Overcoming Anxiety Disorder & Rhinoplasty - my Journey - Rochester, NY

A few years after my surgery, I am super unhappy now. I'm not sure if it was like this right away or got worse as it healed, but I have awful asymmetry in my nostrils. I paid for a revision (which I can't really afford making $9/hr) only for it to get worse. My left nostril is now sort of collapsing. He always gives me excuses and tells me to wait or blames my facial anatomy for it. I end up leaving feeling horrible about myself. I'm deeply depressed because I'll never be able to have nice wedding or engagement photos. Photos of me make me cry unless I tip my head so far down you can't see the horrible asymmetry. What an unfortunate turn of events. Hoping it gets fixed...

I'm pretty far along in the healing process and still doing really well aside from the tip still being hard. The only things bothering me out of this entire experience are that my skin is still a bit funny and I am getting acne where the skin is perhaps still healing, and my nostrils are slightly uneven. But they were before, no one seems to notice but me, and it could be swelling. Meh.

I took down my crap quality pictures for now, hopefully in lieu of putting up some actual before/afters from the practice next time I have a followup.

I had a followup Friday, and while I didn't get a chance to get my hands on the before pictures (yet) Dr. Q had me push my next followup back because I am healing well and won't need steroid injections, great :)

He prescribed me a nasal spray to help with some swelling I have in my right nostril. Other than that, I still feel like it's stiff and I have a marble in the tip, but it makes me all the more excited to see the final result since it's already a huge improvement now. I've seen a lot of my friends and relatives recently, and no one finds me unrecognizable. Some didn't even notice! Which is fine with me, I just assume they never studied me in profile before.

I noticed that now that I am consciously telling myself that I don't have to avoid turning my profile to people as I talk to them, I almost look away too much! I haven't found the happy-medium comfort zone of how often to glance at someone next to you during conversation, since before I would always compensate and turn towards them to avoid being looked at from the side. Adjusting has been kind of a laugh, really.

Still glad to have put some peoples' fears to rest. And I'll restate as someone who has a lot of fears, phobias, and very dominating anxiety;
- Don't be afraid of being put out. You will wake up
- Don't be afraid to get stitches out. If you keep the area moist and clean, it is not painful
- Don't be afraid of how it will look when swollen. Yes, some people have serious issues with how their post-op nose looks with all the swelling, but keep in mind the end result instead of letting doubts stop you from going through with it.