I trust Mr Hassan with everything

I could sum up my experience with Mr Hassan in one word, but I feel it’s important to understand the whole process of a rhinoplasty, as with any surgery.
Mr Hassan made me feel so comfortable straight away, even without meeting him. I had done an extensive amount of research over the years and always found myself looking back at his work. I decided to bite the bullet and book a consultation after years and years of complaining. Now my nose was never bad, no one really understood why I wanted surgery because it was ‘perfect’ - it really wasn’t, and only now they understand - but Hassan completely understood. He didn’t understand in a way to just get paid but he understood what I wanted and my idea of perfection.
I’m very money smart and understand that rhinoplasty is a luxury and not a necessity. It took me 3 and a bit years to get the money together and finally book my op, and boy did it come around quick. When your op date is secured, you’re sent a list of do’s and don’ts for pre and post op, follow these! I promise you, arnica and bromelain will be your best friends.
On the day of surgery, I arrived at West Midlands hospital around half 7 in the morning, all washed and ready to go. All of the staff are ridiculously welcoming and friendly, someone comes around and takes your order for lunch and dinner, and my friend even got lunch as well. You don’t actually know what slot you’ve got until you get there, but I learnt I was the first one. I was talked through the process of being put to sleep and everything that would happen whilst I was asleep, no information is kept from you and you’re completely in the know. Mr Hassan then come in and asked me to stand in front of the mirror and just give him a reminder of what I wanted. And just like that, I was heading down to the surgery room.
I’ve only been put to sleep once before when I was young, and had a major panic attack. I was so worried I was going to have another one but the nurses kept chatting to me and making me laugh right up until I fell asleep. They were absolutely amazing and I can’t thank them enough for making me feel so at ease (I wish I could remember their names to actually thank them personally). I had spent weeks worrying about something that was probably my favourite part of the whole process.
Before I knew it I was waking up in my bed back in my private room. Please give yourself a few minutes to come around because you don’t realise how wobbly you are until an hour has passed. I had a cold mask around my eyes to help with the swelling and bruising and tablets to help control any pain, which I luckily didn’t have any. My whole stay at the hospital was the best and I really enjoyed my stay!
As the hours passed my face was beginning to bruise more and more. I woke up the next morning with so much swelling I was speechless. I had followed so many rhinoplasty journeys for so long and watched their process, I couldn’t understand what was happening. It looked as though I had been in a serious accident, to the point I felt embarrassed to look at my boyfriend who I had been with for almost three years and referred to myself as a ‘monster’. Why didn’t I look like the girls who I was following? Why weren’t their bruising and swelling this bad? I couldn’t smile properly, the bottom of my face was also swollen and my eyes looked like slits. It was horrible, and yes I cried... a lot. I also noticed that my nose went up a lot, which scared me to death. When Caroline called me for the 48 (or 28?) hour check up, I asked her about this to get some peace of mind and she said it’s very common, and a lot of people refer to it as ‘piggy’, which was a weight lifted off as these were the exact words I used to describe myself. Although it doesn’t completely stop the worry, especially when you’re looking at yourself constantly. I so desperately wanted to see someone who had the amount of swelling I had and turn into a beautiful butterfly.
When it finally come to cast off day I was so nervous. Mr Hassan walked me through the removal of the cast and we both watched the big reveal. He was so happy with it and showed me exercises to do everyday and how to tape it for when I go sleep. When the call ended I looked in the mirror and cried. Do I still look like me? Do I suit this new nose? Why was I so happy when I morphed my nose in an app but so upset now? I cried and cried and cried and finally decided to just have a shower, finally wash my hair properly and put some make up on, feel a bit more ‘me’ again. I showed my boyfriend and his exact words were ‘you look like you’ and let off a sigh of relief. He was so worried for me and thought it might look ‘fake’ that when he saw me he couldn’t help but just smile with happiness.
I personally didn’t get that WOW feeling, I thought the cast would come off and I would feel like a whole new person, full of confidence and ready to take on the world, but that just doesn’t happen, probably because I’m not great with change. I went to IKEA the next day and felt like everyone was staring at me, everywhere I went. It’s a horrible, horrible feeling. But I massaged, I taped, and I tried again the next day.
It didn’t take me long after that to fall in love with my new nose. I found myself always taking a photo of my side profile watching for any new changes, but I was so happy with the outcome. 3 months down the line I uploaded a photo to my Instagram where it was more of a side profile and someone messaged me saying ‘you have the most perfect nose I’ve ever seen’. Someone who didn’t even know I had the op. That moment I felt so many emotions, I never thought I would love my side profile, let alone learn to actually love myself (as cliché as it sounds). I spent years hiding from the camera, I didn’t even upload to social media for a good 2 years, and have so much respect for Mr Hassan for allowing me to live out my early 20’s enjoying little moments and capturing memories.
I trust Mr Hassan with everything, and wouldn’t even bother researching if I wanted something else done. Please ensure you go with someone who you feel comfortable with and not because they’re cheap. My friend went with another surgeon because they were cheaper and isn’t 100% happy with hers. So please wait a little longer, save a little more and go for the right surgeon! And trust the process!!!
Thank you to whole team at Elite Surgical, and a huge thank you to the man himself!