Cosmetic Surgery Blog

Well, my rhinoplasty surgery day rolls up and I am excited…I used to have this tendency to freak out when going under anesthesia so, of course, I did. I started asking everyone if I was dying and cursing and asking where I was. Well, a few minutes later I was totally down for the count.

During the surgery, Marc, my boyfriend at the time, said that there was a lot of tugging and twisting and pulling. For the actual infracture (breaking of the bones to narrow them) the doctor held a chisel thing called an osteotome and he would instruct the nurse to tap with this mallet. He would say, “tap tap…tap tap…tap tap” I think it took quite a few times.  Marc has witnessed each of plastic surgery surgery I have had and he said rhinoplasty was pretty gruesome.

Then my tip was ‘nipped and tucked’ by skewering some cartilage and twisting it around and around and then cutting it off. Now, at this point I woke up and said “Owwww it hurts.”  Last words I heard were “give her some more…” Now, they inject quite a bit of a solution of Lidocaine (pain reliever) and epinephrine (a vasoconstrictor which lessens bleeding) into your nose to impede swelling and bleeding during the procedure so I was told that that is mostly where the bruises come from. Although I don’t know how this can be since I have watched a few rhinoplasty surgeries on tape (both open and closed procedures) and only saw the injections placed within the nose and not around the eyes. But I guess there is minute vessel rupture during the procedure. 

After my nose was set the way he thought it should be he put a cast on my new nose—this one was the kind that you place in hot water and then can mold it over your adhesive-laden, taped up nose. Well, they all picked out a neon yellow cast as a joke which you can see in the photos.

Anyway, my surgeon then put a pressure-dressing on my eyes and I was brought to the recovery room. I was very disoriented, I think emotional from my anesthesia as well.  I remember shivering too from the epinephrine which is like a quadruple espresso on crack or something. But the worst part was not being able to see! I had to keep that pressure dressing on for a few hours!! I think I remember Marc trying to give me a sip of water in the recovery room and then he spilled an itty bitty drop of water on me and in my anesthesia-induced haze I thought he did it on purpose. I started crying and couldn’t believe he did that on purpose! What kind of person pours water all over a post-surgical rhinoplasty patient who can’t even stand up by herself??? I think I made a mental note to pack my bags and move out as soon as I was able. I look back and laugh so hard when I remember my crazed thoughts.