Revision Rhinoplasty Changed my Life Immediately

I want to start off by saying that I too used to sit on RealSelf for hours, scrolling through threads, heading other people's stories and feeling all waves of emotions from remorse, to hope to fear.

I had my first Septo-plasty with a turbinate reduction done when I was 18, freshly out of high-school.

I had always known that I wanted to get my nose done, ever since I was 13.
I met with three different doctors all based in Indiana (where I was located at the time). Out of the three, I picked the one I felt the most comfortable with. I had 3 consultations with him, spanning over the course of a year (I met him when I was 17 and we were waiting until I was 18 to operate). Dr. Chadwell in SouthBend Indiana. He made me feel comfortable, reassured me, and I had known someone who had gotten work done from him previously that looked good. Although he was always reassuring me, he would always tell me that it would never be perfect (which, at the time, seemed reasonable, nothing in life is perfect, but I should have recognized this as a red flag).
We scheduled my surgery for the end of October in 2021 and I was so excited, but nervous, of course. Long story short, I get the surgery.

(Now, years later, my parents told me that the surgery was well over 3.5 hours, and the entire surgery center was closed besides my room by the time my surgery was over, so clearly something was wrong).

Cast removal day came around, I was sooooo nervous, recovery was okay, my eyes were so swollen and purple and I had a lot of swelling in my face, but I was hopeful. When I got my cast off and he gave me that pink mirror, I was in complete shock. I did not recognize myself at all. What he made on my face was not at all what I expected, it was not me, and it did not look correct, I had no words at all. The next few months of my life were surrounded in trauma and therapy and I honestly do not remember most of the time after surgery. About 1 month after I got my cast off, I noticed a 'spike' on the roof of my nose, that was fairly harsh and obvious in direct lighting. I immediately went in to see him, and he injected me with steroid shots (which did nothing). After he injected me with the shots, he told me that he did not see the spike on my nose, and even after I was expressing concerns about the overall look of my nose, he told me I should be thankful and instructed that I go see a therapist because I clearly had body-dysmorphia.
And as an 18 year old female, I was so distraught and confused, I thought I had something seriously wrong with me that went much deeper than my nose. I stopped seeing Dr. Chadwell after this encounter.
I proceeded with therapy for the next 5ish months, where we obviously unpacked how I do not have body dysmorphia, but more that Dr. Chadwell has awful bedside manners and could not own up to my dissatisfaction with his faulty work and poor promises. My nose continued to refine, although it looked 'okay' I was not totally satisfied with the look, I couldn't breathe properly (because my nasal valves were 100% obstructed, but I did not know at the time) and had a boney spike peaking out of the roof of my nose.
After therapy, I decided that I was okay living with this look, although it was not my favorite, I learned a valuable lesson and walked away relatively unscathed. (minus the many nights, crying myself to sleep and pounding waves of anxiety where I did not even want to get out of bed). I found a lot of comfort in RealSelf, reading about similar experiences and people suffering like me, or happy, satisfied people with beautiful work done. For the most part, I had always hoped I would get a revision surgery, but did not know if my nose was 'bad enough' to get fixed. I had a few consultations over the next year with surgeons saying that they would happily take me in, but nothing ever felt 'right'. (Prices ranged $18,000+)

I moved to California in 2022, for college and met with 1 doctor my freshman year based in Los Angeles, and although I liked him, I was not settled as he was not super specialized in revision rhinoplasty, just primary rhinoplasties, and I was honestly super busy, as a teenager trying to just be a normal girl.

FINALLY, once again, on RealSelf and Yelp, I was doing some digging for Surgeons based in California or surrounding areas, because from my understanding, there should be more out here than the Midwest. RealSelf is how I found my 'savior' and new surgeon, Dr. Tamplen. I met with Dr. Tamplen in January of 2024 in San Diego California, so very recently. He has offices in San Diego, San Francisco and Scottsdale Arizona.

I was so nervous, but hopeful, based on reviews saying that he was a miracle worker and his Instagram highlights his beautiful work. I just want to start of by saying his office was the cleanest and overall nicest that I had been in (and I have had consultations with about 5 other doctors all over the US). I immediately felt at ease with him. He was smiling the ENTIRE time, saying how excited he would be do do my nose because I had 'simple fixes' that he felt very comfortable solving for me. He is the Dr. who confirmed my nasal valves were collapsed and none of my previous consultations had informed me of this. His bedside manner was amazing, he made me feel like a person, not just another nose to be completed. He seemed to genuinely want me to feel satisfied if we worked together. I cried a lot during our consultation because I knew I had finally found the surgeon for me. He did a quick mock-up of my nose and I instantly recognized that we had the same vision. I left his office smiling so much.

I scheduled my surgery the very next day. February 29th, 2024, which would occur in his Scottsdale location.
I flew to Scottsdale the day before, met up with my mom and grandma and anxiously waited for my 7am surgery time. Dr. Tamplen saw me right before surgery, and reassured me that everything would go wonderfully. I loved his entire team at this surgery center, they made me feel safe and very comfortable.
The surgery was approximately 3 hours and I was able to go home after. In the recovery space after surgery, my mom was able to wait with me, and she said the very first thing I told her was, "MOM, I can breathe!!" (which is crazy with the splint and packing in my nose too). During my recovery time, I only had to take over-the-counter medicine and the pain was tolerable. I slept in a recliner chair for 3 nights after. I had almost no discoloration around my eyes and I was only carrying a little bit of swelling in my jaw. By 3 days after surgery I felt pretty much like myself already, which was a different feeling.

7 days after, cast removal day. I remember feeling almost numb this day, not really sure what to anticipate. Once again, this office was super clean and his staff was so comforting. When Dr. Tamplen took my cast off, he was rather happy with the results and was smiling at me saying he was sure I would be excited. And sure enough, it truly was a remarkable experience holding that mirror and looking at myself for the first time. I finally look like how I always envisioned myself to look, and it was only a week since surgery. It is now March 31, 2024 and I can not be happier, it is truly a beautiful nose, it suits my face so well and is exactly what I asked for. I really cannot thank Dr. Tamplen enough, he has changed my life.
I did not think I could possibly have one of these success stories, but here I am, as happy as can be. After suffering for about 2 years mentally after my initial surgery, I can thankfully say how lucky I am to have found Dr. Tamplen in this crazy world of plastic surgeons, but I would not change my experience as I learned so much about myself throughout the entirety of 3 years.

I cannot wait to see how my nose continues to refine over the next year.
Once again, thank you Dr. Tamplen.