Thursday, October 23, 2008

Nose Surgery *Graphic*

My nose surgery is on its way to being scheduled. I just have to wait to get my paper in the mail telling me when it will be. If all goes according to plan it will be about a 2 1/2 hr surgery. It will take place in 2 parts. The first part will be performed by the ENT. He will endoscopiclly reduce my turbinates. Here is a definition of what a turbinate is :The anatomy of your nasal cavity has shelves and folds that warm the air and add moisture to it before it reaches your lungs, which makes breathing much more comfortable. These shelves are called the turbinates. Here is a website with a picture of them http://www.commoncold.org/undrstnd.htm
Mine are almost always swollen, making it hard for me to breath through my nose. After he is done the plastic Surgeon will do a rhinoplasty/septoplasty using the open approach. This is the part of the surgery that will take the longest...about 2 hrs if all goes well. The rhinoplasty I'm getting isn't because I hate the shape of my nose, its necessary to help me breath. He will make a cut around the front part of my nose and "flip it up" (Hence the "open approach") after that he will break my nose and re-a line it. He will make graphs with my cartilage and broaden my nose. He said it would look better that way also because I have a very narrow nose. So it will end up 8mm wider when hes done.

Here is the definition of Rhinoplasty. The second paragraph describes why I need the surgery. What Is Rhinoplasty?
Noses come in all shapes and sizes, and are often the focal point of the entire face. Today, noses can be reshaped, reformed and redesigned in nose surgery called "rhinoplasty," also known as a nose job . Rhinoplasty surgery can thin the nose, turn it up, augment it, shorten it, elongate it or otherwise bring it into balance with the rest of the face.
Although a nose job is often completely cosmetic — done strictly to improve appearance — it can include procedures that improve the function of the nose by helping open up the breathing passages. Septoplasty (surgery to reshape the septum, the vertical wall of bone and cartilage between the two nostrils) is done to ease breathing problems caused by blockages. It is often performed to correct a deviated, or crooked, septum. A deviated septum can be the root cause of a crooked nose, so septoplasty can have both cosmetic and reconstructive aspects.

It looks like the surgery will be in December now. Hopefully the beginning. Ill keep everyone updated and also add some before and after shots of my nose.

Please keep me in your prayers as it gets closer to surgery time. I'm extremely nervous!

2 comments:

kim said...

i'm going to be honest with you...i didn't read the majority of this post because you added the word "graphic" to it and that scared me. i had visions of that picture of the "ear incident" and threw up in my mouth a little. i did, however, read the end and will be praying you have a speedy recovery! ((hugs))

Cuau said...

I had that surgery when I was a teen, is not so bad. Well at least not, when you have your mom to take care of you =) and of course you don't have a toddler to tend. I'll be praying for you