PennyLane

Hi,

I had my first consult today with a plastic surgeon for a rhinoplasty revision. I've been wanting a revision every since I had my first surgery done 20 years ago. It's not like I'm monstrously deformed, but the tip of my nose is, nevertheless, noticeably misshapen.

I've been researching procedures and reading this website on and off for years. Now is the first time that I've felt I might be able to come up with the money to do it.

I'm really, really scared. The doctor I spoke to today was very nice, has good credentials, and seemed very confident. I've researched him like crazy and can't find a single bad comment about him. I really liked him in person, as well.

I'm mainly upset because he confirmed what I thought - the tip of my nose is pretty much destroyed. There is just about no cartilage on the left side, and the airways is slowly collapsing, and there is too much on the right side, and it's poking out in a funny way. He said he would have to essentially construct me a new tip from nasal cartilage.
I can't even tell you how scary that sounds to me.

Could someone please pm me with some recommendations for South Florida revision specialists? I want to get a few more opinions before I make a decision.

Thank you so much!

Norm

Hey PennyLane,

I can't offer any info on South Florida surgeons -- hopefully others can -- but instead just wanted to clog your thread with moral support. I think you're being very, very wise to consult other surgeons, even with your good feeling about this guy. It can never hurt to gather more information and opinions, I feel.

And scary is a painful but good place to be. Two things I don't want to hear from a surgeon are, "it's a piece of cake" or "it's impossible." I'd much rather hear: there are ways to address this, even though it is technically challenging. It's scary to hear, but it also tells you you're on the right track as far as doing your research.

Sorry you had to wait so long to address your primary surgeon's missteps, but in any case I just wanted to wish you luck. You seem to be approaching it in the right way.

PennyLane

Norm,

Thank you so much for the moral support! I had written a reply and sent it, but it never went through. Let me try again.

After I had written the first post to which you replied, I continued to research the surgeon I had consulted with. I have more reservations now than I did before, because his price seemed strangely low, considering what I was asking to have done; he didn't give me a lot of details about how he planned to achieve the things he was talking about; and I found a few mentions of him on this site that gave me some pause. He also had scheduled about 15 of us all for the same time. Is that normal? I found it a little disturbing, but I might be overly sensitive.

I'm originally from Southern California. I had a trip booked for next week to go visit my friends and family. I called Dr. Jay Calvert's office, and I have a consultation with him on Friday the 11th in Newport Beach. I'm excited to meet him and I'm hopeful. Since my whole family and my best friends still live in Orange County, I do have the OC and LA surgeons as options for me. I'd really like to meet
Drs. Solieman and Litner. My experience in researching these surgeons is that once you narrow down the list to the experts who are frequently talked about on this site, opinions are strong and vary greatly. I guess it really does all boil down to an individual rapport between patient and doctor.

If, though, there are any really awful doctors I should know about, please, please someone pm me so I don't end up getting butchered. Again.

Long story short, I appreciate the moral support. I'm scared to have the surgery and I'm a little depressed because it's going to take me forever to come up with the money. Am I correct that I am most likely looking at somewhere between 9- and $15,000? I just got married, so money is practically nonexistent right now. I have decent credit but don't know if I could get financing. Also, those surgery-financing companies seem shady to me, like Care Credit. If I'm wrong, please let me know.

If anyone has any advice or just has moral support to throw my way - it's been a pretty tough week - that would be awesome!

Thank you!

Mr. Z

I would get some more info from this guy about how he will go about reconstructing the tip. Get as many details as possible. Do this with every consult and post the info for us.

That price range sounds about right for a revision in Southern California. Keep in mind Care Credit charges interest retroactively after the first year and it's at a high rate if you do not pay the balance in full before then.

robyne00

Hi pennylane!!!

Feel free to PM for some recommendations.

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