Rhinoplasty Part 1: Just Got My Cast Off - Vancouver, BC

Middle of Day 5 Post-Op:

Slept in bed last night, so I slept much much better. Still have some swelling in my eyes and cheeks, but it's gradually going down. There's still swelling in my tip and more in the left side than the right, so my nostrils are still uneven BUT they're looking a little better today. My fiancé washed my hair again and then I took a shower and then cleaned my face afterwards, very carefully. For the first time since before the surgery, I blow dried my hair and applied some makeup. I'm also dressing in actual clothes instead of PJs, as I'm about to step out to run a few errands. Then it's home for more Glee and relaxing on the couch! I feel much more like myself today, and even though my nose is still pretty swollen, I love what I see in the pictures I took today! :)

Btw, a big thanks to CollagenJunkie for chatting with me on FB earlier and keeping me feeling positive, it meant a lot! :)

To continue to part 2 of my Rhinoplasty story, please click here.

End of Day 4 Post-Op:

Didn't sleep very well during Night #3. Woke up around 7am briefly and didn't feel like eating (I'd have to remove my braces and then thoroughly clean them before putting them back in, and since I switched to my next set of Invisalign trays last night they were still right and sore), and since I have to eat something with my pain meds, I just took one extra strength Tylenol instead and went back to sleep. Well, I woke up a few hours later with my nose hurting slightly, my teeth hurting a LOT (from the braces), and an upset stomach. Tried to eat some crackers and drink some water but wound up vomiting. Moved from the recliner to my bed and wound up napping all afternoon. I was much comfier there so my fiancé insists that I sleep there instead from now on and he'll continue to sleep on the couch for a while. I felt bad but he really is such a sweetheart. When I woke up I still felt iffy, but I was able to eat more food and keep it down. Spent the rest of the day lounging on the couch and watching Glee lol Didnt post pictures today cause there's not a huge difference from yesterday.

My bruises under my eyes are really yellow now; there's still a bit of swelling around my eyes but most of it (minus my nose) is now in my cheeks. Hopefully it goes away soon cause it's that really subtle swelling where you don't look silly per say but you can tell your proportions are off. My tip is still really swollen, obviously, and the skin is super oily and gross. I can only imagine how wonderful the rest of my skin on my nose will be once the cast comes off. I have full feeling in my upper lip but I can't really smile showing my top teeth still, which sucks cause I'm a person who has big toothy smiles ALL the time. I also find that whenever I laugh or raise my eyebrows, I don't feel any pain but the obvious tugging which I force myself to stop, just to make sure I don't pull any stitches. From what I can tell right now I have some feeling in the top of my nose; if I touch it lightly I can feel everything.

Starting to get a little worried about what ill look like on Tuesday when this cast comes off, but forcing myself to remember the table pictures and remembering that all my family and the majority of my best friends are all in Ontario and won't see me for several months anyways, so for the most part, the majority of the people who'll see me in the gross, swollen stages that is the next couple of months won't be in my life by the time school is over with in April lol

Day 3 Post-Op:
I slept much better last night! I found that if I rest the u-shaped pillow on my arm and lean my head against it, I sleep much more comfortably, as opposed to having it around my neck. I slept from about midnight until 5am and then woke up because I had to go to the bathroom. I noticed that I could open my eyes a bit wider than the previous evening, and when I checked in the mirror, my eyes were a tad less swollen. It's still pretty swollen but it's also moved down into my cheeks so my face looks a little puffy today. Then I iced and went back to sleep until 9am, iced some more, took some Traumeel, and went back to sleep until noon. When I woke up I felt well-rested but really gross because my hair and face was super greasy. Thank god for my wonderful fiancé; we maneuvered in the kitchen sink and he washed and conditioned my hair, and then I gently washed my face (careful not to get the cast or my nose wet). I felt MUCH more refreshed afterwards, and felt good enough to go out.

We went to the SPCA, since we adopted a second kitten from them a month ago and wanted to give them a picture of her in her new home. We stayed for a tiny bit to play with some of the stray cats, and then I started to feel a bit nauseous and a bit sore. I hadn't taken my antibiotics or pain killers today, so we finished our errands, came home, and I took them. Now I feel much better. I probably over exerted myself this afternoon, so I'm spending the rest of the day relaxing and watching Harry Potter films haha Brendan is making homemade meatballs tonight at my request - mmmm! I still can't open my mouth very wide to chew, so it's good that they're chewy and soft.

My bruising is doing well! Under my eyes it is turning yellow so I think the worst of it is done with. The inner corners of my eyes are still red, as well as a thin line on the too of my eyelids, but other than that, that's it. I've been using the saline mist in my nostrils to try and clean some of the dried blood, and while there's still a good amount of blood in there, it's better than yesterday. Im also using polysporon around my nostrils and on my stitches (on my septum). I keep worrying that they'll get infected or something so I keep asking Brendan a million times a day, "Can you look again? Are you SURE they aren't becoming infected?" He just laughs and keeps saying no, they're fine (he's medically trained so he knows better than I do).

My tip is still very swollen and so my nostrils are still uneven but they look a tiny bit better today. I'm reassured that its the swelling making the uneven because the left nostril is smaller than the right and it's the left side of my tip that's more tender than the right.

I uploaded some new pictures too :) In the last two, my smile looks VERY right and unnatural; it's the most I can do right now, but the important thing is that it shows how my tip no longer droops when I smile :D I was looking in the mirror and smiling at different angles and it doesn't move at all right now, which I'm ok with. I look at the pictures and I know my tip will get smaller as it heals but so far I like what I see :) I also am keeping in mind that of course, I haven't seen the rest of my nose since its covered in the cast, and I'm sure it'll be swollen and shapeless and unattractive when I see it in 4 days, but I'm not too worried about it. Surprisingly, I've been really positive, mentally, since this whole thing happened. Hopefully it'll stay that way.

Anyways, let me know what you think!