I had surgery on my bulbous nose 2 years ago, but my nasal tip didn’t rise as much as I expected and my nose width didn’t really get smaller, so I had a nose revision surgery this time, and because my face has always had a bony structure, my impression looked sharp, and I had no cheek fat so I looked gaunt, and in photos taken by other people I disliked how my face looked wide because of the side cheekbones, so I had 3D cheekbone reduction surgery, and my chin was a bit wide and a bit long, so I also had a T osteotomy, so I had three surgeries at the same time: nose revision, cheekbones, and chin tip.
1. On the day of surgery I think I asked myself hundreds of times whether I should just not do it. It wasn’t a surgery anyone was forcing me to do; I had gone to consultations on my own, booked it with my own money, and still lol I was scared.. I even had a bad dream on the day of surgery, so while riding in the car I kept wondering whether I should just go back home. Still, since I had already worked up the courage, I thought I should see it through to the end and forced myself to keep moving.. I met with the nose doctor and the facial contouring doctor again, heard the post-op precautions once more, and went into the operating room. I was so, so scared that I could barely move my feet. After I lay down on the operating table and was put under anesthesia, I don’t remember anything, and a surgery that started around 11 o’clock felt like it was around 5 when I opened my eyes. From that point on... it was truly hell.. My throat felt like it was being torn apart because of the anesthesia gas, but I couldn’t drink water, my stomach felt insanely nauseous, and they said I had to take deep breaths to reduce the nausea, but if I took deep breaths then my throat would hurt even more like it was being torn apart because I was so dry... my face was swollen up, there was a blood tube in my mouth and an IV in my hand, so even moving was uncomfortable... sigh.. My nose was packed with cotton, so I could only breathe through my mouth, and every time I breathed through my mouth, my throat kept drying out and it was honestly so hard... even if someone offered me 100 million won to do it again, I would never do it. I kept thinking I was crazy, why did I even get surgery and choose this suffering for myself, and waited for things to get better. Those 4 hours without being able to drink water were the slowest time ever.. I was sleepy but couldn’t sleep, my throat hurt but I couldn’t drink water, and when I felt nauseous I had to breathe deeply, but deep breathing made my throat hurt again 아.... Even now, thinking back on it, I really.. hate it so much... For 4 hours I wasn’t supposed to drink water, but my throat honestly felt like it was going to rip apart, so I only tried to moisten it? For the first hour or two I gritted my teeth and endured, and after 2 hours I secretly drank just tiny little sips, like literally ant-sized amounts. It was less like drinking and more like wetting my throat, only 3 or 4 drops at a time when it really felt like it was about to tear apart. Breathing through my mouth also dried out my saliva so there was no saliva left... After those hellish 4 hours passed, when I drank water I felt a little better, but there was even more hell waiting. My throat improved, but I couldn’t sleep... I’d sleep for 5 minutes and wake up, sleep for 5 minutes and wake up. I don’t think I slept even 30 minutes all night. When I woke up and looked at the clock, I wasn’t kidding, only 10 minutes or 5 minutes had passed.... there really is nothing like hell.. From 5 p.m., when I regained consciousness after surgery, until 10 a.m. the next morning, you can think of it as 17 hours of this same situation. It was just this pattern repeated over and over. Breathe through mouth -> throat hurts and wake up every 5 minutes -> drink water -> need to pee -> bathroom -> back to bed -> breathe through mouth -> throat hurts and wake up every 5 minutes -> drink water -> need to pee -> bathroom ->.... Honestly, nothing in my life has made time pass slower than even the most boring lecture, I was the most exhausted I’ve ever been and hated it so, so much. For reference, even just breathing was so hard that my phone and TV didn’t even register in my eyes and I just blanked out.. It wasn’t that breathing was hard because I couldn’t breathe, it was the act of breathing itself that was hard. It was painful because I had to breathe only through my mouth. I could breathe, though. For reference, before surgery I was worried about whether I might suffocate because I was having both nose and facial contouring surgery at the same time, but you don’t need to worry about that. It’s just that my throat hurt so much and I was so exhausted.. The first day was the closest thing to hell in my life.. Even though I had read a lot of reviews and already knew these things, it was still far too hard for me to handle
On the second day, I still couldn’t sleep. Since my nose was packed with cotton, I had to breathe through my mouth, which gave me a sore throat too, and because my period overlapped with it, I had throat pain, back pain, and stomach pain all at once, so on the second day I think I woke up once every 20 minutes all night long. Still, since I was going to the hospital tomorrow to get the nose packing removed, I told myself to just endure a little longer, and I survived with all my strength. The second day of my life that was hell again...
On the third day, they removed the cotton from inside my nose. It felt so refreshing that I felt like I could live again. Food had no taste because my nose was blocked, but once I could taste again, it was nice. After removing the cotton inside my nose and breathing through my nose, it felt like my throat calmed down a bit. Still, I definitely couldn’t sleep deeply. All night I was basically just lying in bed with my eyes closed.. My face was swollen like a bulldog, and the swelling was at its worst that day. For meals, I microwaved a different kind of porridge every mealtime that I had stocked up at Emart before surgery. The grains in the porridge were pretty big, so they got stuck in my mouth, so I blended it and ate it, and that was the first time I realized that blending food really makes everything lose its taste. I painfully learned how important texture is.
From the fourth day, I managed to sleep a little. I think I woke up once every hour. But every time I was just about to fall asleep, my throat would keep feeling itchy and I’d keep coughing, so I couldn’t sleep When I lay down, just as I was about to drift off, my throat would suddenly start itching and I had to get up and cough, so I kept not being able to fall asleep. I don’t know if it was because of the cold or because the anesthesia damaged my throat and made me cough, but honestly because of the coughing I barely slept until the fourth day.. If I slept for 1 hour, that was a lot.
From the fifth day, I slept a little. I think I slept for two or three hours at a time. My face was still puffed up. The swelling was at its worst on days 4 and 5. What if the candy-like swelling doesn’t go down? Every time I looked in the mirror, I’d get depressed seeing my ugly face because of the swelling, but if I covered just the cheek swelling a little with my hand, I’d feel happy again seeing my prettier face, so all day long my mood kept going up and down while I stood in front of the mirror staring at myself.
From the sixth day, the swelling gradually started to go down. My gums kept feeling tight, and the area around my mouth and the front chin felt slightly hard from swelling, so I was worried and searched for reviews everywhere, but I felt relieved when I saw that most people say that happens after chin surgery.
On the seventh day, I went to the hospital to get the stitches removed from my nose and the parts where the cheekbone and ear cartilage had been removed. I got teary-eyed a little when the nose stitches were removed. And then I saw the doctor and also had my one-week progress checked. Looking at the X-ray and the shape of the bones that were operated on, I could tell the surgery came out really well. Once the swelling goes down, I think it’ll become really slim! The doctor also said the surgery went well. I happily received about 30 to 40 minutes of swelling care, exfoliation care, and circulation massage, and came home.
It’s been a week now, and honestly, the swelling is at a level that other people probably wouldn’t notice. I have so little facial fat that I’m still not used to the swelling, but someone who doesn’t know me probably wouldn’t think my face is swollen, and someone who knows me would just think my cheeks are a little fuller? Instead, the tight feeling in my gums and the hard swelling under my lower lip in the front chin area still haven’t gone down. The tight feeling in my gums is slowly decreasing. When I got home, I also went for another 2-hour walk in the evening, and I’ve been keeping up with the pulling sensation and warm compresses whenever I can.
I can’t wait for the swelling to go down so I can post before-and-after photos!!! I honestly had no expectations for my nose, but the doctor clearly put so much care into it that I’m completely satisfied!!! I’ll have to wait until the swelling goes down to judge the cheekbones and chin tip, but my cheekbones are definitely gone, and compared to before, my face looks narrower, younger, and the lines are softer, which is seriously amazing. My skeletal-looking face has become completely soft-looking happiness.. If I cup my face with both hands, the cheekbones are really gone lol I can’t wait for the chin swelling to go down so I can see the finished face
Before surgery, I searched for reviews all over the place and each one was so precious. Right now I’m on day 9, but I’m completely, completely satisfied with both the nose and facial contouring If anyone has questions, I’ll kindly answer everything, so feel free to ask anything!~