10 Months Post-Op - Vancouver, BC
To first read part 1 of my Rhinoplasty Story,...
To first read part 1 of my Rhinoplasty Story, please click here.
End of Day 6 Post-Op:
No pics today because I didn't get to wash my hair today and my face looks gross and oily so I'd rather you all not see me like that (despite having seen me far worse) ;) No pain today (and none in my teeth either, as my braces have loosened a bit); there's not really been any since day 1, with a tiny bit of discomfort here and there on day 2 (which I would've only rated, at worse, a 2 out of 10). More or less, today was just the odd pinch here and there inside my nostrils. I can only assume it was my stitches, otherwise I'm not sure lol Really, the only annoyance at this point is the random itches on my nose. I'm ALWAYS thankful when I tentative go to scratch (gently) and realize its on a part of my nose not covered by the cast; on the contrary, it's the worst feeling ever when it IS. Lol. Tomorrow (technically today as its 305am as I write this) is my last full day with the cast, and although I can't wait to get it off, I haven't experienced the frantic, "OH MY GOD, I HAVE TO GET THIS DAMN THING OFF, IT FEELS LIKE IT'S BEEN ON FOR A MILLION YEARS" feeling. It actually feels like this last week has gone by rather quickly.
Umm, there's just a little bit of yellow left under my eyes but by the end of today I could barely see it. Most of the swelling in my face is gone; Brendan looked at it today and thought it was ALL gone, but I still think there's a tiny bit in my eyes and cheeks, but it's hard to tell. I'm not worried! There's obviously still swelling in my tip, but my nostrils are looking almost even if I tilt my head back and look at them that way. But since there's still decent swelling in the upper left part of my tip, they still look a little bit uneven if you look at me straight on; but again, I'm not worried, as when I gently feel my tip, it's hard and tender in the spot where I know there's swelling. And even if they stayed that way, it's not that noticeable, and I don't mind; it kind of looks natural that way regardless, since everyone has asymmetries. My stitches are doing well. The stitches on my septum don't look the nicest (as they poke out a bit now) but they aren't infected, so that's all that matters. I apply polysporin to it several times a day. I'm not entirely sure where the ones INSIDE my nose are located so I don't pick around in there, just to be safe. Dr. B told me that ALL my stitches are dissolvable, even the ones on my septum. What happens when they dissolve? Do they just fall out? Or will I sniff and suddenly I'll be choking on a stitch? hahaha Importantly, I've changed my rating to Worth It. I know that I'll experience more changes when the cast comes off, but based off of what I see now I am very happy. Tonight, for the first time, I compared photos of me with my old nose to my new one (looking in the mirror and comparing). Before the surgery, I was worried my upturned tip would look gross on my from straight on; that my new nose would make me uglier, or make me look too different. (These were concerns and fears of mine.) But especially after comparing to photos of my old nose, I see more than ever that not only does this nose still make me look 100% like me, despite the changes (I'm convinced that anyone who DOESN'T know will not be able to tell I had any work done), but that my new nose actually suits me way BETTER. My tip especially makes me look much more feminine, which is exactly what Dr. B wanted, since I'm already a petite girl (I'm 5'1" and 115lbs). I'm very happy right now. :)
My cast was super easy coming off; just a small wiggle and it slipped right off. Absolutely no pain! Dr. B checked in my nostrils and said everything looks great, I have some obviously swelling in my tip and it looks like some in my bridge (it's only really noticeable from my 3/4 angles), but I was healing nicely and had better results than a lot of people do at 7 days post-op. He kept commenting how nice my nose looked so, bracing myself for the worst, I got up and looked in the mirror and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! Even with the minor swelling, it was much smaller than I expected. I also was anticipating that my front would look like a huge shapeless blob but it has definition and looks just as adorable as my profiles! I kept repeating, "It's so adorable !" But the Doc said, "It's not the nose, that's just you!" I was so excited I got a pic with him, which ill upload later since it's on my camera and not my phone. If I do have swelling in my upper bridge, ill be happy when it goes down, but really, the only angles I think it'll affect are my 3/4s. But even if it stayed exactly the same as it is now I'd be perfectly happy! I can't thank Dr. B and his staff enough - I'm so so happy! Now I have to wait and see if it balloons and gets all swollen in the next couple of days haha
sarah_tonin's provider
The admins were nice enough to make a new review...
The rest of my evening yesterday was just fine. My skin was a bit oily and I can see that ill have to exfoliate whenever my nose isn't as tender but it wasn't nearly as gross looking as I was expecting. It didn't have any marks or redness on it from where the cast was either, which was nice. Took a long hot shower which was HEAVENLY but couldn't submerge my face in the water cause I stayed in a hotel and the water pressure was set to Tear Skin Off. But I still sprayed some water on my nose and it felt good :) And washing my whole face felt AWESOME!
It feels SO weird touching my bridge because 1) there's no longer any bumps and 2) I can feel the slope where my tip upturns. It's just different haha but I like it! My tip is pretty tender right now since it's the most swollen, but my bridge only feels maybe 3/10 on the tender scale.
Still cleaning my nose and stitches with polysporon and using the saline spray. My nose became stuffy and slightly runny a few days ago and it's sill persisted so I'm constantly sniffling. But to anyone who also has this problem, just know that this is super common and it can last anywhere from a few months to a year in some patients - but RARELY ever longer.
I iced a tiny tiny bit last night (as a precaution to today), and applied a bit of Arnica gel to my nose, but I woke up this morning (after sleeping well) and it hasn't really swelled up at all. I guess I must've gotten lucky lol any swelling that MIGHT have happened overnight isn't noticeable and I'm still completely in love with my nose :) my fiancé keeps looking at me and saying how beautiful it is and how great I look, awww. And I sent pictures to my mom and she couldn't believe how adorable it is. I hope I've passed the major point for swelling but I'm still bracing myself lol
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You're so prolific! You're the first rhinoplasty community member to ever outwrite the allotted space. And I mean that as a compliment. We love it! You're looking great and your updates are fabulous. Thanks so much for sharing.
10 Days Post-Op; 3 since the cast came...
Nothing huge to update you all on; since I didn't have much additional swelling when the cast came off, it's mainly just been the usual swelling - the majority of which is in the tip of my nose, so that'll take a long time to go down. It went down a tad in size within the 24 hours of getting the cast removed, and to me it looks like it's stayed the same (which is perfectly fine by me).
Other than that, little improvements! The majority of the stitches on my septum came off today, which was nice cause they'd all clumped together and looked kind of gross. Also, I was FINALLY able to clean out the half-dried/half-gooey blood that had been trapped in the upper inner corners of my nostrils. The blood was a week old and had started to cause a gross smell in my nose, but I didn't try to clean it in case any of it was scanning or it was wrapped around stitches. But last night, after a hot bath and saline sprays, both sides loosened up and with the tiniest prodding, it finally came out on both sides. FREEDOM! That, mixed with the fact that most of my septum stitches have finally dissolved, and my nose FINALLY looks normal. My scar is pink but looks like I just got a scratch there; otherwise it's hard to tell that I got any work done. :)
Still stuffy, but that's to be expected! Not concerned about it, I have faith that it'll subside over time. I absolutely love how positive the responses have been from my friends and family who knew; my best friend says it's feminine and cute, and Brendan keeps looking at me and says at least 5 times a day, "Your nose looks so good, you look beautiful and seem more confident already." My mom is probably the biggest fan of it though; she was always supportive of my choice to do this but I never expected she'd love my results this much. Even my dad has completely come around. I update him all the time with pictures and he says the same thing as everyone else, along with the fact that he can see how happy I am and that's what matters most to him :)
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