The Very Best Revision Rhino Surgeon

I’m not even sure how to start this thank you letter. Dr. Nima, you changed my life in the best way possible and I’ll never be able to thank you properly.
This is going to be long, so let’s start at the beginning. When I was 18, I had my first rhinoplasty with another surgeon. He botched it and offered to do a revision a year later. Well, that revision didn’t go as expected and I ended up with another equally, if not worse result. I was so incredibly sad and ashamed. I couldn’t bring myself to admit to my family and friends that I wanted to get a 3rd surgery. Quite frankly, I couldn’t bear the thought of going through another traumatic surgery and potentially end up with worse results. Most people on here know, rhinoplasty gets increasingly difficult with each revision, and you need someone who really specializes in this procedure.
I put another surgery on the backburner for about 15 years. Over those 15 years, I hated seeing myself in pictures and used good old facetune to make myself feel better. However, facetune couldn’t help the horrible breathing issues I had. I couldn’t breathe through my nose; I was an absolute mouth breather 90% of the time. Breathing through my mouth most of the time gave me an extremely dry throat, which would make breathing difficult and trigger an anxiety attack that made it seem like my throat was closing. This became increasingly horrifying when I started suffering from sleep apnea. I don’t know if anyone has experience with sleep apnea, but it’s terrifying.
The sleep apnea coupled with the anxiety attacks pushed me to start looking for a surgeon. Let me tell you, I did my research. I spent a year looking through reviews, before and after pics, and talking to other patients on RealSelf. I live in LA, so going to in person consultations with doctors isn’t easy. First, it could take months to get an appointment. Second, it costs on average $500 just to meet the doctor. I was very selective. I had it narrowed down to a particular surgeon, I met with him, and I was about to book the surgery, but something in my gut screamed to meet with Dr. Nima. I saw all the positive reviews on RealSelf, talked to other patients of his, loved his before and after pics, and appreciated the fact that most of his work consisted of rhinoplasties/revision rhinoplasties. I reached out to his office and the very lovely Traci gave me a lot of info over the phone. I told her that I wanted to get the surgery done asap since I was in between projects and had a particular window of downtime. Traci was amazing. She got me in the very next day.
I’ve had previous surgeries, so I’m pretty familiar with the LA surgeon vibe. Let me tell you, Dr. Nima’s demeanor and personality are absolutely the opposite of every plastic surgeon I’ve met with. He is so humble, so nice, and did nothing but LISTEN to me and my thoughts for over an hour. He was so sensitive and empathetic to what I had gone through. Within 15 minutes of speaking to him I knew he was going to be my doctor. I booked my surgery that day and since the date of the surgery was within 2 weeks, they went ahead and did my pre-op as well. They sent me home with a goody bag of everything I would need pre/post-op. I also let them know that I would need to access to one of their nurse caregivers post-op; I didn’t want my family/friends to take care of me because I really wanted privacy during recovery.
They were kind enough to arrange this and the magnificent Sharon took me home after surgery and stayed with me until the next morning.
The days leading up to the surgery and after surgery, the entire staff (Monica, Alex, Traci) were so thoughtful and kind. They answered EVERY single question I had within an hour. I sent them a lot of questions lol. The day before the surgery, Dr. Lee, the anesthesiologist also called me to check in, get some information, and calm my nerves.
The morning of the surgery, I was extremely nervous. I was having flashbacks to my last 2 rhinos and I honestly felt like I was going to throw up. My parents dropped me off at the front of the building at 6:30am (due to COVID restrictions, they couldn’t come in) and asked if I could FaceTime them before the surgery started. I walked into the office and was greeted by Sharon. She was going to be in my surgery and take care of me after, which made me feel a lot better, but I’m pretty sure she could see my anxiety lol. I signed some additional paperwork, then I put on the gown, the socks, gave a urine sample (pregnancy test), and laid down on the gurney. I met Dr. Lee and he like everyone else at EOS was super nice. He talked to me, got my IV started, and gave me a happy cocktail. I met with Dr. Nima just before the surgery to talk about my goals and any other questions I had. Now get this, he was kind enough to humor me and FaceTime my parents and calm their nerves. Who does that? Dr. Nima does. They walk me into the surgery room, I get on the gurney and I asked Dr. Lee to let me know before he put me to sleep, but that’s the last thing I remember lol. I woke up and Sharon was right there next to me. I remember my right arm hurt like hell and I kept trying to stretch it to get out the soreness. I’m assuming my arm was laying out straight or at an angle for some time. That went away after a few hours.
Dr. Nima came in and talked to me and told me that everything went really well. He even showed me pictures and video he took during the surgery. He knew I had a lot of anxiety about the results, and I so appreciate him showing me a sneak peek of what I have to look forward to. My nose looked amazing. Here’s another reason why I picked Dr. Nima. He’s an artist and a perfectionist. He spent literally 7+ hours on my surgery. Yea, you read that right, SEVEN.
Sharon helped me get dressed, drove me home, and took care of me all night. She was such a pleasure to have around and I can’t imagine how I would have made it that first night without her. Dr. Nima also called and checked in on me that night and the entire office periodically checked on me during recovery. I’ve really never felt more cared for by a doctor.
Let me fast forward. I’ve had multiple post-op visits, which all went really well. I got those fun tubes out of my nose, the stitches taken out, my cast reveal and I’m officially 101 days post-op (14 weeks and 3 days). For all my revision friends out there, let me reiterate this for you. Our recovery will take longer. Don’t expect the swelling to come down as quickly as a primary. I went into this with the expectation that I would be swollen as hell for months. I’ve never been more grateful for masks lol. My swelling started coming down around month 2 and I’m still very swollen. My nose is still very tender and sensitive, but I feel like I’m getting better every week. In case you’re wondering, my breathing has completely changed. I can breathe through my nose! I haven’t had a single anxiety attack and zero episodes of sleep apnea. I don’t know what kind of wizardry was involved, but what Dr. Nima did for me was simply magical.
I will post pictures on my 6-month mark, but I did include the pic that Dr. Nima took during surgery.
For the many people I came across on RealSelf who were looking for a revision rhinoplasty surgeon, please look no further than Dr. Nima. I know exactly what you’re going through; the anxiety, doubts, fear of being judged, fear of making things even worse. Please know that you’ll be in the best hands with Dr. Nima and his entire team.
I’m not sure what I did to deserve a doctor like Dr. Nima, but I’m so grateful to you. I can only hope that this review reaches someone who needs to find you.