Profile Improved, Front View Worse- Trying My Best to Come to Terms With My Nose

I have a history of nasal aesthetic concerns. My nose was broken at the age of 5, I don’t know what happened, what I do know is that my parents were involved and that I fell. When my nose started going skew 2 years later, one of my sisters noticed it, whereupon my dad immediately commented” You were born that way”. It was left there, with my nose becoming more deviated over time. It was only in my early twenties that someone commented on my nose. I said that I was born that way, upon which he flew into a rage and said no-one is ever born with a skew nose.
I then started thinking about it and eventually started enquiring about possible surgery. I met Doctor Pieter Swanepoel for the first time in 1994, where he said with wide eyes “girl, you should have come to me many years ago”. I had my first surgery in 1994, and the results were reasonable, although a slight C-curve was still visible. However, over the next three years it deviated slightly more and during 1997 I approached Doctor Swanepoel again, where he then operated for a second time.
What I did not realise then, is that he removed a considerable amount of my nose’s septum. So my nose lacked support. Unfortunately, he did nothing to augment the septum during the 1997 procedure. I was ecstatic with the results, for the first time since I could remember, my nose was straight. This did not last long, within 3 weeks my nose started to deviate back into a slight C-curve. I felt defeated and never returned to Doctor Swanepoel for a follow-up appointment. Over the years I got used to the slight C-curve, however my nose tip started to droop and my nose developed a slight dent on the bridge, around the area of the upper lateral cartilages.
In 2011 a friend of mine had a revision surgery by a surgeon in the city where we live. She was also operated on by Doctor Swanepoel many years previously. I was impressed with her results and decided to start the process of consulting again to see if I can possibly get an improvement to my nasal features. I went back to Doctor Swanepoel, upon which he spent about 5 minutes with me, saying I should leave my nose the way it is, because any further surgery might make my nose look worse than before. Since I receive so little detail from him, I decided to also meet with the surgeon who operated on my friend’s nose, I will call him Doctor X.
During the consultation, he commented on the septum that was inadequate, and although he initially appeared to be reluctant, he then said surgery could improve my nose.
It was only 5 years later in 2016, that I met with him again. I did find it strange that he was slightly irritable during the consultation but accepted it. He was vague what would be done, and I was greatly naïve, however thinking he is a reputable surgeon, and he improved my friend’s nose, he would probably be able to do the same with mine.
The result came as a huge shock. He simply placed a piece of donor cartilage on top of the bridge of my nose. I was unhappy and was thinking we discussed the fact that my nose was long and droopy and that he was supposed to correct that. I eventually got a copy of my medical records, where he indicated some steps to correct the droopiness of my nose, but then somehow decided otherwise, without informing me. What he did was a completely unnecessary procedure, a waste of time and money, leaving my nose with more scar tissue.
I declared a dispute, upon which he finally settled with an amount that would be able to cover the next surgery. I saw the money as a way to finally receive peace over my nose.
During 2016 I met Doctor van Wyk. Even before the matter was settled between me and Doctor X, I had an appointment with doctor van Wyk, upon which he said that the droopiness of my nose can be improved by doing a septoplasty, adding some donor cartilage to the septum as well as placing a septal extension graft, to support the tip of my nose. I then met him again during 2018, to discuss possible surgery to my nose.
At that point I was not completely convinced that I would like to do more surgery. I was simply there to get more information from Doctor van Wyk and consider my options. During the first consultation he talked a lot, saying that a possible procedure would take 4 to 5 hours. I did not feel like going ahead, I went home thinking about it, I was already nearing the age of 50. I then thought it would be wonderful to finally have a nose that I would be happy with, and since there was a settlement payment, there is money for surgery, this could be my chance.
I had another consultation with Doctor van Wyk, where he then started planning the surgery, his words were specific ”I will be limited in narrowing your nose”. I took it that he might not be able to narrow my nose and accepted it that way. This is however not how it played out.
To my incredible shock and dismay, my nose is now at least 6mm wider over the supra-tip area. My nose presents with a flat and wide supra-tip, my nose is wide and heavily bulbous, and I have wide and prominent alae. I now have a masculine-looking nose, highly unattractive and overall worse than before for me, even with the fact that the tip has been lifted and rotation has improved. The bony part of my nose measures 1.3 cm, while the base measures 3.6 cm, giving you an idea how uneven the brow/tip ratio is.
I also have a terrible dent at the back of my left ear, where Doctor van Wyk removed cartilage to create rim grafts. He did not inform me before the procedure he would remove ear cartilage, I only learned that after the procedure.
The point I wish to make here: If I KNEW my nose would have been that much wider, I would most certainly not have gone ahead with the surgery. That does not mean I would have stopped consulting altogether. I feel that Doctor van Wyk omitted providing me critical information, that would have turned the whole situation in a different direction.
During the final consultation, Doctor van Wyk, mentioned that he was very good at rhinoplasty. However after the procedure, the first comment he made was “ I did the best I could for you”. My point here is: if he is really that good, how is it that he did not know that my nose would be that much wider after the procedure?
Every time after the procedure when I asked about the width of my nose, he steered the conversation away. I eventually requested my medical records to see what was written down about my nasal features and which techniques he recommended. He did write down” lower lateral crural struts” which is a technique used to reduce the bulbosity of the lower lateral cartilages. This is confirmation to me that he did recognise the unattractive bulbosity of my nose, which is now even worse than before. He however took no action to improve that.
I haven’t had a day of peace since that dreadful day the cast was removed. I am trying my best to come to terms with my nose, however it is eluding me. It has been an incredible emotional struggle for me the past 3 1/2 years. I feel that once again I was naïve and too trusting of a surgeon, where I should have tested him and what he suggested thoroughly before getting close to the theatre.
The comments from friends and family on my result were not flattering. One person said “Your nose is crooked” and another even said “Your nose has been botched”.
I have been consulting with other specialists the past two years to try and obtain more information on what happened to my nose during surgery. All of them agrees I still do not have a pleasing-looking nose. One of them cautioned about further surgery, saying my nose has a significant amount of scar tissue. Two of these surgeons recommended that I approach Doctor Enrico Robotti for an opinion. I have contacted his rooms and is waiting to see if he will respond.