Rhinoplasty and recovery

March 2nd, 2020

surgery day redux (Rhinoplasty with Dr. Jin)

Had my rhinoplasty with Dr. Jin under general anesthesia. We had another f2f consultation on the morning of, and he described his intended approach of taking rib cartilage from the 7th rib on the right side. Rib cartilage (as opposed to ear or septal) would be the best option as I had very little existing dorsum to begin with, and rib would be the best option for cartilage abundance and strength. Discussed possible alar base resection, Dr. Jin would play this by ear [or nose, hahaha :<] during the surgery, but he suspected that increase the projection of my nose tip would change my alar shape so that they would not flare out as much. Also discussed possible harvesting of temporalis fascia if the cartilage warps and needs to be diced, possible harvesting of ear cartilage if needed for alar work. Removed the tape from my jawline also- VERY PUFFY JOWLS from Acculift. Recovery in the clinic from GA took about 4 hours. was pretty dead afterwards. Dr. Jin and the staff checked on me multiple times. Overall it seemed to go okay. Lots of pain from the rib cartilage harvest site. Staff helped me get home and provided meds and some gauze. Very glad that I brought my own mega pack of gauze from home

update as I become more coherent and remember things: I asked Dr. Jin how it went while I was recovering and he told me that he decided not to resection my alar- My guess is the combination that my alar would look different after tip projection and not wanting to compromise functionality by narrowing the nostrils.

March 3rd, 2020

day 1 post-op

rib cartilage harvest site is super sore, been wearing compression around thorax. went in 8am to Dr. Jin's for checkup, he vacuumed out my nose and said it looks good. got an IV of fluids and painkillers. Then checkup at Wannabe, got eye and fat graft stitches out. body stitches from fat harvest sites remaining until later this week.

i'm sneezing alot and my nose keeps leaking clear fluid- not very much blood but there's SO MUCH FLUID. it's kinda like snot but it's very watery. as soon as i tilt my head back, it's not a problem and i can breathe through my nose, so sleeping's not an issue. but i should ask Dr. Jin about it. scheduled to go back to Dr. Jin on thursday and back to wannabe on friday

March 4th, 2020

day 2 post-op

woke up every few hours to drink some water and apply ointment. tried sleeping with compression band but it's really uncomfortable. woke up looking SUPER PUFFY and to a disappointing beyond pnw lineup. nothing scheduled today except to rest and heal and deswell. i should go for a walk at some point

at this moment in time, i wish i had done only eyes first, and then rhino. bundling with fat graft and acculift/threadlift was ALOT. just so much swelling and discomfort. i may feel differently about it in the future when the discomfort is just a memory and not happening right now

other post surgery side effects that are annoying- constipation and bloating, numbness along heels and tailbone, general tiredness (?) i definitely felt more 'normal' after sedation, but i think my body took a hit from general anesthesia. my mood the last few days has been lower than usual- i feel kinda just "here", but not really present. i don't know if this is a side effect of GA or not. I'm looking forward to passing a bowel movement, walking around more, getting some fresh fruit tomorrow. wish i'd brought my goji berries.

more resting today. i walked about a mile today, albeit a bit slowly since my rib still hurts. i've been reluctant to take pictures of myself because my cheeks are super swollen and droopy, and i hate the way they look. i've been wearing a compression band from wannabe, but as soon as i take it off, the chipmunk cheeks emerge. generally feeling unmotivated and lethargic

March 5th, 2020

day 3 post-op

I POOPED

it wasn't totally normal but i'll take it. i did alot of abdominal and accupressure massage with pacing back and forth through my bnb, and also the time honored chinese tradition of drinking lukewarm water. don't ask me what 3 days of poop at once is like

I feel like I had a GA hangover the last few days and i'm somewhat back to normal today, although still in pain. nose leaking is reduced to about 25% of output from two days ago. rib pain is improved and i try not to think about how there's a big chunk of my rib cage that is now in my nose. cheek/jowl swelling is still major and I hate it, but here's a picture anyway. i REALLY HOPE that the saggy look is just due to swelling (wtf did i pay for otherwise???). i'm wearing the compression band as much as i can tolerate, and icing for 10 min or so every hour. I also messaged Alice to see if she has any suggestions and possibly if they can do anything to help the deswelling process lol. my right eye is still a bit more swollen than the left, but i fear that the prosis difference is real. at some point i'll consolidate all of my pics into a wonderwheel of terror

March 6th, 2020

day 4 post-op

oof, last night was rough and there were multiple trips to the toilet, but I think things are improving. Emailed Dr. Jin late last night with my concerns and he told me to come to the clinic at 8AM. He said I was probably suffering from the side effects of the medication that I'd been on, specifically the antibiotics, and that we'd do an IV fluids/nutrients drip with a last dose of antibiotics, and then I could stop taking meds. I feel way better today after being off the meds, for sure, and actually had a good deal of energy. More vacuuming of the nose (please don't suck out my brains, I need those for later), and arranged to go in tomorrow for cast and stitch removal.

My chest scar from the rib cartilage harvest is GNARLY. gonna start scar cream tomorrow

2PM was last visit to Wannabe for final checkup with Dr. Chang. he looked at my eyes for a minute and said some things in korean. Alice resassured me that they looked good, god bless her. spoiler: they look asymmetrical af right now lolol. the right one does seem a bit more swollen, so here's to hoping that it's just temporary. Got my fat harvest site (thighs) stitches out, and also got more lasers to the face (how do these deswelling lasers work anyway?) and then a "skin treatment" on my other gnarly leg bruises from the fat harvest site. and then it was a last round of photos, and a goodbye to Alice and the rest of the staff

my nasal leakage is pretty minimal; I have to dab my nose maybe once or twice an hour. tip of nose is numb (normal, according to Dr. Jin), nose functionality is good- I can almost breathe through my nose normally (MOVE SNOT, GET OUT THE WAY), rib pain is improved and the chest incision site is starting to get itchy, which i think it a good sign

walked about 2 miles today, continuing to apply ointment to stitches at the colmunella and nostrils every few hours, iced my jowls in the morning and evening, wore my compression band as much as i could stand (alice said to try to wear it for intervals of 4-6 hours at a time for maximum efficacy but it still makes me feel like my head is a watermelon with alot of rubber bands around it that's about to explode... youtube it if you don't know about this lol), took a nap in the afternoon, ate lighter than usual since my digestion is a bit off-kilter. tomorrow is my last full day in seoul, excited to get my cast off and to get closer to going home as i'm starting to get homesick, but feeling a bit sentimental that this journey is coming to an end. overall, looking forward to another day :)

two pics- slight change in angle changes the look :) also washed my face for the second one. the bruising around the jawline is starting to become colorful, previously was just a subtle bilious yellow

bottom pic is my fat harvest site on my thigh. possible captions:

these colors don't run

they told me i could become anything so i became a zebra

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