Same day After entering the operating room, I lay down on the bed myself, and anesthesia was started while I followed the instructions of the nurses, who were busy all around me (make a fist, the needle is going in, we’ll attach a device to your finger, etc., all happening at once in surround sound). I felt like I was about to have a panic attack and was so scared. They put a respirator over my mouth and said I would fall asleep, and I lost consciousness while full of fear.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in the recovery room. As soon as I opened my eyes, the nurse spoke to me and explained the precautions. My face hurt as if I had been struck by lightning. My body had chills and was trembling like an aspen leaf, and soon they warmed the bed, so I got warm. In the middle of all that confusion, my first thought was, what on earth have I done? Phlegm and blood kept going down the back of my nose, so it was so hard to breathe. At one point, something like phlegm or mucus blocked my nose and I couldn’t breathe, so I coughed and vomited foam. I spat it into the trash can. About an hour was hell. I suffered while rubbing my legs until the painkiller took effect. The pain relief kicked in fairly quickly, and I focused only on breathing. People usually say they feel nauseated, but I wasn’t nauseous; the phlegm was the hard part. The oxygen mask and cold compresses, everything bothered me, so I removed them all. The nurse said oxygen was needed for me to come out of anesthesia and told me to keep it on even if it felt stuffy, but with the mask on, it was so hard to breathe that I felt like I would pass out, so I threw it off again and focused solely on breathing, repeatedly dozing off and waking up.
After a 2-hour surgery and about an hour and a half in the recovery room, I was mentally clear enough to go to the bathroom by myself. The express buses home were at 7 and 8, and I decided I should take the 7 o’clock one. That was unfounded confidence from not being fully awake from anesthesia. I had a heavy bag I had brought with me to Seoul, and every time I breathed I had to spit out phlegm and blood, so I wondered whether I could ride a bus for 3 hours or whether I should book accommodation. About 3 hours passed in the recovery room while I was thinking. My body, which had been cold, had recovered enough body temperature that the bed felt hot, and the intervals between spitting out phlegm got longer, so I could breathe somewhat more steadily. I decided to send my bag by parcel delivery and board the bus. (No heavy luggage, bring glasses because you have to remove the contact lenses you were wearing, and you need tissues and a zipper bag to spit phlegm during the trip home. The hospital helped send my luggage by parcel delivery, I left without being able to wear my lenses, and I also received tissues and a zipper bag from the hospital.) I wanted to get a painkiller injection before discharge, but they said a different type of painkiller could make me nauseous, so I judged that it would be better to endure the pain rather than have it interfere with discharge, and I was discharged without getting it.
I changed clothes, wrapped the bandage, put on a brimmed cap, and went out onto the street. I couldn’t get a taxi, so I called one at double fare. My voice wouldn’t come out because of the general anesthesia, so I had a hard time communicating with the taxi driver. Before surgery, I had seen a post saying someone from another region had a nosebleed on the way home. Around the time I was thinking, lucky me, I’m not having a nosebleed, I lowered my head and blood suddenly dripped from my nose. It happened right around when we arrived at the terminal, so I roughly dealt with it with my mask and then handled it in the restroom. The nosebleed stopped quickly. As long as I didn’t lower my head, it was okay.
On the express bus, for 3 hours, I spat out phlegm and blood that clogged me with a choking sound about 3-4 times, and came home while sleeping on and off. From discharge, I was allowed to drink water, so breathing became easier. My head kept thudding against the seat. The bus drove pretty roughly. I got a bit lost at Seoul Express Bus Terminal, but I made it home safely and even drove myself home in my own car. As I got off the bus, I lowered my head to pick up my luggage and got a nosebleed, so I plugged it with tissue and drove home. I drank New Care, took the medicine the hospital gave me, and fell asleep.
Days 1-2 Breathing became much easier than on the day of surgery, and I sometimes coughed because of phlegm and almost vomited, but I focused on the fact that I could breathe comfortably. The pain was really minimal, just a throbbing feeling, and the swelling wasn’t severe either. After taking medicine, I could barely feel any pain. I don’t remember well. I drank New Care, used disinfectant gargle, slept, and repeated that. I got hungry and started eating porridge with a baby spoon.
Days 3-4 I didn’t walk, and I only did cold compresses about once a day. When the swelling was supposed to go down, it hit its peak like a hamster ball. When I woke up after sleeping, the swelling was amazing. Before sleeping, it went down quite a bit, so the variation was severe. I took tons of photos and felt catharsis from the crazy facial contour in app photos. With the regular camera, the contour looked pretty, but because it was swollen and bruised, it looked realistic. The bulldog line that looked like sagging cheeks kept catching my eye. I felt a little relieved when I saw that it existed even in my pre-op photos. I think it looks more noticeable because I’m very swollen.
My voice started coming out on day 4. Before that, it sounded like air leaking and chirping. After cold compresses, the swelling was completely different. I got addicted to taking photos when my condition was good haha (+ I also got square jaw Botox during surgery.)
This is a surgery review pursuing natural beauty.