Revision with Dr Hilinski (San Diego)

Here are the pictures...
I didn't take a pic from to profile because that's not what bothers me. But I will take one as soon as I can for those who are curious.
I try to forget about my nose right now because I'm so deeply upset.
Let me know your honest thoughts please!
Will post the profile pics asap.
Have a great day guys!
PS. If you know a surgeon who is in Europe, not too expensive and have good alarplasty results - I beg you to spill the name in the comments!

Hi everyone,

So, I had my touch up done one week ago and I'm feeling down to be truly honest with you all...
The trip cost me more than 3000 euros, which is an insane amount of money to me, and I didn't even get what I was expecting/hoping for. It is a very frustrating situation. It doesn't mean Dr H isn't for you though, I'll explain a little…

By emails, we had talked about what would be done and he told me he'd do something about my wide nosetrills and would do something about the general asymmetry of my nose. The thing I was the most excited about was correcting the nosetrils because I used to have a very thin nose top before I had any surgery done.

When I got to the office, he said my nose didn't look as bad in person, and thought therefor than correcting the nosetrils might make me look like I had something done - which isn't the look we are going for. The thing is, it made little to no sense to me as I used to have thin nosetrils before and my brother does have thin nosetrils. So, I have a hard time understanding how it would give a unnatural look… Anyway. I then asked if it would be possible to take some fat off the nosetrils wings, but he said the scars resulting from this procedure were very obvious and would look bad.
He only gave his opinion, which is normal, but I couldn't bring myself to say "I understand and respect your point of view but I'd still like for you to reduce my nosetrils a little", because I have autism… And it prevents me from saying a lot of things I should say/ want to say, unfortunately…
I wish he had asked "so what's your decision?". If he had given to me the opportunity to state my mind then I would have.


As you can see, it's kind of on me… I got in the way of my own goal. So I'm disappointed and angry at the situation, mostly at myself. I cried a little and now I'm just hoping that magically my nosetrils will look thinner thanks to the correction he ended up doing -__- I don't want to have to see another doctor. I am broke, and I'm tired of all this honestly.


Onto what has been actually done…

He took some cartilage from my ear to graft it onto one side of my nose and he also grafted it on the tip of my nose, on the same side. It honestly didn't make much sense to me that he didn't graft some on the side on which I lack a lot of cartilage, but I did end up understanding why he grafted where he grafter. He tried to bring some balance back to my face. The original graft I had from his revision procedure a year ago remained where it was (meaning, it's still crooked, so apparently it wasn't possible to straighten it, I have no clue as to why, sorry guys).


Results:

My nose is still crooked.
The lower part of my nose looks more symmetrical than before the touch up. My nosetrils are still too wide for me to recognize myself 100% in the mirror.


How do I Feel:

Anxious. Disappointed. Angry at myself. But, hopefull somehow.

I wanted to update you guys now, but keep in mind that my nose will still heal, it's only been a week. Although it was a minor procedure done under local anesthesia, it'll take some time for the swelling to go down. In all honesty though, I don't think it'll take long. My nose looks almost identical to what it looked before the touch up. I will post photos through the week when I feel better!
And I will post again new pictures when it'll be fully healed.


Sorry for not posting pics right away, I'm just trying to enjoy the time I have left in the U.S to at least make something positive out of this trip. I hope that the end result will surprise me in a positive way, I stay hopeful and will keep you updated!


PS. I got sick and vomited for an entire day and night. EAt a real meal or a big snack if you need to take the antibiotics or the painkillers because I can tell you it was no fun! I had only eaten a few fries. Bad idea.

Hi :)
Here is an update where I answer the questions I've received in my inbox from you guys and I'll attach a picture with side by side comparison for you to see the results better.
First of all, Dr H answered my email the very same day I posted my previous update haha I was more than overly happy to read his answer because what he offered is just amazing! Basically he said he thinks he can make the results look even better without even getting me under complete anesthesia. There'd only be local anesthesia involved and I'll only pay for the Equipment used (200$)! I'm so happy! I really hope that it'll turn out good. I'm very optimistic about it because my revision surgery was so good with him. By the way, don't assume your touch up will cost the same amount as me, I think that what you pay depends on a set of factors (type of anesthesia, type of touch up needed, etc, I don't know so always make sure to ask him personally).
Onto the questions :
Q: What type of graft did he use?
He used septal graft. Basically, it means he took some cartilage from inside my nose in an area which doesn't affect your appearence. Originally, we planned on taking the cartilage from my ear but when he saw that I had quite a good amount of septal cartilage left inside my nose, he decided to go for it because harvesting ear cartilage would have caused me more pain than needed.
Q: Are you happy with the results ?
Yes!! I thought I made it obvious haha. I'm very happy with the results. Of course, there are flaws, but what he managed to achieve weighs much bigger in the end result. The flaws didn't make me unhappy because overall the revision was a big success for me. My nose looks a lot like the nose I was born with, it looks so much more natural, I can breathe so much better, and I am not scared of pictures anymore! I've been avoiding cameras for 5 years... And I can tell you it's no fun when these five years count for the supposedly "most fun and beautiful" years of one's life (beggining of my twenties...) I don't feel ugly anymore, I recognize myself in the mirror (finally!) and I don't cry anymore because of my nose. So again : yes yes yes, I'm happy of the results! I am sure he will successfully deal with the flaws :) And I can't wait to be even more happy about this whole experience.
Q: Will you have your nostrils reduced? Aren't you scared of the scar?
I think I will. I'd love to. But I'll wait for the Dr to see me in person to let me know what he thinks is best to do. As I'm in Europe, all he could see was pictures of my nose as it is now. And, no I am not scared of the scar to be honest because Dr H really is an artist when it comes to stitching! Plus, I know I'll be very careful about them and clean them properly and everything. I am more concerned about them looking natural after being reduced, as in keeping the natural "curve" we all have which connects the nosetrils to the face. I guess I'll need to do my research and see some of Dr H work on this type of surgery :)
Hopefully, I answered to everything!
I'll keep you updated.
PS: sorry, I know my picture is ugly with all that grey. I was in a rush when editing to post it quick! Hopefully it doesn't distract your eyes from appreciating the results haha