Cast off tomorrow! - Seattle, WA

Finally going to update this! I'm feeling great right now! Tomorrow will be a week since I had my surgery. I was super excited and not nervous at all the day of surgery (which surprised me a lot). I think it's just been such a long time coming so I was just ready for it. I was cracking jokes and all the nurses and such were wonderful. I filled out paperwork, was taken to a small comfy room to get dressed in a robe and fuzzy socks and then people would come in and check my vitals and stuff. I had to use this reaaaallly gross tasting nasal spray a few times before surgery! Ew! Dr. Lamperti came in to talk to me and make sure I was ready and everything. Then I was taken to the room for surgery and that's when I started getting nervous - the lights were so bright and it was kinda intimidating. But then a nurse immediately started rubbing my back and comforting me and telling me they were going to take care of me. All the nurses were so wonderful and made me feel less scared. I was terrified about the IV but when the time came it wasn't bad at all. It was nothing! Then before I knew it I was waking up. I wasn't scared at all. I was very calm and veeerry sleepy. I felt no pain. I could hear nurses talking but I was sleepy and didn't want to open my eyes or move. I'm not sure how much time passed but then they got me up and took me to the bathroom. I felt kind of faint so I sat down and they gave me a shot so I wouldn't pass out. After a while I got dressed and then went home. I still didn't have any pain or anything but I was a little bit uncomfortable with the cast and everything and the anesthesia had me woozy and confused. It was an hour drive home and when I got home I slept a lot. The first 3/4 days were really miserable for me. I didn't have any actual pain but I was just soooooooooooo uncomfortable! Day 5 and on I have felt AMAZING! I am eating good food and walking around and doing normal things. It's such a relief to feel kinda normal again. My doctor and a nurse both called a day or so after my surgery to check up on me, which was really kind. Oh and I've been taking arnica for a couple weeks. I usually bruise really easily (like my brothers used to poke my leg in a smiley face formation and the next day there would be bruises!) but I only had a teeny tiny bit of bruising in the corners of my eyes and it went away quick. Crazy! It's just yellow now. I did swell up a fair amount though, which was super uncomfortable. It's pretty much gone now, yay! My nose is still huuuuge and swollen but at least no more chipmunk cheeks and swollen eyes. I get dizzy easily, I'm weak and I can't breathe out of my nose at all but I really do feel amazing! Just sleepy! I'm so glad to have the first days over with. Hopefully it's uphill from here! I can't really tell what my nose looks like at all since it's so incredibly huge and swollen, but I'm excited for the swelling to go down so I can see a bit of my results! I'm getting my cast off and the splint thingies taken out tomorrow and I'm really excited for that. I hope I can breathe a bit after that. Overall, everything is turning out great. The first thing I thought when I woke up after surgery and saw the lights above me was "yay, I'm alive!"... I was really scared about the anesthesia killing me! Phew!

It's the night before surgery and I'm super nervous! I don't know if I'll even be able to sleep tonight! I'm worried about the IV and going under general anesthesia but most of all I'm nervous something will go wrong and my nose won't turn out how I want it! I'm always such a worry wart! I'm hoping everything turns out perfect and my nose looks beautiful afterwards! I'm so excited!

I've hated my nose since I can remember and everyone always telling me I look exactly like my dad doesn't help. I've been made fun of a lot and I'm glad to finally be getting it fixed. I can't imagine what it'll feel like to have one less (really important) thing making me feel self conscious! It's going to be a relief! I'm 20 and I've been researching rhinoplasty like crazy for a couple years. I'm also getting my septum straightened and a turbinate reduction, so hopefully my nose will be able to function better as well as look better. Like anyone, I'm pretty nervous and paranoid about making this choice since it's my nose! Right in the middle of my face, so if something goes wrong and its left disfigured it's going to be hard to live with. I trust my surgeon though and he really seems to know what he's doing, so I'm hoping for the best! I had my pre-op appointment yesterday and now surgery is 6 days away! I guess I'll post a picture... the only pictures of my profile in existence, since I always delete pictures people take of me from the side! It feels embarrassing to me to even look at this photo, but I feel okay posting it here since everyone here is in the same boat as me, and so understanding about it. :) Following everyones little blogs on here of their experience has helped me soooo much so I'm hoping mine will help someone too!