Building the bridge without an implant

I have had many days off lately, so staying up all night has become a habit—this is bad.. I will probably fall asleep after breakfast today and wake up late in the afternoon.. I cannot sleep, so I am writing about my first cosmetic surgery. First, my criteria for choosing a clinic. I consulted one large hospital, one medium-sized hospital, and two private clinics opened by doctors who had worked at large hospitals. The large hospital was surprisingly cheap, but the doctor looked too young and spoke like an AI, so I felt I would have to negotiate with an AI if anything went wrong later. I had heard so often that rhinoplasty frequently requires revision, and my life has not always been full of good things, so I assumed my nose could also go wrong and passed on the attractive price. The medium-sized hospital kept saying they would use donated dermis even though I repeatedly said I wanted autologous cartilage. I said I did not want donated tissue.. they said autologous dermis was not possible, lol. I kept asking for autologous cartilage!! At the end, they reluctantly said they could do it if I insisted, but could not guarantee the result, so I passed again. I liked both private clinics. They understood the aesthetic I wanted and agreed to use my preferred material. The estimates were similar (autologous costal cartilage plus my own tissue to build the bridge), but one clinic could not address function, while the other saw a deviated septum on CT and said it had to be treated together for a stable result. That felt more trustworthy, so I chose it: [Clinic A]. The result also qualified for insurance reimbursement, so I was satisfied with the price (because of my old policy, I got more than 100% back, haha). I did not want only the tip elevated; I wanted the bridge raised a little too. It became genuinely higher all the way to the bridge than I expected, which is what I am happiest about. I thought the bridge would barely change without an implant, but the before-and-after photos show a bigger difference than expected. I used autologous rib cartilage, and the chest incision scar was smaller than expected. But honestly, saying it did not hurt would be a lie. The rib-donor area hurt quite a lot for about a week, and on some days I was more conscious of my chest than my nose. My nose was blocked so I could not breathe, while my chest hurt so I could not freely lie down or sit up. If I had revision surgery at that point, I would really die—the fear hit me. What surprised me about this clinic was that the director personally checked my nose every time I went in for treatment after surgery. They kept checking it personally until the stitches were removed, which I liked. I felt they would not abandon me even if something went wrong. Now the tip is gradually becoming more natural, and I am satisfied that my bridge has risen this much without an implant. I still need to wait and see, but I remember searching extensively because there were few reviews when I was looking into implant-free rhinoplasty, so I am leaving mine here.