A few days ago I had a mental breakdown and wrote a post in a really disorganized way. I’m still just as distressed, but I want to write again and organize things, partly as a record for a future revision surgery.
It was my first surgery, and the procedure was implant-free rhinoplasty, osteotomy, hump correction, bulbous nose correction, autologous costal cartilage + septal cartilage tip elevation. On day 2 after surgery, the packing was removed, and until day 6, the first week, I got through without any particular problems. But on the morning of day 7, when the splint was supposed to be removed, I was sitting down when blood suddenly started flowing from my left nostril. The amount wasn’t large, just a slow trickle, so I didn’t think much of it. That afternoon on day 7, I went to the clinic and told them while they were taking off the splint that I was bleeding a little. I lay down and they wiped it briefly, and it seemed to stop, so the clinic also judged it to be simple postoperative bleeding. I came home.
But as soon as I left the clinic, it started flowing little by little again. Since it was a small amount, I watched it thinking it would stop, but it still hadn’t stopped by 11–12 that night. I thought something was definitely wrong and contacted the clinic. They inserted Merocel as an emergency measure at dawn.
The next day, day 8. I revisited the clinic in the afternoon, and after removing the Merocel, they said that judging by the state of the cotton, it didn’t seem like major bleeding. (It didn’t feel like the director examined the inside of my nose carefully; he just shone a flashlight once and that was it.) Even after removing the Merocel, the bleeding continued, so he wiped the inside with a cotton swab and said the sutured area seemed to have opened slightly, suggesting additional suturing. They added about one stitch. After the suture, the bleeding seemed to stop, but there was still a little bleeding until that evening.
Day 9. The bleeding stopped. The nasal swelling continued. Rather than feeling like it was swelling more, it felt like the original swelling was just persisting. The nasal tip had been red since after surgery, but there wasn’t redness over the entire nose. I got through it without major discomfort.
On day 10, the nosebleed started again. Previously, the nosebleed had flowed downward toward the columella, but on day 10 it started coming toward the nasal bridge. The direction had changed, so I thought it was a little strange, but the amount was small, just enough to slowly pool and flow, so I didn’t think it was a big deal. I don’t think I had any pain either. I informed the clinic, and they recommended I come in the next day.
On day 11, when I woke up, the bleeding had stopped. At the clinic in the afternoon, they touched it once and said there was still a little swelling, but since the bleeding had stopped, we should watch it. There was no detailed examination inside the nose or anything like that at all. From that evening, a little pain started in my nose. A throbbing? kind of pain. I thought it was because my activity level had increased after recovering, so I didn’t think much of it. (This is just my thought, but maybe inflammation started around this time because of the pooled blood.)
Day 12. Rather than blood, yellow nasal discharge was coming out mixed in. It flowed from both sides, and although the amount wasn’t large, it kept coming out enough that I had to hold cotton to my nose. The pain wasn’t severe, but there was some discomfort. I didn’t think the yellow fluid was exudate either; I just thought it was a runny nose... I should have noticed something was strange even then.
Until then, the clinic had also kept saying everything was okay, so I think I also came to feel like there probably wasn’t any problem anymore.
Day 13. Strangely, my body felt very tired. My nose hurt even from things like quickly turning my head or the vibration from walking. If I rested, it got better again. It was Sunday, and the next day was the day to remove the intranasal and autologous costal cartilage sutures, so I didn’t think to go to the clinic right away and just got through the day somehow.
On day 14 in the afternoon, I visited the clinic and had the autologous costal cartilage and intranasal sutures removed. Then the director shone a flashlight inside my nose and said it looked like something had accumulated. He said we should do open irrigation, so it was performed as an emergency procedure that evening. The septal area inside the nose was definitely very swollen. Even until right before I entered the operating room, they said there probably wouldn’t be a need to remove the cartilage, but maybe the condition was very bad, because I came out after having all the cartilage removed as well. After removal, because the support was lost, my nose shape is deformed and upturned. There is also a risk of contracture later.
I wrote it all out, and I feel really upset. I thought complications were something that happened to other people, but I ended up becoming that person.. I feel so sorry to my parents, and I resent myself a lot too. Regretting it now won’t change anything, but...
I guess I need to keep myself together mentally.
For now, I’m planning to focus on recovery while receiving outpatient treatment at the clinic where I had surgery. I don’t know how much my nose will return, but if I end up having revision surgery, I’m thinking of doing it at a university hospital. Six months feels so unbearably long. Let’s stay strong.