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Amazing Experience, Amazing Results, and an Impeccable Surgeon
I had my surgery March 2019 - waiting to write this review made me bonkers. But the outcome associated with rhinoplasties takes a while and it seemed most appropriate to wait a month for me to fully review my experience and results.
SUMMARY
Fair warning this is a long review, but a comprehensive and honest one of my entire experience, start to finish. But for the TLDR crowd who want to jump to the end: You will not be disappointed and are in impeccable hands if you choose Dr. Winters for your surgery and I emphatically recommend him as a plastic surgeon and a rhinoplasty expert.
BACKGROUND
My septo/rhinoplasty was for functional and cosmetic reasons. Admittedly I wasn’t particularly fond of my nose. It was reminiscent of my father’s nose, aka: a little big and masculine. Further, I’d broken it, so it had an Owen-Wilson-esque quality from some angles. The most recent break was in the past year, and my breathing and quality of life had taken a nose dive (apologies for the dad-pun but I couldn’t resist).
CONSULT/PREOP
It was apparent from my initial consult that Dr. Winters was unlike any aesthetic surgeon I’d met. Confident but not arrogant, highly experienced but kind and patient – his demeanor and bedside manner is that of a doctor you’d want as your primary care physician. I could tell he was busy the day of my consult but as soon as he entered the room those other matters took a back seat. He took as much time as I needed to discuss my injury, aesthetic and functional concerns, apprehensions and hopeful outcomes. There was no pressuring, no gearing me toward “you need surgery” just an open well of guidance, information and a dutiful ear.
It was about a month and a half before I was notified that my insurance approved the surgery, and the nerves had only been building. Anesthesia is scary when you’ve never had surgery before and operating on your face only compacts that anxiety. I fully trusted Dr. Winters but I couldn’t shake the nerves. He could tell right away and again sat with me and explained everything to the point that by the end of the meeting I felt a wave of relief took over instead.
By the next week I was still completely calm and woke up ready for the surgery, which is unheard of for me (seriously, I get a nervous-tummy-syndrome when I have to drive somewhere new and yet, here I was zen and excited - and I was going into surgery…what?!). That’s a testament to Rick and how, through his expertise and approach, he earns your faith and trust.
POSTOP/RESULTS
The Vanguard staff, anesthesiologists (Dr. Kwon), nurses (Lauren), and anyone else I’m forgetting are amazing. The recovery process was better than expected and I truly believe that is 100% due to being in Dr. Winters’ hands. When the cast came off, I literally couldn’t believe how much I liked my nose already. I’ve always heard of people being concerned by their initial results and doctors saying, “oh wait for the swelling to go down.” But even with the swelling, and there was a LOT of swelling, I loved the results!
In the past month the swelling has only continued to go down. Don’t get me wrong, the recovery period was still a little nerve wracking at first. My swelling went down asymmetrically, and I became a little paranoid my ‘old nose’ was lurking underneath. But having complete confidence in Rick helped keep the neuroses at bay so that I could wait patiently for my real outcome.
Now, four weeks out from my rhinoplasty. I truly can’t thank Dr. Winters enough because the results are exactly what I had hoped, both aesthetically and functionally.
I can’t help but chuckle a little because Rick’s results are so natural people just accept it. Friends and family who don’t know I had surgery keep asking if I’ve lost weight or if I’m doing something new with my hair. Seriously, my mom can barely put her finger on it!
I can’t imagine how happy I’ll be over the course of the next year, because I’m already over the moon.
SUMMARY
Fair warning this is a long review, but a comprehensive and honest one of my entire experience, start to finish. But for the TLDR crowd who want to jump to the end: You will not be disappointed and are in impeccable hands if you choose Dr. Winters for your surgery and I emphatically recommend him as a plastic surgeon and a rhinoplasty expert.
BACKGROUND
My septo/rhinoplasty was for functional and cosmetic reasons. Admittedly I wasn’t particularly fond of my nose. It was reminiscent of my father’s nose, aka: a little big and masculine. Further, I’d broken it, so it had an Owen-Wilson-esque quality from some angles. The most recent break was in the past year, and my breathing and quality of life had taken a nose dive (apologies for the dad-pun but I couldn’t resist).
CONSULT/PREOP
It was apparent from my initial consult that Dr. Winters was unlike any aesthetic surgeon I’d met. Confident but not arrogant, highly experienced but kind and patient – his demeanor and bedside manner is that of a doctor you’d want as your primary care physician. I could tell he was busy the day of my consult but as soon as he entered the room those other matters took a back seat. He took as much time as I needed to discuss my injury, aesthetic and functional concerns, apprehensions and hopeful outcomes. There was no pressuring, no gearing me toward “you need surgery” just an open well of guidance, information and a dutiful ear.
It was about a month and a half before I was notified that my insurance approved the surgery, and the nerves had only been building. Anesthesia is scary when you’ve never had surgery before and operating on your face only compacts that anxiety. I fully trusted Dr. Winters but I couldn’t shake the nerves. He could tell right away and again sat with me and explained everything to the point that by the end of the meeting I felt a wave of relief took over instead.
By the next week I was still completely calm and woke up ready for the surgery, which is unheard of for me (seriously, I get a nervous-tummy-syndrome when I have to drive somewhere new and yet, here I was zen and excited - and I was going into surgery…what?!). That’s a testament to Rick and how, through his expertise and approach, he earns your faith and trust.
POSTOP/RESULTS
The Vanguard staff, anesthesiologists (Dr. Kwon), nurses (Lauren), and anyone else I’m forgetting are amazing. The recovery process was better than expected and I truly believe that is 100% due to being in Dr. Winters’ hands. When the cast came off, I literally couldn’t believe how much I liked my nose already. I’ve always heard of people being concerned by their initial results and doctors saying, “oh wait for the swelling to go down.” But even with the swelling, and there was a LOT of swelling, I loved the results!
In the past month the swelling has only continued to go down. Don’t get me wrong, the recovery period was still a little nerve wracking at first. My swelling went down asymmetrically, and I became a little paranoid my ‘old nose’ was lurking underneath. But having complete confidence in Rick helped keep the neuroses at bay so that I could wait patiently for my real outcome.
Now, four weeks out from my rhinoplasty. I truly can’t thank Dr. Winters enough because the results are exactly what I had hoped, both aesthetically and functionally.
I can’t help but chuckle a little because Rick’s results are so natural people just accept it. Friends and family who don’t know I had surgery keep asking if I’ve lost weight or if I’m doing something new with my hair. Seriously, my mom can barely put her finger on it!
I can’t imagine how happy I’ll be over the course of the next year, because I’m already over the moon.
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