Surviving a Rhinoplasty / Sinuplasty Alone and Afraid:) - Tampa, FL

My incision line is finally starting to look like it's healing, the bruises are getting smaller, and the swelling is going down. I got a little nervous today because I had a dull, achy pain on the top of my nose that I had not felt before. I called my doctor to make sure nothing was wrong. He said the pain was to be expected since this is the time the nerves in that area are starting to re-connect.

When I went in for my check-up a couple days ago my doctor was sad to see that I was still fairly bruised and swollen. He said I was now paying the price for having to go back to work so soon. He wasn't angry with me, he was just sad to see that I wasn't able to get the proper down time I needed. He said I should still to be careful to not bend over or lift heavy objects or do anything that would get my heart rate up. For those of you that live alone and don't have help you know how difficult those instructions can be - and I told him that. My doctor laughed and actually acknowledged that "we can't all be a princess!" Someone still has to take out the garbage, go to the grocery store, cook, clean, do the laundry, and go to work to pay the bills. All these things involve lifting and getting your heart rate up, but you can't take more than a few days off from any of them when you live on your own. My doctor says as long as I really try to be careful and take things slow I should be fine. I'll just have to accept a longer recovery time. I'm okay with that:)

On a side note, I can't stress how wonderful it has been to have a doctor that ENCOURAGES me to call him directly on his cell phone, anytime of day, weekends, or holidays for any little concern. He called me directly from his cell phone the night of my surgery to make sure I was doing okay and so that I would have his cell number if anything came up. I've called him now on Christmas Day and on a Sunday with my issues and both times he was happy to hear from me and very helpful at putting my mind at ease. I don't think it would be the same if I had to deal with some random on-call surgeon that didn't know my particular case. If I ever have to get surgery again (hopefully not) I think I'd make sure this was the case with my next doctor as well.

Now that the cast is off my two biggest concerns have been dealing with the blackheads and black-eyes.

Blackheads: I had a bunch of these on my nose when my cast was removed on day 11. I started using St Ives Gentle Apricot Scrub, Neutragena Oil-Free Acne Scrub Pink Grapefruit, and Neutrogena Pore Refining Toner every morning and every night. I would splash water onto my face, apply the clensing products VERY gently, then remove them by splashing water on my face again. I'd LIGHTLY pat dry with a washcloth, then use a cottonball to apply the toner in an upward sweeping motion. I'd use a Q-tip to get the toner into the creases next to my nose. Again being very gentle. I'd then follow up with a light oil-free mosturizer. It took 4 days for the majority of the dead skin and blackheads to disappear, but they finally did. One thing my doctor told me NOT to do was use Biore pore strips or anything like them. I guess they could really damage the results. It's a good thing he warned me because that is the first thing I wanted to do!

Black Eyes: I'm still looking for an answer to this one. I loaded up on Vitamin C and Arnica Montana 2 weeks prior to surgery and am still taking them to this day but the black eyes remain. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and my girlfriends and I each paid $100 to attend a big event downtwon. I've been fine with the stares and questions to this point, but I really want to enjoy myself tomorrow without having to worry about the black-eyes. I've been researching cover-up methods on-line and will give it a try. If any of you have a suggestion I'd love to know!

I actually got my splint off yesterday but immediately went out celebrating so I didn't have time to write a review:) The splint removal was not painful at all. My doctor just peeled it off from one side to the other. He said it didn't look like I had any damage from me cutting off the tape from my nasal tip 2 days early, but he also said my nasal tip was more swollen than he would like. He's so darn nice I don't know if he would have told me if he thought it was my fault or not:) The only other concern he had was that my incision line on the columella was not healing as well as he would like. I ended up having a reaction to the Polysporin on day 7 of my recovery and had to switch to vaselline. That combined with the stiches not disolving completely on their own by day 7 were the most likely culprits. I'm not too concerned about it since I'm only 5'5", so not that many people will be able to see the incision line.

Overall I'm very satisfied wtih the results. I can already breathe better than I ever had before. I have a great side profile and I think my front profile is already a big improvement even with the swelling. My doctor felt bad about my bruising and swelling, but I know that will all heal with time. Plus I know the swelling is mostly likely my fault for being too active too soon and for cutting off the nasal tip tape on day 8.

I posted a couple pictures so you all can see for yourselves:) Thanks again for all the great support!