My Story
Hi! My name is Lindsey. I’m
a 20 year-old nursing student at West Virginia University. I’d always considered rhinoplasty, mostly
because I was blessed with my “family nose”. (Think old white haired Englishmen with glasses resting on top of
a huge hump of a nose) My dad had constantly told me that a crooked nose was
a sign of nobility in Roman times, but this is the 21st century. Despite
this, my parents always played with the idea of giving me a new nose as a college graduation gift.
But this past March, 2 days
before my birthday I broke my nose! Great birthday present, huh? I basically
had what is called a vaso-vagal response, causing me to become light headed and go face down on the floor. Those who gathered around me as I came to told me that they could already tell my nose was broken and that
it was bleeding pretty bad. So, I spent the next 6 hours in the ED (Emergency
Department, cause it’s not a room anymore) going through a series of ECG’s, CAT scans and X-rays. I also found out that I’m allergic to morphine as a result of this visit. Finally, after ruling out that I didn’t have a heart arrhythmia or any neck damage, they sent me
one my way, with instructions that I was going to hear from an oral surgeon about having my nose surgically reset in a few
days. But I never heard from anyone and no one followed up with me.
Needless to say, the results weren’t pretty. On top of my existing
hump, my nose now slanted to the left and I had a deviated septum that made it very difficult to breath through my left nostril. I would later learn that the turbinates---the mucus membranes inside the nasal passage
that heat and moisten the air—had been damaged and healed incorrectly. All
these things were and would continue to cause me sinus problems if not repaired. But
I’m getting ahead of myself.
As you would expect, my nose was very tender in the weeks following the fracture, especially if I would forget and
bump it; definitely not a pleasant feeling. Even after the normal 6-8 week that
it would take the bone’s to mend, I was still having pain and still do, almost 5 months after the fact. Also, I had the feeling that my nose was constantly stuffed up in my left nostril and was getting sinus
headaches, something I had never had before the fracture. My mother was also
concerned about the new shape, and encouraged me to have it fixed, but I set the issue aside.
My nose was already crooked, what was a little more bending?
My stepmother is a nurse-anesthetist who knows and works with a talented ENT
who does reconstructive nasal surgeries. She raved about how skilled he was,
and I liked the idea of having the damage repaired, but was sure that my insurance company would not cover the type of surgery
I needed, so again, I just set the idea aside. Finally she said that I couldn’t
hurt to at least visit his office and see what he thought needed to be done,
and I agreed, so she got in touch with his office and made me an appointment. Before
I go any further, I should make something more clear. I live and attend college
in Morgantown West Virginia, but my doctor’s office is in Sayre, PA. This is almost a 7 hour drive. It was like I was making a pilgrimage in the quest for a new and better nose. But I got to visit my step-mom for the weekend, so I didn’t mind the drive. After shopping all weekend, I went in for my first appointment on Monday June 28. I have to say that I was very excited about what he would say and reveled in the definite possibility that
I would be able to have my nose repaired and even fix the hump I was born with. I
was also worried that he would say that there is nothing wrong with me except that I have an ugly nose and send me on my way. Fortunately, the latter was not the case.
