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February 26th, 2020
February 26th, 2020
Okay, I'd pulled the trigger last evening despite being jetlagged and info-overloaded and put down a deposit with Wannabe. To my infinite surprise, they took Amex (GIMME THEM REWARDS POINTS). Alice gave me the rundown on pre-op procedures and it was arranged that I would come back at 10:30 for The Big Day.
Alice checked in with me via KKT at 9:40AM. Joke's on her, I was already stalking the building exterior because I was worried that it would take me too long to get there. I wandered around Apugeong instead and bought some Haribo grapefruit gummies and hazelnut Snickers to take back to the US (fuckin A, hazelnuts in MY snickers? Fucking sign me up). 10:20AM rolled around and I went back to Wannabe and was greeted by the staff but being the awkward fucking foreigner that I am, could only stammer a 안녕하세요! Anyway neither of my Visa cards or my Nordstrom card worked for the deposit, only my AMEX card (WTF), and I panicked slightly (okay i was actually drenched in sweat) because i'd left my cash at home, and the total cost would've exceeded my AMEX cards credit limit. Fuck. Well we gamed it by splitting it into two transactions and me forwarding enough cash from my checking account to my AMEX card. IDK man, I thought it was game over, but somehow it worked
Alice and I went over some more paperwork and aftercare instructions. Then I got photographed at all the angles, got changed into pretty comfy pajamas, and met with Dr. Chang for a final time before the surgery. We discussed my eye shape again, since that's what I'm most concerned about, and he made a few eye shapes with the pokey tool until we settled on one that I liked. He drew on my face with the purple marker that everyone loves so much, and then suddenly it was surgery time. Alice asked if I was nervous- I hadn't really thought about it until that point but suddenly, I guess I was :O
Surgery room was all ready to go with 3 nurses and in-house anesthesiologist, they were efficient and i was knocked out. They extracted the fat from my butt for fat grafting first, then I flipped around and it was off to the races. I was in and out of consciousness during the eye surgery part, with Dr. Chang telling me to open and close my eyes a number of times. I don't know why it was so difficult to open my eyes- he kept saying "open your eyes normally" and somehow that was the equivalent of "open sesame" because it worked. Apparently I was not very cooperative while sedated because they had to have a nurse hold me down during the eye surgery part, and for the rest, they just strapped me down and upped the sedative dose, I think lol. They also gave me a stress ball to hold (IDK i might have some repressed issues, who the fuck knows, they weren't even canadian ravers this time). I have no idea how long i was in surgery and i have no idea how long i was in the recovery room, but suddenly it was 5PM and there was another person in the recovery room. Apparently I was in the recovery room so long that there was time for Dr. Chang to do another surgery and for that patient to recover and leave before me. lel. anyway I eventually got ahold of myself, took a selfie of my fucked up face while changing, and got my shit together enough for Alice to go over aftercare instructions with me again, walk with me to the pharmacy, help me get my meds, and then she even helped me get a cab and told the driver where I was going. Alice is a goddamn rock star consultant
It's a few hours later now, 9PM, and I feel pretty much back to my normal self, except my eyes are a bit sore. I had a small dinner of porridge, milk, vibes, meds, ice packs, and absolutely no showering or washing my face. Back to Wannabe tomorrow at 10:30AM for a checkup!
SURGERIES PERFORMED
SURGERIES PERFORMED
incisional double eyelid surgery
incisional ptosis correction
medial epicanthoplasty
full face fat grafting (forehead, temples, frontal cheek, chin)
undereye bag repositioning (Dr. Chang's specialty)
Accusculpt along jowls/jaw line
threadlifting (8 Mint threads)
oh yeah, masseter muscle botox [not a surgery but there were pokey bits inserted into my face nonetheless]
February 27th, 2020
February 27th, 2020
morning
morning
woke up around 5:30AM (thanks jetlag) after sleeping with neck brace on and propped up on pillows so my head was elevated at 45 degrees (blessed with preternatural sleeping ability so the elevation wasn't an issue), shot some emails and messages out, drank two glasses of water, ate some biscuits, had a protein shake with collagen powder and electrolyte tab, since i'm trying to keep my caloric intake up to help the grafted fat survive. also took a tab of 9mg arnica, 600mg tumeric, 300mg bromelain, and rounded it off with pumpkin porridge. applied the prescribed eye cream and tried to remove as much eye crust as possible with a dry q-tip. been applying ice packs around my jaw and lightly on my eyes and forehead. my forehead feels a bit warm- i don't think i have a fever, but the swelling is probably on its way. waited 30 minutes after eating, took my meds (prophylactic antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-acid), now doing some light stretches and resting a bit before i head out for my checkup at wannabe
kicking myself a bit for forgetting to pack probiotics (apparently i said this in the operating room while i was under sedation lol, the doctor was like ??? you don't need those right now). also forgot to pack a multivitamin or a thermometer for monitoring my temp. oh well! i'll see if i can find some at a pharmacy later today. main concerns for today are getting to my checkup, getting enough calories, and getting to Dr. Jin for consultation
the checkup at Wannabe was pretty quick and efficient- a nurse cleaned my eye stitches and reminded me to apply ointment and keep my stitches clean (these dang mongolian folds make it tough to clean the inner corners). she said everything looks good so far, and then i got lasered in the laser room. not sure what it did, if anything, but i noticed that it was hard to close my left eyelid all the way to prevent the lasers from blasting my eyebol. left eye is the one that had more ptosis, so i hope it's not overcorrected and that this is just an effect of swelling. alice said normally, they would give me a compression band to wear around my head, but since i did fat grafting also, that i should avoid a compression band and just keep the tape along the jawline.
nothing too much to note- i agreed to come back on March 3rd for stitch removal, and Alice reminded me again to take my meds, keep everything clean, apply the ointment, etc. off to find some calories (rice, chicken, veggies). not much trouble with pain or anything, and only vaguely self-conscious about my face. trying to walk slower than usual and to take my time with stairs instead of run up them like i usually do. some pain while sitting down from my fat extraction sites, but after years of DOMS from ATG squats, it's barely noticeable
afternoon/evening
afternoon/evening
nap time, and then off to Dr. Jin's Premium Nose Clinic for my consultation and pre-op tests. easy to find again, 2nd floor of the K tower building. the staff were very friendly and spoke a bit of English. i was handed a piece of paper with instructions to get an x-ray, CT scan, and EKG at the lab on the third floor. up to the third floor, handed my piece of paper to the staff, and they ushered me into a changing room. suited up in pink scrubs, got my xray, CT scan, and EKG done.
back to Dr. Jin's clinic on the second floor, and a nurse took my blood for blood tests. was a bit skeeved out because she didn't wear gloves and they didn't use the usual blood draw butterfly- just a syringe with a needle. missed the vein the first time and was vaguely worried that i was gonna get an air embolism from her drawing back the needle. switched to my left arm (the strong one), and got the requisite blood tithe from that one.
after that, I got to meet Dr. Jin. We talked a bit about the procedure and what results I could expect- he pulled up my x-rays and said he'd probably pull cartilage from my 7th right-side rib. i assume that i'd passed the rest of my exams. I asked him about keeping the distance between my eyes, and he said he's probably aim for a 3mm bridge since my natural nose has basically no bridge. i think he tried to set the stage for the kind of results i should expect- which is natural, and also aligned with my goal. i'm actually a bit nervous about this surgery because i don't want it to affect the way my eyes look, since i'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. i asked one of those "please reassure me that things will be okay" questions, and said something like "do you think the results will match my existing facial features" (note: i still look post op horror mode) and Dr. Jin laughingly said "well, you look pretty horrible right now, but i think the result will be an improvement from your current nose; it will look more like a normal nose" which might be taken as a little too honest but better too honest than a sugar coated answer lol.
i went over the final pre-op details with a staff member who was helping me. she assured me that the clinic would take care of procuring my meds, and they would help me hail a taxi bound for gangnam station after the operation, since i'd be recovering from general anesthesia. She urged me to eat well in the coming days
shower and wash hair on sunday
eat only sunday evening, no food or water after midnight
arrive at the clinic by 7:30AM, don't be late
don't wear jewelry, accessories, makeup, or nail polish
now three days of "relaxing" (i.e. trying not to worry) and trying to keep eating alot of food. feeling some anxiety because of general anesthesia and the recovery from rhinoplasty seems more arduous than what i had done yesterday
well, i did succeed in eating alot of food today and i'm feeling pretty stuffed. trying to stay awake for my bank's support team to wake up so i can try to remedy the wire transfer situation. pretty tired, think my picture shows it
lowkey i sorta wish i had elected to go with Dr. Cha at Wannabe, but my deposit's already down at Dr. Jin's and I feel confident that he will deliver technically good results. Like Dr. Choi, I think I'm just concerned about the aesthetics
another dose of meds after dinner, and took some papaya digestive enzyme since i'm still feeling super full. i sorta wanted to go for a walk after dinner, but i'm also feeling really tired
February 28th, 2020
February 28th, 2020
Day 2 post-op
not much to report today, eating alot of food, went for a short walk outside (it was raining), attempted to do laundry but there was no detergent so saving that for tomorrow. swelling is marginally better, still taking my meds, arnica, tumeric, bromelain, cranberry, probiotics, pumpkin juice. didn't nap today, woops. applying eye ointment, icing my face (but not pressing)! Alice checked in with me, trying not to be nervous about rhinoplasty. some of my incision sites are itchy, which i think is good because that means they're healing. using Jasmine's humiditytek by boiling a pot of water. didn't have to use my AK
February 29th, 2020
February 29th, 2020
Day 3 post-op
slept with neck brace and elevated head again. i slide to somewhere around 30 degrees elevation overnight but it seems okay. iced before sleeping last night and first thing upon waking up. i feel like there's noticeable reduction of swelling. no noticeable pain except when i smile or laugh, and on my thighs from the fat extraction sight (also gnarly bruising). breakfast of the usual supplements, arnica, bromelain, tumeric, cranberry, whey powder, collagen powder. having a pumpkin porridge for breakfast. gonna do some work, go for a walk and get some supplies, maybe explore if i feel okay. mostly annoyed that i have to wear my glasses while i'm out and about- i don't like it because they don't stay on well when i'm walking around so i have to continuously adjust them. the fat graft and swelling has basically deleted whatever nose bridge i had, so my glasses are even less likely to stay on
anyway, just got a notice from my company that i'm to work from home for two weeks after getting home because of corona, so i'll be out of the office for a whole month. hmm
the corona virus situation definitely is starting to seem more serious in seoul; i'm getting alerts from the local government to stay home and away from public gatherings. businesses are closing early. we'll see how tomorrow goes
March 1st, 2020
March 1st, 2020
day 4 post-op
well, i had ptosis correction done because my left eye was slightly more "closed" than my right eye. but now my left eye is more "open" than the right. hopefully it balances out once all the swelling is gone, but i'm not sure it will. my eyes right now are definitely not symmetrical. honestly though, compared to how my frontal view used to look before surgery, i'm already super pleased with the results despite the minor asymmetry. my biggest fear right now is that the rhinoplasty will affect the interocular distance, actual or perceived. i'll worry about the ptosis/asymmetry in a few months if it persists
noticeably less swelling today though, and I finally took off my under-eye patches. i'm still keeping up with supplements, icing, sleeping with elevated head, and pumpkin juice/porridge
prepping for rhinoplasty with Dr. Jin tomorrow. no food or water after midnight. taking a double dose of arnica, bromelain, tumeric tonight with pumpkin juice. feeling a bit nervous with general anesthesia and another bout of recovery. i think for the first round, i was too preoccupied with the logistics of getting by in korea to feel nervous. but now that i'm more comfortable in my surroundings, i actually have the bandwidth to feel nervous
i got my hair washed today which was amazing. walked around for about an hour outside; it was pretty deserted. ghost town vibes but ate some delicious dumplings
some selfies below with lighting, camera, and time of day as variables. starting to look humanish again in the last one
morning, iphone, bathroom
morning, android, bedroom
afternoon, iphone?, bedroom
evening, android, bedroom
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