One year on!!!

I forgot my log on details and it has taken me ages to recover them so apologies for my very belated update.

I cannot believe that it's been a year! Life has pretty much returned to normal now, I love my new look, I was in the gym today and saw my side profile in the mirror and had no urge to cringe and no heart dropping feeling of hating my appearance.

Starting with my chin, the sensation has returned entirely although this took a long time, for the tingles and numbness to completely dissipate I'd say it took close to ten months although full functionality returned much quicker.  I've read that prolonged numbness  can happen when the nerves stretch, I could feel the sensation increasing slowly from the right side of my lips until my whole lower lip was normal again.

I really like the look of my chin and don't regret it at all (now!) it's made my face look thinner and seems to have made my cheekbones more pronounced, I went on a long holiday and put on a few kilos which would usually show in my face but it didn't this time.

Now to my nose! It looks like a normal nose :) I really don't think about it at all now which is such an amazing freedom. I can breath really well and almost all of the swelling has gone, I say almost as with extensive revision like mine swelling can last up to 2 years and when I run my finger down my nose it feels like there may still be some swelling.

Sometimes it will swell again, I had a few days of vomiting and it swelled up and if I drink too much it will swell on occasion- although this happens less these days....both the drinking too much and the swelling!!!

So to sum up a year of recovery it was slow, much slower then I was anticipating or seemed to be the norm compared to others recovery blogs which I'm guessing was due to having had 2 surgeries, one of which was revision. I usually sail through this type of thing, I was arrogant thinking that I'd come off better then other people so my difficult recovery hit me doubly hard.

 I should have given myself more time to recover, having to leave home again 11 days after for a demanding and potentially career altering work event that required me to be completely focused caused me enormous stress and unhappiness. Please consider this when you are scheduling your own surgeries, I really think I'd have coped better if I could have stayed in a safe, comfortable environment.

If your recovery is hard please don't freak out. I read so many people posting on sites like real self during first month or two of healing who are in an enormous panic, I was there too. Many of them have rapid follow up surgery to remove implants thinking that they will never normalise, I am so glad I didn't take this option as I believe it was totally worth it now, perhaps if they waited a bit longer they would be as happy as I am with my results.

Be careful what you read and who you talk to. There was a woman on a plastics and cosmetic surgery forum who appeared to have a real vendetta against my and a few other surgeons.  While I was still in my freak out phase I sent her a message asking about her experiences, thankfully I was healing well by the time she replied as her response would have terrified me. (With a sane, logical mind it was very apparent that the woman herself is a little off, she uses a bunch of fake profile names to post vitriol about different surgeons, her own story constantly changes and she makes really unusual videos on youtube about her perceptions of particular surgeons. I'm tempted to post her response here as it was quite funny really, although I don't think I she meant to be amusing!)

So here's  my update, not much to say really except if you are in your recovery phase hang in there! 99%of the time you are going to be absolutely fine and will love your new look even if it takes months to get there. And sure, there is always that 1% but by the laws of probability you probably aren't it, I was convinced that I was.

I've put the photos back, having come through to the other side of healing I know how helpful they are I will get some 12 month photos up soon x

Rhinoplasty and chin augmentation 3.5 months

I'm so sorry it's been such a long time since I've posted and that I've had to take my photos down. My career opens me up to a fair amount of scrutiny so I've had to remove any identifying photos.

Anyway! Things have been tracking along fairly consistently, if slowly.  My swelling was not all that noticeable, I was happy with my nose and had the sensation back in my lips (the sensation took a LONG time to return on my left side probably around 3 months) all in all I was happy.

In the last 2 weeks though my nose is particular has undergone a massive change! Suddenly the swelling has really dropped and my nose is looking thinner and straighter then it ever has. I'm so happy with how it's looking and as revision typically takes over a year to really settle can keep expecting positive changes.

So for those of you who have just had the surgery and are freaking out about how your nose is looking I hope you take some comfort in how scared I was at first and how slow my recovery seemed. I am so happy now and don't regret it for a second.

Rhinoplasty, chin augmentation 4 weeks 2 days

Thought I'd put up a before and after photo now things are starting to look normal. The before picture was taken the night before surgery and show the result of my primary rhino which was done years ago. Please bare in mind that at four weeks out I still have allot of swelling in my nose, chin and some on my neck (double chin!) so this is by no means the final result. I'm happy with how it's shaping up though! I have a deep chin trough which is now exacerbated by the implant, I may need some filler once I've healed properly...

The feeling has returned to the left side of my lip too. Swelling is now at its worst in the morning and decreases over the day, alcohol seems to exacerbate it as does exercise. I'm back at the gym now and am working back up to my prior fitness levels, I run competitively so can't handle any more time off!

Rhinoplasty, chin augmentation 4 weeks

Things continue to improve rather quickly now. My nose hasn't gone all strange on me again although I can tell there is still allot of swelling to go down still because it feels rather then looks swollen now. It's still very hard and but I am very happy with how it is looking and I think it will just keep getting better with time.

Yesterday I started to get the feeling back in my lip too! So far it's only on the right hand side but the main thing is that it's back. So I really needed to hit the four week mark to be able to say that everything is definitely improving.  Im still sleeping on my back propped up on 3 pillows, im not sure if it helps at this stage but its become something of a comfort thing for me. I will put some photos up this weekend.

Rhinoplasty, chin augmentation 3.5 weeks

Sorry I've been so slack lately, work has been crazy.

So! I will start with my nose, the swelling  has been doing down in small degrees daily, until Saturday (2 days ago).  I woke up and the end had that horrible plasticine-Mr Potato Head- look to it. I looked terrible and couldn't work out if it had actually changed or if I was still unhappy with its appearance but had been kidding myself that i was improving. It was a bad day as I had to go to an engagement party and wanted to do nothing but mope around in my house looking up bad rhinoplasty stories online and curse myself.

Sunday I woke and my nose looked great! Definitely the best it has looked so far and today it has also stayed looking good. I am finally happy!! It now looks smaller then it did pre surg and I am starting to really see the shape and I think that I am going to love it and the best part is that even though I'm happy now I know it will continue to improve over the next few months! I'm so excited, I guess this is the feeling that so many people have at their first reveal, I cant wait to see how it will look in 6 months time. I now think that perhaps the bridge swelling dropped first making the tip swelling look terrible again now they've caught up with each other my nose is in synch, lucky me to have a rogue nose but if it happens again I will know not to panic!

Now to my chin, swelling has decreased there too but has not fully receded, especially around my lips. Talking and eating has improved but still feels a little awkward, my lower lip is still numb but has started to get a funny burny feeling, similar to the feeling your legs get when you enter a warm room after being out in the snow. I've kept trolling websites such as realself, it appears that while this isn't ideal it isn't abnormal especially when more then one procedure occurs at a time. My nerve is possibly stretched and the swelling doesn't help but it is improving so I am happy there too.

Hang in guys, things will start to improve even if it feels like its taking forever. I knew realistically that revision rhino would result in greater, more stubborn swelling but try telling that to my emotional self!

Rhinoplasty, chin augmentation day 13..swelling, tingles and worries!

I am going to be as honest as I can in this post. The last few days have been quite difficult and I wanted to give it time to settle before I commented. Now for those of you considering these procedures please bare in mind that this is my experience only, you may sail through your recovery so please don't let me influence your decision too much. This post is more for those who, like me, have had the procedure or procedures and are struggling with what is normal and what is not.

So as far as bruising goes I still have some very slight discolouration in stripes under my eyes and along the bridge and tip of my nose, nothing too obvious as easy to cover with makeup.

Swelling has been my major issue. I went into quite a low after cast removal as to me my face was unrecognisable. My nose was (still is) swollen at the bridge between my eyes which to me made my eyes look smaller and shrunken into my head. My nose then gets wider and wider as it moves toward the tip like a fat plasticine blob really. I kept thinking that I had made a major mistake and had to really calm myself down allot, my heart would kind of drop everytime I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

Every day the swelling has started to improve in small degrees. My bridge has narrowed so my eyes don't look quite so bizarre and I can see tiny details emerge on the rest of my nose too such as nostril shape and a small scar I had is becoming visible again. When I lightly touch my face I can feel probably more then see the improvements and it is most noticeable when I first wake up. I dare say the swelling is worse in the morning then throughout the day but for whatever reason it's when I notice the most change. I am still sleeping with my head raised and on my back I start off with three pillows but often get rid of one at some time during the night! I have noticed that my nose is starting to look slightly assymetrical, this is positive for me as swelling will typically decrease more in one side faster so its visible proof that healing is occurring. Overall I am STARTING to feel more positive about my nose.

My chin is causing me more frustration. I can definitely see that the swelling is reducing again more on one side then the other but the shape is very nice and I think I will be thrilled once all of this has settled. The biggest issue (and its a huge one for me) is that I cannot eat or talk normally yet. My lower lip is completely numb and still seems very swollen. I do wonder if my lip is due to the dermal filler I had injected although this was about 2 years ago I seem to hold onto it for longer and it may be exacerbating the issue. I have a fair amount of tingles in my chin and lip, like the feeling after your leg going to sleep which is apparently positive as its an indication that the nerves are repairing. Right now when I talk I kind of look as though I've had a bad experience with dermal fillers and Botox..not good! There is still some swelling under my chin too which is a bit double chinney but I can see that resolving.

I am on the conference for work so all of this makes life a bit difficult. I have had to restart on the steroidal anti inflamitory to try and help the swelling along a bit. I also read green tea helps so am going crazy on the caffeinated and decaf types! I miss coffee and am starting g to hate this bloody tea! Ive told people I fell down some stairs so no everyone probably thinks I'm being beaten by my boyfriend..

So overall slow improvements but much slower then I was expecting. Here is my advice to anyone contemplating this or going through their own recovery. Most doctors will say 10 days to 2 weeks to be work ready. I'm sure this is the case if you have had one procedure, more procedures mean more trauma so your recovery will probably be longer as in my case, try and take three weeks off at least so feel comfortable. I have a busy, demanding career which doesn't allow for extended periods of leave so this wasn't an option for me and I have found it has caused more anxiety then I would have should I have taken more time off.

Don't panic! I did in the first few days and I still do from time to time and keep trawling the Internet
 for a sense of normalcy. As I've mentioned before this can help or hinder, many people will post in the initial stages when they are scared, once things start to improve they seem to disappear as they no longer need the reassurance of strangers that everything is fine because they can see it, which largely leaves the very few who actually do have real issues continuing to post. Therefore it's easy in your own panic to start to assume that you will be like them and things will never get better, I would look at the number of people who stop posting as an indicator that things do improve as opposed to the few that continue to post to show that these issues are normal early on.

Then there is the flip side to that, the people who do amazing during the first week, have their cast off and love their new look, just love it. All of a suddenly they look like Giselle  Bundchen and are off to go eat in a five star resturant which, if you're like me, will make you a. Sit muttering "oh yeah? Well f' you" at your monitor And b. spend hours in front of the mirror wondering what the hell have you done. That really is a tough aspect of cosmetic surgery, you do this to yourself so you can really start to blame yourself for your decision.

There are many decent people out there though who have been very honest about their results and recovery and will admit that it can be hard. Healing is slow but they did get better, these posts have been very helpful to me although there aren't too many of them. So as I do get better I will keep up with the updates. I've had to take the pictures down for the time being but will put them back eventually and am happy to email if you like.

If you are scared please feel free to ask me any questions although I probably won't answer who my surgeon is right now as it wouldn't be fair to him until I see the final result. I know how scary and isolating this whole experience is so am here to help as much as I can.

Will post more in a few days!

I cannot describe how amazing it was to sleep properly last night! I'm still on my back with my head elevated but to be able to breath is heavenly.

No pain at all any more but my swelling is crazy. My speech has improved slightly overnight although my lip is still completely numb. The swelling seems to reside notably quicker on my right hand side I think it might be the way I sleep.

My nose is enormous, I look like a cross between a pug and an avatar. I think that there is the tiniest bit of definition in the end and around my nostrils compared to yesterday but this could be wishful thinking too. Essentially my nose is big, fat and has no definition. I had a slight amount of work done to reduce the bridge and allot of work on the tip of my nose including grafts and there has been allot of work done to the clomella too plus it's revision so I know to expect major swelling that will not shift too quickly but it is still getting me down. So patience will have to be my new virtue.

Putting makeup on my nose is a bit difficult mainly due to the condition of the skin. I can't use my usual Estée Lauder Double Wear as it won't absorb like it normally does so just sits heavily and uneasily on top of my skin so I'm just using a BB cream for now which kinda sucks as it doesn't cover the discolouration!

Am full of whinges and frustrations to be honest and wish I had another week to hide in the hope this resolves more. Looki g online I know I'm not alone, the biggest problem though is that so many people post during their initial feelings of fear only to disappear without further comment when they improve unless there is something drastically wrong so not too reassuraning! Hence why I am being as honest as I can here and will keep this updated as I improve :)

Anyway a couple more pictures, I will put these up less now so that changes will be more noticeable. For once the ipad camera seems to downplay blemishes so my swelling doesn't look as bad as in real life!