Laura's Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty Recovery - Days 1  and 2:

I know that I heard some sounds during the surgery. But they sounded very fuzzy and far away. And I almost felt like I was floating. But I never saw anything and I never felt anything. It was actually a pretty cool feeling. Then I realized that I was in the recovery room and that it was over. It seemed about 5 minutes, but the surgery actually lasted a little over an hour. My nose didn't hurt but I had about the worst headache of my entire life. The IV tube was still in my arm and I must have asked the nurse for some pain medication because she shot something into the tube before she took the IV out. My head felt a little better. I think the doctor came in, but I was still pretty out of it. I know he went in to talk to my Mom for a while.

Then I remember the anesthesiologist coming in and telling me that I did very well and that I would be thrilled with my nose. He saw it before the cast went on. The nurse let me lay there for about an hour and then it was time to go home. She made sure I had all my medication with me and helped me change into the button up dress I had brought from home to wear. I was worried that I'd have to walk through the lobby looking that way but thankfully they have a door in the recovery room that leads directly into an ally. My moms car was sitting there waiting for me. Nobody was around at all. It's extremely discreet and I really appreciated that. My head really started to hurt in the car. I took 2 of my pain killers and I felt much better.

We finally got home and I already needed my drip pad changed. My doctor does not use packing. I had a wad of gauze taped under my nose to catch of the lovely things that were pouring out of it. When I got out of the car I saw the look of horror on my poor husband's face (although he did his best to hide it). I looked like I'd gotten hit in the face by a truck. My then 4 year old and 14 month old were both pretty freaked out. They stayed away from me for a few days.

The first day was definitely the worst. I felt just awful. A few hours after I'd gotten home I decided it was time to look in the mirror. I shuffled my way into the bathroom and braved a look into the mirror. It was horrible. My eyes were completely black and swollen. My face was swollen and I had horrible bruising on my cheeks. Even part of my forehead was swollen! I couldn't move my mouth at all. It was very numb. My drip pad was soaked in blood and I had a big white cast on my face. BUT I could tell by the shape of the cast that my hump was gone! He had taped the end of my nose up and I looked like Miss Piggy. My nostrils were caked in dried blood. I looked about as gross as any accident victim I'd ever seen. I really couldn't believe I'd chosen to do that to myself. I took pain pills all that first day because of my headache. My nose never really hurt at all.

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