Rhino Journey

Hi guys, uploading photos of the morph done during my consult with Dr Shahidi.
The first one is the one he did during the consult, with the hump removed. As I mentioned in my previous post, I would still like to follow up with the dr with regards to a slight deprojection (and if that's done, a straighter profile) in my pre-op appt. That's the morph that I've done in the 2nd photo.
A post on the surgical booking process is still to come!

Hi everyone, after considering and researching this for as long as I can remember, I have booked in for a primary rhinoplasty with Dr Shahidi in Dec 2017.
Since Real Self has been an invaluable tool in getting me to this stage, I'm going to be posting my experience here in the hopes that it will help some of you :) Also, despite my close friends and family being supportive, I suspect they're not super interested in hearing about the details of this process so this will be good for me as well. So here are all the details so far!
My initial consult with Dr Shahidi went well overall. I had researched him a lot leading up to the consult and after many years of having planned to fly to the US for this procedure he was the only surgeon in my city who matched the aesthetic that I wanted in my final result.
I booked my consult back in early June and late August was the earliest opening they had so I guess a lot of other people like his work as well. At the time of booking I made a non-refundable deposit of $250 for the consult and was asked to bring a GP Referral with me so that they could claim from Medicare otherwise another $130 would be payable. I was also refunded approx. $70 through Medicare when I went in for the consult.
Upon paying the deposit I was send an email confirmation with the GP Referral form, a sheet with information about Rhinoplasty and an introduction to the practice staff along with what I would be going through on the day of the consult. My actual consult experience was slightly different to what was outlined on this sheet as it had stated that I would be speaking to the Practice Manager first who would ask me about my medical history and discuss anaesthetic, medications and recovery procedures with me.
Instead this step was skipped and I went straight through to see Dr Shahidi who first asked me about my medical history and why I had come for the consult. I gave a brief overview about what I wanted changed with my nose and he then asked me to stand to take photos of my nose from the profile, 45 degrees and front (smiling and not).
He then used a wire like tool with a little camera on it to look inside my nose. At this point he told me that I had a slightly deviated septum on one side of my nose and that he would be able to fix this during the procedure. I had actually been hoping that this would be the case because I might be able to claim some of the costs back from my private health insurance given the medical aspects of the surgery.
We then took a look at my photos and discussed what I wanted to have done. He was able to use a photo editing tool as we spoke to modify my image and give an indication of what result he would be able to give me. I have a large nose with a hump and a sharp tip which droops down when I smile. I am after a conservative result, with the hump straightened out and the tip lifted/refined so that it doesn't droop when I smile but without a supra tip break (as I didn't feel it would suit my face). Dr Shahidi was on board with these changes and told me that he would also have to cut my depressor nasi muscle (at the base of your columella) which is what pulls the nose down when I smile. Having done some research on this post consult it seems like standard practise for a droopy tip but will cause more swelling in the upper lip and stiffness when I smile as a I heal post-surgery.
One thing I asked about which Dr Shahidi did not agree with pursuing was a very very slight deprojection. In playing around with simulations before the consult and having seen the morphs he made to my nose in consult, I feel that the result would look better if my nose doesn't just so far out from my face. Dr Shahidi however said that this would result in my nose looking flatter and wider and my nostrils wider and that I should not go for a deprojection. I plan to bring this up with him again pre-op as having had more time to look at the morph he made, although I am very happy with the results he suggested, I still feel like a very slight deprojection would make it even better.
He also told me that I would be having an open rhinoplasty. This means a small incision will be made in my columella to allow better visibility and access. Again, from my research, and open rhinoplasty (as opposed to closed) will lead to greater swelling and longer healing time but allows greater precision, especially in the tip. I was slightly disheartened at the time to hear that I would need an open rhino as there will be a scar as I hear which might make the work more noticeable however after having had time to think about it, these small things are worth it for a good result if Dr Shahidi feels that I need it in my case.
I also asked about how he would ensure structure in the long term in the nose and he said that he would be placing cartilage grafts in the bridge of my nose and my tip, which will be taken from the part of the septum that he will be removing. This means that the nose will keep its structure for life (not like my worst nightmare of my nose collapsing in 20 years and needing surgery again).
He was also very thorough in explaining the limitation of the surgery. He asked me to smile and showed me a small horizontal crease I get just below my nose in my lip when I smile (which I myself had honestly never noticed before) and told me that that crease would still be there but might be more noticeable when my tip had been lifted. He also pointed out slight asymmetries in my front photos, again which I had never noticed myself, like a slight curve of my nose to the left and that one nostril was slightly bigger than the other and made sure that I understood he would not be able to make those things perfect although they would improve. He also made me aware that since he would be removing the hump in my nose, my nose would look slightly flatter in the bridge from a front profile.
He asked who would be taking care of me after the surgery and made sure I knew that I needed at least 2 weeks off work.
I asked about his experience and he told me that rhino is 99% of what he does and he has been doing it for 14 years. Overall he was very thorough and able to give me explanations to all of the questions I asked.
He then took me to speak to the surgical booking clerk but I think I will cover that in another post as I thing I have typed a small essay already! Hope this helps!