Not sure how to feel

Also, I do not know why "to me, it's worth every penny" was added to the title of my post. I did not do that and have not figured out how to remove it. To me that statement is debatable.
Also, I do not know why "to me, it's worth every penny" was added to the title of my post. I did not do that and have not figured out how to remove it. To me that statement is debatable.

I was hesitant to add photos but what the heck. everyone I know knows about my rhinoplasty. These photos have NOT been altered in any way. Although the profile photos with the blue sweater and the camel color coat were taken by a professional photographer and the photographer added their own filter. The side profile photos have been cropped in order to have a closer view of my face, therefore the quality may be compromised. I tried to find photos that are the most similar in lighting, make-up, and angles. In all of those photos, my make-up is done exactly the same, there is nose contouring, but I do not think it hides the obvious differences in my nose.

I think since middle school getting a rhinoplasty had always been one of my dreams. I would spend so much time online researching doctors but was always hesitant to take the first step in scheduling a consultation because back then (I'm in my 30s now), there was just not enough information and reviews about doctors or patients. I felt like I would have to schedule countless appointments to find the right surgeon somehow. Also, there wasn't that much accessibility to photographs of patients' results, much less videos or insight on their experience.Therefore, I put that idea on the back burner for many years until about 4 years ago when I noticed there was starting to be an infinite amount of information about people's plastic surgery experiences on Instagram. I always knew I wanted to go to a top surgeon, someone with an excellent reputation regardless of the price or location because I was not willing to risk getting bad results for the sake of saving a few thousand dollars. So I would look at Doctors' profiles with countless photos and videos. Amongst all of those Instagram accounts, of course, I eventually came across Dr. Kassir's account.His profile is filled with hundreds of videos and photographs of patients with beautiful results. There wasn't one post I would come across that I wasn't impressed by, and without question, I knew that's the surgeon I wanted to go to. I booked a trip to NYC (I live out of state and not at a reasonable driving distance) for my first consultation, and even before meeting the doctor, I kind of had already made up my mind that it was a done deal and was ready to schedule my surgery date. So my whole trip centered around that first consultation.My brother lives in NYC, and of course, I was there to visit him, but the main purpose of my trip was to get my dream nose. I go to the appointment. I meet Dr. Kassier, very nice, charming, and we discuss what my expectations are. I fly back home pay what is asked to reserve my surgery date. A few weeks go by, and good ol' Covid comes along....but whatever, my surgery is not until the end of the year. My consultation was in Feb, so there were several months ahead to see what happens with surgeries and all of those things. About two months before the surgery date, I got a call stating that my surgery date had to be changed, thankfully I had not booked my trip yet, but I was already in the middle of planning the trip.Regardless, no big deal we change the date; I'm an easy-going person. I went about getting all my blood work-ready....but I was required to take a physical from my primary care physician and obtain clearance for surgery. The issue was that since I am very rarely sick, I had not been to my primary care physician in like two years. Because it had been so long, I was considered a "new" patient, but because of covid, I could not get an appt with my doctor because he was not taking any "new" patients. All offices in my area at the time were not taking new patients because of Covid.Therefore, I did not have a doctor who could give me surgery clearance because it HAD TO BE your primary care physician. I called Dr. Kassiers office to explain the issue...I am told, oh, ok, no problem, you can go to a walk in clinic or get it from your gyno; you just need to get your physical, blood work, and EKG; as long as those are up to date and look good, you are good to go. I fax all of my medical paperwork...I called Dr. Kassir's office about three times in 2 weeks to ensure the paperwork was received. Yay! they have my paperwork nothing is missing, and all I need to do now is get my big nose to NYC...SIKE!!!!I get a call the week of my flight....on a Friday evening, the night before my flight. A nurse called, saying I won't be able to have surgery because my blood work is not complete. Apparently, there was still another blood test I needed to get done for surgery. Friday evening.... the night before my flight...I have a booked flight and hotel in NYC and have to be at the airport at 5 am Saturday. mmmmk, so obviously I freak out...wtf...what do I do now?? Do I just let my flight go?? They basically are blaming me for not having everything I needed ready. So between all of this stress, I'm like ok....I'll just go to the emergency room (because since it's literally 7:30 pm, what Dr's office will be open rn and see me to get this blood work??I get the blood test they need because that is the ONLY thing standing between me and my dream nose. I get the golden ticket (blood work, test, whatever) and fax that baby over. YAY! (btw this caused me to have some issues with work because I had to stop what I was doing to go to the emergency room). I get on the flight of my dreams the next day...to NYC captain!! I arrive....another phone call....um, you still can't get the surgery because you do not have medical clearance from your primary physician. I'm sorry, what? I literally called multiple times to make sure my paperwork was ready and that nothing was missing.I was told that as long as the bloodwork, EKG, and physical were there, it would be ok because they just need paperwork to prove that I am healthy enough to get rid of my big nose. I am talking to this nurse, and I'm like, ok, what do I do? She told me that I could just go to any general dr in NYC and that they could just give me clearance, its Saturday afternoon at this point btw. I'm like, hello, it's Saturday and tomorrow is Sunday, what doctor will do that for me? Also, my surgery is that Tuesday. Well, I am a very determined person; therefore, I look for a doctor and make an appointment to get this medical clearance.But before finally finding a doctor, I had already made like a million phone calls, it seems like. I go to that random dr in NYC, specifically tell them I need a medical clearance by tomorrow; they are like, oh ok, have a seat dr will see you shortly. The said doctor sees me, get my blood drawn, physical the whole thing all over again, and at the end, that doctor is like...so when is your surgery and I was like Tuesday, tomorrow. The doctor says we won't have your tests and blood work back until two weeks. two weeks? um, I said I needed this today.Well, look at that....300 dollars down the drain, yay! mmmk well, I let the nurse know that had been giving me all of these mini heart attacks since I answered the first call Friday evening, that no one wants to give me a medical clearance a day before surgery, obviously. That same day I had an appointment to go to Dr. Kassir's office, the one in NJ, so the nurse told me, just come to see us today at your scheduled time, and we'll talk about it. At this point, I am so stressed because since that call Friday night, everything has been a mess despite me calling several times and several weeks before my surgery date, to make sure they were not missing anything from me.Especially because I had discussed the issues with them about not being able to get the medical clearance from my doctor and how I had to end up going to a walk-in clinic where I live to get the EKG. Therefore, I was concerned because my paperwork was somewhat all over the place because I had to get my physical in one place, bloodwork at another, and EKG at a walk-in clinic. I still was told that everything was fine and ready for my surgery. I arrived at my preop appointment even more stressed because my brother lives in east village, and my appointment was in NJ. It was 100 dollars and an hour uber drive to the NJ office and another 100 back to NYC.I would have appreciated being told the preop appt in NJ was an hour away from NYC. You would think the office would give patients that information since supposedly people from all over the world travel to Dr. Kassier's office, people that obviously are not familiar with the city and the time it can take to get from point A to B. If I had known that, I would have asked if there was any way I could be seen the day before surgery at their NYC location since that was near where my brother lived, where I got my hotel, and where I went for my first consult.I would also like to remind whoever reads this that I am a very easy-going person and do not need to be babied and treated like princesses anywhere I go. I do not need the office to be at my every beck and call or to be checking up on me to see if I need anything; heck, I didn't even care that I hardly had any communication with the "patient coordinator," what do those do anyway? Because it seems like everything dealing with my appointment was stuffed in some trash bin, and someone happened to see it the night before my flight and was like, oh yeah, who is this big-nosed peasant?I honestly think that someone in that office was not responsible with my appt and paperwork, caused all of this mess, and tried to blame me for the mess. So I arrive for the preop appointment, stressed, pissed off honestly, and just over the whole thing. I'm not even excited about the surgery anymore. At that point, my whole intention of even showing up to the preop appointment was to cancel the whole thing and get my money back. I am taken into a room told again that surgery cant happen because I did not get proper medical clearance. I was like, "Ok, I want my money back....the "patient coordinator" walks in and is like, well, if you cancel, you will lose 4k. I was like, excuse me?? 4k??Does it seem like I care about 4K, when I am paying 16500 for a primary rhinoplasty, not to mention all of the travel expenses and the additional emergency room, uber, and NYC doctor expenses? At the end of it all, I am basically out 20k at this point. I was like, I do not care..give me my 12k, and this office can keep the 4k!! It's amazing what kind of strings people can pull when they see they will be losing out on some money. Suddenly, they found an available doctor, at 7 pm the night before my surgery, that would give me a medical clearance.All of a sudden, my paperwork was fine. They told me I could have my surgery the next day, and even Dr. Kassir himself would be arriving in a few minutes. Do you mean to tell me they could have contacted a doctor to give me clearance this entire time, but instead, they let me run around NYC first for three days before my surgery and throw 300 in the trash?? Wow. At that point, my nerves were through the roof, and I told the nurse I did not want anything anymore. I no longer felt safe having surgery there, and I did not trust the office. They were trying to convince me to get the clearance and that I would be able to have the surgery.I said no, I have been running around the city trying to make this surgery happen, and I am not about to run around all of NJ and then spend another 300 on a physical or clearance. I told them I wanted to leave but was not leaving until I had a receipt or letter stating that I would be reimbursed 12k. They led me into a room and told me to wait a few minutes. I texted my brother and let him know about this whole mess. I told him I did not know if I still wanted to have the surgery, that I was nervous, and that maybe all of this was a sign not to go through with it.My brother stated that it was unfortunate how awful my experience had been but that I had already come all this way, and just because the office administration was incompetent did not mean the doctor was. He had a point, and I had seen all of the beautiful videos and photographs. How could those be fake? They were very real. Someone walked into the room I was waiting in and let me know Dr. Kassier was there, and I could talk to him. I saw Dr. Kassier, and again, he is a very nice and charming doctor. He has to be; it's his business at the end of the day. I hope that is his real character; it would be a shame if it weren't.Between all of this, I realized that perhaps Dr. Kassier did not even plan to see me for the preop had I not made a big deal about getting my money back. Nevertheless, we spoke about what I wanted and if I had photos and the whole thing. He never mentioned how I wanted to cancel the surgery or get reimbursed. Like I said, a charming fellow, his aura kind of just diffused the whole situation. "Appointment" was over, and surgery was the next day. I arrived the next day for the surgery, waited, and while I was waiting, I noticed how peaceful the office was. I guess I was expecting to hear the phones ring off the hook and to see people pacing everywhere because what else, but a hectic office, could have caused such a mess with everything concerning my surgery?The "patient coordinator" then tells me I can go outside and walk around the block while they get things ready for my surgery. My husband was with me, so we did, but it was odd that they would encourage me to take a walk around the block when the night before I was told to follow preoperative bathing instructions and only use Hibiclens to shower. Maybe I am wrong but doesn't taking a walk around the city right before surgery kind of defeat the purpose of the preoperative instructions and using an antiseptic soap to shower the night before?Anyway, I finished with surgery. Recovery was easy, I had no pain whatsoever and very minimal bruising in my case, but there was a lot of swelling. So finally, almost a year later, I can share my complete experience with Dr. Kassir's office and share how I feel about my results. My interaction with the administration was clearly a mess; it cannot be described as anything other than a mess. The administration is just mediocre, at least in my experience; perhaps this happened because I am not a celebrity. It was just so disappointing to be treated with such carelessness.On the other hand, my surgical results I am satisfied with, and that's it. I would not say it is my dream nose, but I definitely look better, even younger, and it is straight, and even though it is not perfect (and I know perfection doesn't exist), it at least no longer distracts from the rest of my face, it is simply a nose. I am grateful that I can say I look better and that the surgery went well despite feeling so scared and doubtful about my decision the night before surgery.However, for the price, I expected more attentiveness from the staff, and by that, I mean, if I ask if other paperwork is needed for my surgery or I am missing something, tell me the truth and look at my file. And this is why I say I do not know how to feel. My results are pretty enough, and I'm satisfied. Dr. Kassir deserves better administrative personnel.