I finally had the nose surgery I’d been thinking about for years today at 10, and came out around 11:30! Because of insurance, I have to be hospitalized for 6 hours, so I’m still in the hospital room lol
I live far from Seoul, so I did all my online research through a community, you know? So even though I don’t know anyone here, I somehow feel like I should share lolololol It doesn’t hurt yet, but my throat is really, really dry. I keep drinking water... I have rhinitis, so I’m somewhat used to breathing through my mouth, but normally one nostril is blocked and the other is open, so trying to breathe only through my mouth is still uncomfortable. My mouth keeps drying out. I’m already just waiting for them to take out the nasal packing tomorrow.
I came alone to get the surgery, and my guardian came around the time the surgery was ending. So my guardian gave me water and things like that, and I think if a guardian can come, it’s less boring and nice. But it doesn’t seem essential... I can walk around, and of course the hospital staff take care of things if I say I need something. I brought my MacBook, connected to wireless internet, and even replied to company emails! At first I was dazed and kept getting sleepy, but thankfully talking with my guardian and stuff helped me wake up faster, I think. For everyone here whose guardians aren’t coming, I recommend video calling close friends or something..
For must-have items, I think it’d be good to bring a large but lightweight water bottle, and this is obvious, but once you have a splint on, it’s hard to put on clothes, so wear something with a very loose neckline or something that fastens in the front. The highly recommended item I didn’t think of was lip balm! My guardian brought the Kiehl’s squeeze-type lip balm, and usually if I apply that, it stays moist almost all day, you know? But right now I’ve reapplied it several times. My lips are dry too..
The hospital where I had surgery doesn’t normally take photos right after surgery, so I asked, and thankfully they took and sent me photos of how I looked right after surgery, before I woke up/before putting the splint on. Since it takes quite a while to remove the splint, and even after removing it there’ll probably be more swelling, I thought I’d be curious. Right after surgery, the swelling doesn’t seem too severe, so I recommend asking the hospital. You’re curious, after all... You had nose surgery, but you can’t see what shape it is for a long time But I don’t have a front-view photo, only a side view, so I’m a bit curious. I think it’d be good to ask them to take both front and side views.
I thought about it for a really long time, and I’m relieved that all the online and in-person research I did wasn’t useless. Everyone, please look into things carefully, don’t decide in a rush, and since they say postoperative care is also important, I hope you schedule your surgery for a time when you can rest with some leeway afterward and receive surgery without complications! I’m a bit timid, so I don’t think I can share photos publicly, and since I don’t know the surgery result yet, recommending the hospital also feels a bit much... Still, what I want to say is thank you to everyone here who left reviews and answered questions all this time!
[+] Adding today, day 9 after surgery: To say it briefly in one sentence, I recommend it! To write it longer, the day with the packing blocking my nose was the hardest. Breathing through my mouth made my mouth much drier than I expected and all that. They say there are hospitals that block it with packing for 3 days, but if so, I really don’t think I could do it. Thankfully, when I went the next day and got the packing removed, I understood why everyone just waits for the packing to come out hahaha. When you read posts here, there are lots of stories about people worrying right after surgery that their nose looks too upturned, right? I also wondered at first if my nasal tip was too lifted, but as time passes, the swelling definitely goes down and it gets prettier little by little. I liked that the hospital explained postoperative care in detail, and every time I went to the hospital, the director checked my progress. I was able to take some extra time off, so this time I rested thoroughly, and I think recovery is fast too. Of course, minor swelling remains and a slight yellow bruise is still there, but since yesterday, it’s been fine enough to go out with makeup on. I like the shape, and functionally I can breathe well too, so I’m happy!