Day 9 (1 day after cast removal)

Still feeling very depressed. No change in nose. Still looking like a fat sausage in the middle of my face. Mum told me to shower, do my hair and my make up in hope that this would make me feel better. And it did a little bit. But makeup and hair does not cover up the monstrority of my nose. Everyone keeps telling me to be patient. Been looking online at other people's experiences, and it has been fairly reassuring in the sense that there are a lot of people going through the same thing as me. And there have been a few accounts that I've read where there is talk of the swelling going down and changing the overall look of the nose. Have also read that most of the swelling should go down in 2/3 weeks but that the nose wont be completely healed till a year post op! Hoping and praying that what I'm seeing now isn't what it will look like in a couple of weeks. My next appointment with the doctor is in 6 weeks time, so I guess that is a sign in itself that this is how long he expects it to take for the swelling to go down, and for my nose to take its proper shape. Scared and worried that I may have made the biggest mistake of my life.

The day the cast came off!

So this was the day I would actually be seeing my new nose. I was so nervous and scared at the same time, scared that it wouldn't be what I wanted. The taking off of the cast didn't hurt, it was just a very strange feeling. Because it was stuck so well to my nose, it felt like she was taking my nose off with it!! When the nurse gave me a mirror to look at it, I was horrified! My nose seemed to look bigger than before! And so long and straight, to the point that it didnt look like it was blending into my face! The only positive thing I could say about it was that my profile looked a lot better. I no longer had the bump and I looked a lot better from the side! But from the front I looked odd! Like it wasn't part of my face. Before the operation my tip was very round and bulbous which he said he was going to correct as well as making my nose narrower. However, looking at it from the front, the tip looked bigger and the overall look of the nose was wider! I couldn't believe it! I was starting to think I wanted my old nose back, which is a very very bad sign. My surgeon said the tip and the bridge were still swollen and that this would take several weeks/months to die down. When I got home I was so depressed, I couldnt eat anything! I'm a chef so that is VERY unlike me. I couldn't stop crying which obviously makes the nose swell up even more! Everyone kept telling me that its still very swollen and that what I'm seeing right now isn't what my nose will be like ultimately. I can understand that its swollen as rhinoplasty is a very invasive procedure, however the swelling will have to die down a hell of a lot for me to be happy with it! I'm taking pictures every day so that I can compare and see if there actually are any improvements. I would really appreciate it if anyone in the same situation as me told me about their expereinces. I really need something to give me hope right now!

1st week Post Surgery

During the first week I had a lot of swelling around the eyes, and a fair bit of bruising. On the second day my eyes were practically swollen shut. I knew this was what was to be expected though, so I wasn't worried at all. I knew it was all part of the healing process. From the third day the swelling had dropped into my cheeks, making me look like a hamster storing nuts for the winter - not a good look! That took a few days to go down. Eventually the bruising started to change colour and disappear. Could already tell that my nose was smaller even with the cast on which was promising for me so I was really hoping that this would all be worth it in the end!

Before Rhinoplasty Operation

So, the reason I decided to have rhinoplasty surgery done is obviously because I wasnt happy with my nose. I hadn't been happy with it ever since I was a young teenager. I used to get bullied because of it at school and it made me feel very ugly. As I grew up, I learnt to make the most of what I had and yes there were times when I did feel good about myself, and yes I did get quite a bit of interest from men. BUT I was still never happy with my nose. It was quite a masculine nose so it never made me feel completely like a girl. I wore a lot of make up and spent a lot of time on my appearance to make me feel better. I was very insecure and so my confidence was extremely low. And in my eyes going through life without confidence is no life at all. Rhinoplasty was the obvious option for me, to correct the bump in my nose and to have an overall smaller nose. So after much discussion with my parents, I decided to go through with it. So this is a Blog about my recovery which I hope people in the same situation as me will comment on and tell me about their experiences!