I’m Having Nose Surgery

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already watched my stories a while back where I shared that I’d be having nose surgery. Either way, I thought I would share the whole story and the details on my blog for those of you who are curious or are potentially having the surgery as well.

On April 30th, I will be having a septorhinoplasty. This surgery will not only correct my severe deviated septum but the shape of my nose as well.

Why?

I’ve had issues with my nose for as long as I can remember. Horrible sinus infections, regular bloody noses, constant congestion, breathing issues, etc. I would go to the doctor for sinus issues but never went to an ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat doctor). Honestly I was always worried about what they would say. Just looking at me, you can see that my nose is crooked so I always assumed I had a deviated septum.

Last Summer when I was preparing for a trip to Mexico I decided to start running. It wasn’t until then that I realized how much difficulty I had breathing through my nose. While running, my nose would run and I would have to breathe through my mouth the whole time. If you’ve done this, you know how bad it hurts your throat to mouth breathe while running. I finally decided that I would just “see what the ENT says” and made an appointment for November when I got back from vacation.

ENT Visit

November came and I went to see the ENT, she examined my nose and then did an endoscopy where she took a long metal rod and placed it up my nose (after numbing it) and looked through it to see what the inside of my nose looked like. It felt weird and made me want to sneeze. When she was done, she explained to me that I had a severe deviated septum and that while she could perform a septoplasty (which corrects the septum on the inside) she would recommend that I see a plastic surgeon instead because my nose had a lot more issues than she could fix. A septoplasty would correct my breathing to about 75% better but she felt it would make more sense to fix everything at once so I wouldn’t need multiple surgeries in the future. This meant a more serious nose surgery.

Plastic Surgeon Visit

The ENT referred me to a plastic surgeon that my insurance covered which was MUCH appreciated. I got lucky in that this plastic surgeon is one of the best in the area and actually uses very modern techniques for his surgeries. When I met with the plastic surgeon in mid-December, he came into the room and first asked me to explain why my nose was bothering me. I explained my symptoms to him and then he did an examination of my nose, both inside and out. While he was examining it he was talking surgeon/nose lingo to his scribe who was taking notes. I had no idea what he was saying during this time. Haha!

When the surgeon was done examining my nose he told me he found 4 main issues with my nose. I was a bit surprised because the ENT only mentioned the deviated septum and the crooked nose. He said I definitely had a deviated septum, in fact, the right side of my nose is 80% blocked and the left side is 25% blocked. Also, my actual nose is tilted to the side which blocks my breathing even more. My turbinates (our built in humidifiers) are swollen and my nasal valves have collapsed, both things that affect my breathing. It was eye-opening to learn just how many things were affecting my breathing ability. He then took photos of my nose from all angles. (Seriously can’t believe I’m sharing these because they are AWFUL!)

Surgery Details

The surgeon explained to me that he will be doing an ‘open rhinoplasty’ which means he will be cutting under my nose and lifting it up (I know, makes me sick to think about!) to work on. He will be straightening my septum as well as the outside shape of my nose. He will also be shrinking down my turbinates as they are currently so swollen they are causing constant post-nasal drip.

The part of the surgery I’m most nervous for is when he corrects my nasal valve collapse. He will be taking cartilage from my ear to build up my nose towards the tip to keep my nostrils from closing when I breathe in. Right now, when I take a breath in through my nose, instead of opening to allow air flow, my nostrils close. My surgeon does not use splints or packing in the nose. I am grateful for this as I’ve heard it’s painful to have those removed. All stitches he is using will dissolve on their own and I will only have to wear a cast on my nose for about a week.

My insurance will be covering this surgery as it is strictly medical. We are not doing anything cosmetic to my nose. It will be an outpatient surgery under general anesthesia. I will be in and out of the hospital in just one day. I’m not necessarily scared for the surgery as I know I will be asleep and I also have pain medications. However, I am terrified of the IV as I’ve never had one before! I’m also worried about how I will look after.

Questions?

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I know this is probably not an interesting topic for everyone but I figured if I’m having nose surgery I might as well share the process for those who may be in the same position. I’ll continue to share the process with you all through my blog and Instagram. If you have any questions, let me know!