a Q-tip (worked like a charm, compared to the warm water I originally tried). The clumps inside my nose were aggravating and made it very hard to breathe but my surgeon's office had told me that I wasn't allowed to put anything up my nose (weird, other stories I read on here said that people were told to clean it out?). Needless to say I obliged for about an hour before I got so frustrated that I CAREFULLY cleaned the crusties on the very inside nostrils anyway which felt much better. The office had suggested that if I was having a hard time breathing to use a cold water humidifier which my dad went out and bought for me (seriously, I have the best parents ever) and this made a HUGE difference in comfort when I slept at night especially. It definitely helped with the uncomfortable dryness caused by mouth breathing so I would recommend it. I also iced my face on and off all day with frozen peas in a zip lock baggie.

Day 2 Post Op:

HOLY SWELLING! While the swelling under my eyes went down slightly, my lower cheeks towards the jawline and my lips blew up. I seriously looked like a cartoon character. My annoying bruises under my eyes persisted (but I bruise very easily anyway so I expected this), but I was shocked to see how swollen my cheeks became. I don’t know if this was from the trauma of having my tiny mouth wide open that whole time during surgery, or if it was the result of the cuts in the upper lip but I was very depressed the whole day. I was hungrier so I ate some mashed potatoes and soup and I managed to get my contacts in so I could at least watch TV. I iced all day, but was overall in a pretty grumpy mood because my lip/stitches were sore and my swelling was VERY uncomfortable.

Day 3 Post Op:

Pretty sure I was even more swollen today than yesterday. Such a yucky feeling. Icing helped soothe my face a bit, and I just relaxed all day and watched TV. The bruise under my left eye is minimal now, but there is a solid purple “chunk” underneath my right eye that just won’t budge. I’ve been putting arnica gel on it and also vitamin K cream that I had been using prior for dark circles but it just won’t break up. This is the side of my nose where a lot of the surgical work was done so I guess I just need to be patient but it looks horrible!

Day 4 Post Op – Office Appointment:

I’m still very swollen and uncomfortable but I have to say I’ve had virtually no pain besides that in my lip where my stitches are. Today I have an appointment to have my cast removed and hopefully have my nose cleaned out but I have been keeping my nostril areas pretty clear with saline and Q tips. I showered today and just made sure to stand on the opposite side of the shower head so that my cast wouldn’t get wet. I've been using dry shampoo on my hair but despite the shower and regular clothes, I felt absolutely disgusting and ugly heading to the appointment. To make matters worse when I walked into the office there were about 6 other people waiting and they all just stared at my horribly swollen, chipmunky face. So embarrassing! Granted they were all there seeking some kind of plastic surgery themselves so I don’t know why I was so ashamed. Thankfully the wonderful secretary rushed me into an exam room so I wouldn’t have to endure the stares for long, and the surgeon came in and decided to keep my cast on for a while longer. I’m not sure if this was due to the amount of swelling in my cheeks, or if this was standard protocol but he didn’t seem worried. I insisted the cast had to come off by Friday because I was back to work on Monday and he said that would be fine. He also told me that at this point using heat would be more beneficial than ice so I spent the rest of the day using the heating pad on my cheeks.

Days 5 – 7 Post Op:

I had tons more energy these days and spent a lot of time doing light work around the house and playing with my dogs (carefully!). The swelling in my cheeks has miraculously gone down (I’ll admit, I was bad and took 10 mg of prednisone that I had left over from a sinus infection a few month ago which was wrong of me because I didn’t clear it with my surgeon but hey it helped my cheeks and I had read that some PS’s give their patients oral steroids to help with the post-op swelling anyway. Regardless, mine didn’t give me steroids for a reason so I shouldn’t have done it but, too late). Also, on day 6 I woke up and was suddenly able to breathe through my nose! Yay! Not entirely, but enough to be comfortable. My cast is becoming increasingly itchy so I cant wait to get it off tomorrow and see what’s underneath!

Day 8 Post Op (Cast Off Day):

Woke up super excited to get this annoying cast off but nervous to see my new nose for the first time. I've been giving myself pep talks all week about how there's no going back now and what's done is done so I need to embrace whatever's underneath. I finally put some makeup on today and tried but failed to cover this horrible bruise that just won't budge from under my eye. The swelling in my cheeks has gone down almost entirely and my top lip has returned to normal size but it is very stiff. When I smile you can’t see my upper teeth, is this normal? The stitches in my mouth are also almost all dissolved, and I’m feeling good overall.

Later on today.... I saw my surgeon to have my cast removed which was a struggle. For some reason it did not want to come off. Did this happen to anyone? Most people's casts seem to have popped right off based on a lot of the reviews I read, and it started to become REALLY painful as they tried to get it off. I hadn't experienced any nose pain AT ALL until this moment, and suddenly my nose felt really bruised. Finally they got it off and I stood up to quickly look in the mirror. My nose looks so small! From what I can see he did exactly what I asked for which was to just shave down the hump until it was straight (no ski slopes!) and straighten it. I didn’t get a chance to look at my profile where the change will be most obvious but my mom says it looks fantastic (hopefully she's not just saying that). I had noticed when I looked at my nose the right side near my cheek was all red, and my surgeon hurried me to the chair to examine it. He then started squeezing my nose which was EXCRUCIATING. I’m not kidding, I saw STARS. He prodded this right side and said I have a lot of fluid underneath the cartilage that he grafted. I must have yelled “ow” about 10 time as he continued to pinch my nose to try and get the fluid out. He then started to tape the bridge of my nose which I was not expecting. I’m not sure if this is standard because it seems that based on the experiences I've read on here, splints or casts are removed after about a week for good. He also taped my nose HARD about 5 times all the way down which I know is for swelling but I started to get very worried because I planned to return to work on Monday and I had wanted to keep my surgery private. I work as a retail pharmacist so I can’t hide my face at all, and am constantly interacting with coworkers and customers. I would be SO embarrassed if I had to return to work wearing this, letting everyone that I had a nose job. He then prepared a new splint for my bridge and re-sized it like 3 times, taking it on and off which was extraordinarily painful each time. When I told him I had to return to work in two days and didn’t want to wear the splint he said “oh, just tell everyone you had your nose fixed”! I was a little taken aback, and I had been very pleased with him up until this point. Granted, he’s only doing his job as a physician and I understand that I need to wear the splint to help get the fluid out but I was very clear when scheduling this whole procedure about the amount of time I had off from work and my desire to keep the procedure discreet. He told me to wear the splint for another 5 days and explained that the fluid collection was normal but I’m still very worried. I left the office on the verge of tears from both the pain of him squeezing my very bruised nose and from the frustration of potentially having to show up to work wearing this splint.

Update... This splint is much more comfortable than the cast but still itchy! Also, my nose is stuffed back up from all of his squeezing today, and I had to take another ½ Vicodin tablet to help the pain. GOOD NEWS, I called my scheduler and she managed to cover my shifts for both Monday and Tuesday. I would have been so humiliated if I had to stand all day at work for 9 hours with this pink splint on my nose and explain to my coworkers and customers that I had a nose job. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that this helps the fluid drain and that all will be good when I get it removed in 5 days... If anyone has had an experience similar to this after cast removal, please let me know! I am still very worried that something is wrong, and I'm scared that it will hurt just as bad when getting the splint removed next week!