The Nose I Should Have Been Born with
10 days post-op!
The Nose I Should Have Been Born with
Let me start by saying my nose has bothered me my entire life. It's my mom's nose and while it looks great on her face, it just never seemed to fit mine and that became more apparent the older I got. I never had an issue with my side profile, but from the front the tip seemed to become more droopy and bulbous over the years.
I tried a liquid rhinoplasty with the plastic surgery goddess herself Dr. Devgan in 2019, but she was very honest with me that for my nose and my face, the best option would be a surgical rhinoplasty at some point. Thus began my research into this rhinoplasty journey!
CONSULTS:
I researched for what felt like years and ended up booking consults with 3 different doctors local to my area (Seattle). I also reached out to a doctor in Los Angeles, but with COVID I wasn't comfortable traveling out of state and I knew that during recovery I would want the comfort of my home. I canceled one of the local consults because a friend had a not-so-great experience with that doctor, so I ended up speaking with 2 doctors, Dr Naficy and Dr Portuese. Both conversations were positive, but for my goals I preferred Dr Naficy.
From the first conversation I had with Dr Naficy's team, I felt completely at ease and taken care of. Booking my consult was easy and his staff provided easy-to-follow instructions on how to get there and what to do upon arriving. During our in-person consult, it was clear the office took COVID very seriously and I felt safe. After a temperature check, I spent a few minutes with Jeanelle taking photos, and then Dr Naficy joined us. He did a thorough examination of my face and my nose, and shared with me that, unbeknownst to me, I had a deviated septum and he could also improve my breathing by fixing this during surgery! He also offered to include a complimentary laser treatment for a small scar I had under my nose from my lip lift done by another doctor several years ago, which was such an unexpected surprise. Dr Naficy was very transparent and told me that his approach isn't for everyone as he prefers subtle results, but this was exactly what I wanted; I still wanted to look like my mother's daughter after my surgery. I had a list of at least 20 questions and Dr Naficy addressed all of them with thoughtful answers and such kindness, and I knew he was the doctor for me.
BEFORE SURGERY:
I booked Dr Naficy's first available surgery date which was May 5, almost exactly 3 months after my consult, and paid my $500 deposit. In the weeks leading up to surgery I did a great job of freaking myself out by reading way too many rhinoplasty horror stories online, but once I paid the rest of my surgery fees I knew this was happening and excitement began! Per Dr Naficy's COVID guidelines, I had to get a COVID test 5 days before surgery and of course have a negative result before surgery. In the days leading up to surgery I made sure to take extra good care of myself: I cut out alcohol a week before surgery, kept my diet healthy and low in salt, upped my water intake and cut out caffeine 3 days prior to surgery.
3 days before surgery, Dr Naficy's team notified me that my prescriptions were ready so I drove to his office. I was under the impression that meant they had filled my prescriptions, but it was just the prescription paper itself and I still needed to take it to my local pharmacy. This was the only thing I was a little annoyed by, considering I have to pay a toll to go and from his office, I wasn't sure why they couldn't just call in the prescriptions but in their defense I didn't ask. Regardless, my pharmacy filled them quickly. They had prescribed a post-op antibiotic, Zofran for any post-op nausea, Valium to help with sleep, Oxycodone for any post-op pain, and an anti-nausea patch that they told me to bring with me on surgery day (can you tell I was really afraid of post-op nausea and vomiting?). The day and night before surgery I made sure to drink a TON of water and ate a little more than I normally would since I wouldn't be able to eat after midnight and my surgery check-in time wasn't until 11AM. My anesthesiologist gave me a call to go over any questions or concerns we had and that conversation helped calm a lot of my pre-surgery jitters. I told him I had a tendency to get nauseous after general anesthesia and he told me he'd make sure to give me something while I was asleep to prevent that.
SURGERY DAY
It was finally here! The morning of surgery I took an extra long shower and gave myself a blowout because why not? I had time to kill and knew I wouldn't be looking cute again for awhile. My boyfriend drove me to Dr Naficy's office which is where his surgery center is. The nurse Verena came out to get me as soon as I called the office and it was go time! She checked my temperature and had me give a urine sample (for a pregnancy test) and had me change into my gown, compression socks, and then let me wear the fluffiest robe and socks you've ever seen - and you get to keep the socks! She then had me take a few Tylenol and spray the inside my nose with some sort of nasal spray that helps prevent bleeding. A few minutes later, my anesthesiologist came in to see if I had any last-minute questions and from there he walked me into the surgery suite! The last thing I remember before I fell asleep was him telling me the medicine he was injecting was going to be, "a little spicy."
Then next thing I knew, I woke up in a private recovery area to the nurse offering me some water and helping me change back into my sweatsuit (I highly recommend wearing comfy clothes that are easy to get in/out of, and a zippered hoodie or button-up shirt). I felt way more coherent than I thought I would and the best part was that I had no nausea or pain! The nurse walked me to their private exit and my boyfriend was there in the car waiting for me.
POST SURGERY:
Surgery must have happened around 12PM, and by 3:30PM I was home on the couch where I camped out for the next 5 days. I didn't have much of an appetite for the first few days which lead to a bit of nausea, but once I did eat that went away. I couldn't breathe out of my nose at all the first week so sleeping was tough as I would wake up with an extremely dry mouth. I did have dry mouth spray and a humidifier which provided some temporary relief. Pain-wise, I was shocked by how little pain I had. I never had to use the Oxycodone (or the Valium for that matter), Tylenol was all I needed. The only real discomfort I noticed was in my upper teeth, they felt sore but that went away in a few days and was totally manageable with Tylenol. In total, I took 4 days off from work (Wed-Mon) but on Friday I was responding to emails and felt fine doing so, but it was really nice to just focus on resting and rewatching all of my favorite Bravo shows. The nurse had sent me home with a goodie bag that included easy instructions and everything you need to clean your nose for the first week. I made sure to clean my nose at least twice a day per their instructions, even though I was so afraid I'd rip out a stitch (spoiler: I didn't)!
POST-OP APPOINTMENT:
I got my splint off on Monday (5 days post-op) and was SO delighted to learn that Dr Naficy doesn't use packing or internal splints, so it was a quick and completely pain-free appointment. He and Verena cleaned my nose and gave me my first glimpse of it without any tape on it, and I could have cried. The swelling was much less intense than what I had prepared myself for and even though it'll take months to see my full results, I am already so pleased! There's no more dorsal hump, the tip is lifted and more refined (no more bulbous nose) and it's just plain cute.
Dr Naficy taught me how to properly tape my nose and I'll keep doing this for the next 3 weeks to help reduce swelling. I'm now 6 days post-op and my bruising is nearly gone and breathing through my nose continues to improve (I've been taking Benadryl at night which helps me sleep so much more soundly). I have no pain and haven't taken Tylenol since Monday. Besides the stuffy nose, my only complaint right now is that my eyelids have been super itchy since the splint was removed but I'm chatting with Dr Naficy's office about this.
I'll keep updating as my nose continues to heal!
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