DES and hump rhino at Wannabe! (15 days post op)

[Bruh]

Hello everyone!

It's Bruh in the Kakao chats and discord! I am sharing my review of my experience of getting non-incisional DES with ptosis correction and my no implant hump removal with short nose correction surgery at Wannabe with Dr. Cha!

For a bit of background, I'm a Canadian-Korean with very little Korean knowledge! I can speak, read, listen, and write some Korean but it's very basic. I hated my hump nose for as long as I remembered (I had some people even comment negatively on it...), but I finally got the courage to get it done when my dad suggested plastic surgery for my nose. As "weird" as it might seem, my dad was only looking out for me and my self esteem issues, and he figured this was one way to go about it. I was totally glad I went ahead with the surgery!

I had been researching for almost a year, and I know how stressful it is to find any good reviews or information, so I have shared my excel sheet on my research on some Kakao chats for people to use for their own research! (If you ask around the 2020 Kakao chats you might be able to find it; however I will not post publicly on here due to promoters....) I had also photoshopped my own nose (on the profile side) to see what would probably be required, and it turns out that doing this helps you predict a lot of what to expect and how much bone to shave and etc, especially for my case!

I have consulted with 11 clinics online, and narrowed my short list to Wannabe, Cocoline, and IVE!

The goal of my procedures is symmetry for my eyes, and for a straight natural looking nose! I wasn't looking for drastic changes, because I felt changing my humped nose to a straight nose was pretty dramatic already!

Forgot to mention this isn't sponsored in any way. Just really happy with my experience and I hope to share my experience!

Edited March 19, 2020 by Bruh

[Bruh]

Here is a quick run down on the clinics I've consulted:
- UVOM: This was my top choice, until I discovered some of their reviews were fake, and someone told how they were badly botched by them on Kakao. My online consultation with them also gave me a bad impression; they wouldn't book an in-person consultation until I had confirmed my flight.... and after I had confirmed my flight to accomodate the dates I wanted to meet them, they told me they couldn't do it that day. Uh what? I crossed them off. In hindsight, it was extremely weird of them to do that because no other clinics had any issues with making sure my flight dates were locked in and I was glad I didn't go with them.

- Hyundai: The consultant I was talking to laughed when I asked if no implant surgery was possible for my nose, saying it was impossible. That gave me the impression they were not very skilled with my nose case, and I decided not to go with them.

- Cocoline: They have an English Kakaotalk! Because of their professionalism and good reputation, they made my top 3! They also thought I wouldn't need an implant, which was great! They did end up having to ask me to change my appointment time, due to the coronavirus; I guess they need to scrub down their entire clinic and need some downtime for that! But I didn't mind it too much! They also said that there's a consultation fee of something like 10,000 won. That's pretty cheap, so I didn't mind!

- IVE: They don't have an English consultant here, so I (poorly) used Google translate which later created a lot of confusion, but they were very polite and kind. They also mentioned that I wouldn't need implants!

- Wannabe: Alice is the English consultant here and a fellow Canadian! She was extremely smart and knowledgeable which instantly won me over. I was super surprised how much she knew compared to the other consultants I've spoken to about my nose and eyes. Also she was super friendly!! I wasn't sure at the time whether or not to go with them due to the lack of reviews and information, but after seeing how some people went there and gotten great results, I felt more safe to continue with them! It also helped that Dr. Cha was reputable for being honest! I also saw that Dr. Cha specialized in hump rhinoplasty, and had a talk explaining his methods! It impressed me enough to continue with them all the way!

- Naturalism: I really wanted to book here, but around the time the coronavirus was peaking in Korea, Naturalism decided to close their doors to ALL foreigners... such a shame! I heard their eyes and noses were good!!!

- Kowon: All I asked here was if they had an English translator, and they do not.  I took a look at the doctor's twitter, and found some of his examples, but weirdly, the noses all look off-centered.... it was enough to turn me off.

- Nana: I actually really liked my consulation with them online! Their examples looked really good, and they also said no implant was possible for me! I was booking with Dr. Jang, whom they had reccomended. However, I was in my "should I go to Korea or no" phase, and when someone shared how they got botched at Nana by someone called Dr. Lim (which was suggested to them), who they recognize officially as a doctor on their website but for some reason now claim he isn't? I got scared and backed off and used coronavirus as an excuse.

- Top Face: I realized that they were in cahoots with Gangnam Medical Center (which is where I got my translator) and I felt off about how they promoted them to me. I heard the clinic was a mixed bag. Their prices looked good, but I wasn't confident about them for my nose.

- With/We (Korean Spelling: 위드): I heard a lot about this clinic through Naver! However, they suggested silicone, so I decided to not go with them! They only speak Korean and do not have an English translator!

- Dr. Jin's Premium Nose Clinic: This guy can only be reached by his email! I found it on Google (where they list the clinic's address, map, reviews, etc under the contact section) He was very prompt in his responses! However, his online assessment was very brief and he didn't really go into detail like the other clinics did. He also charged money up front for an in-person consultation ($45 USD), and you need to book way in advance and put in a deposit to grab a slot for your arrival. I wasn't sure I was comfortable putting in a deposit before meeting them face to face; plus his prices were STEEP and also in USD. If I had more money, I would consider going with him, but if that was the case, I would've just done my nose in the States, where travel is cheap and everyone speaks English perfectly, and the conditions of the coronavirus relatively safer.  (Because at the time they had no cases)

Edited June 2, 2020 by Bruh
formatting!

[Bruh]

For a quick look-see of my progression, here are 2 charts I have put together for my eyes and my nose! I will write more in detail about them in the next couple posts!

 

[Bruh]

Saturday, February 29 - Sunday, March 1st: Flight day! It was a hard decision. My bf and I weren't sure if we would be able to return to Canada due to the coronavirus outbreak in Korea. However, I'm glad we went! We decided it would be better to go before things get worse and we would have to put off our plans for up to another whole year. (My job is not flexible with time off) We landed in Korea around 5pm Korean Time, and we just explored the area a bit and checked into our Airbnb and went to bed!

Monday, March 2nd (Consulation day):
IVE: I consulted at IVE (for both eyes and nose) at 10am with a translator I hired for this occasion from Gangnam Medical Tour; they do not have an in-house translator. However, Dr. Jang (the one I consulted with) speaks a tiny bit of English!
The clinic looked nice and clean; lots of hand sanitizer available and everyone wearing masks. There were 2 people in the waiting room (a mom and her daughter I think) and I think they were Korean. It's hard to say what clinic's popularity is like amid the coronavirus situation. But these guys still came lol!

Desk ladies were really nice but were confused at first because I had accidentally booked the wrong date to consult them in person. (It was a translation error on my part; I used Google translate and I will NEVER AGAIN...) My poor translator had to figure the issue out and explain to me... we didn't realize the mistake I made until much later. Anyways, they were SUPER accomodating though and let me consult the doctor anyways. They took me into a tiny room to take photos, and left us in a separate waiting room until the doctor was available.

There was a consultant who joined us (Nam, Jung Ah) in the room; we met Dr. Jang, who was reccomended to me during my Kakao consultation. He was super nice and friendly! They pulled up my photos on their computer screen (which I looked really gross and bloated in) and I remember remarking "ugh my big face" in English and Dr. Jang told me "No, it's very cute!" in English, which made me and my bf laugh; my bf was very happy to hear him say that and was totally charmed by him.

The stories were true, he was very meticulous and pulled up this wire instrument to create the creases on my eyes and measured using an actual ruler. He also felt my nose by touching it and feeling for my bone and cartilage. They stuck two qtips up my nose to show how much they can extend it too.
Then he gave his suggestions; it was exactly as I had thought (non incisional for my eye symmetry, open rhino for no implant hump reduction and osteotomy) the only thing was, he suggested something called Aloderm for the part where my bridge and nose tip meets. He said it would smooth the transition between these areas. Apparently this is trendy in Korea at the moment... however I felt uncomfortable using a material I hadn't heard of in rhinoplasty.

He had to go afterwards, and Jung Ah and the rest of us lead us to her office to discuss the pricing and if I had any further questions to ask. She was super nice and friendly, but she kind of kept talking over my translator. The thing with me is that; my Korean is OK, so I was hearing like 2 voices at once and understanding both of them somewhat and it was a bit chaotic in that sense haha.

I asked questions about symmetry (because I realized this was a common concern in the PS community) and Jung Ah told me that they couldn't guarantee 100% symmetry because not everyone is 100% symmetrical and this kind of thinking would drive someone nuts. She showed us her own nose, which had some nostril assymmetry and it's true; the assymmetry is slight and doesn't really stand out. My translator even agreed and told me that this is a common sentiment amongst all clinics. She also tried to explain the aloderm thing even further; they insert the aloderm inside the 3rd layer of your skin; it is an artificial material. But anyways, because they kept talking over each other, I could barely understand, which was fine, cause I was uncomfortable with that idea anyways.

Anyways, the pricing came down to:
- 1,650,000 won for eyes
- 3,300,000 won for basic nose
- 880,000 won for hump reduction
- 1,650,000 won for osteotomy
- 50,000 won for aloderm
And additional costs (which isn't written in the notes my translator took for me; I'm assuming it's fees for scanning and blood test) the total is: 7,980,000 won. This isn't that bad and is within my budget. My translator tried to ask if there were any discounts, but Jung Ah said no, and mentioned how their prices are quite low already. I forgot whether or not VAT was available, but I think it was.

IVE is best known for their natural eyes, so if you guys want to do just that, I think they are a safe bet. I only consulted nose because I saw that they also do noses and I wanted to see what their opinions were. Anyways, was a positive experience! My bf was super pleased with the consultation because it really looked like they knew what they were talking about and they were also very patient and kind.

WANNABE: We taxi'd to Wannabe right after IVE for our 2pm consult! No **** ups here, because Alice (who I had also been talking with through Kakao!) speaks PERFECT English. Dr. Cha (who I consulted with!) also knows really good English; he is just too shy to speak it apparently!

The clinic is very sleek; looked the most modern out of the 3 places I've consulted! I met Alice, who is JUST as sweet and friendly as she is on Kakao, and she took our temperature and thankfully we were healthy! (We were warned if we have a fever, we could not proceed!) We also had to show our passport so they can check our travel history. (For coronavirus reasons) My bf and I only traveled within North America which were several months ago, so we weren't worried.

I later had a CT scan (free), and was moved to the consulation room to wait for Dr. Cha. He came in with his mask on (I guess he had just finished surgery? Or he was being careful!) and he checked my eyes and nose the same way they did at IVE. (Using instrument for my eyes, q tips for my nose, touching my bridge, etc. No ruler though!)

He was very kind and gentle! Alice had translated that he thinks that silicone is unnecessary for me, because an implant would not work with my facial structure. And since this is my primary, I had plenty of septal cartilage. He also noted in my CT scan that I had a slight deviation in my nose, but this was apparently normal since not everyone has 100% centered septum. He told me he could fix it (no additional fee) and it would not affect my results. He also suggested short nose correction, which should be renamed to "tip projection" because it would give me the facial balance on my profile that I needed. These were all things I expected and agreed on!
However, my eyes needed ptosis correction!! Cha had said that my double eyelid on my right side (the eyelid I preferred because it was higher) was not actually a crease; he said it was a wrinkle LMFAO. Alice later asked if I had used tape or eyelid glue in the past and she was 100% spot on... been using since highschool, so over 10 years. That was why I had multiple creases/sagging and needed ptosis. I was hesitant about ptosis cause I had heard this was a "add on" thing that clinics like to do to jack up prices, but I think their assessment was justified... Anyways, my eyes were also thin enough that non-incisional would be enough. I felt safe to continue with this since they noticed these problems IVE didn't!
I asked the same questions about symmetry and again, they also agreed it's not 100% possible but they were pretty sure that with my nose, it would look about as symmetrical as I had to begin with. (I took some very careful photos of my nose, and it is pretty symmetrical on the outside, so this was good!)
The price broke down to this, Alice had promised to keep their winter promotion for rhino, so this price list reflects that:
- non incisional: 1,500,000 won
- ptosis correction: 800,000 won
- Primary rhino (bridge and tip): 2,600,000 won
- Hump removal: 1,500,000 won
- Short nose correction: (I wish I remembered the price for this sorry)

I only remember the total in CAD, but all of the procedure added up to 9,281 CAD. The deposit I remember; it was 800,000 won!

I ended up putting in a deposit with Wannabe that same consult for their bonus % off which is included in the total, and a 10% VAT refund is also available (got about 400$ back!); scheduled the surgery for Thursday (March 5th) at 9:30am. I would be Cha's first and only patient! There was one I could have taken by the next day (Weds, March 4th) but it would be an afternoon slot and Alice said that we weren't wrong for wanting morning appointments because surgery is exhausting for doctors!!

Overall, felt very positive about Wannabe! I also picked them for both eyes and nose because of convenience. I felt like they were thorough with my assessment (that free CT scan is great!), and that they were very serious about the coronavirus!

COCOLINE: I still went to see my Cocoline consult even though I was pretty set with Wannabe! I just wanted to see what their opinions were too. They use an English translator hired from elsewhere for their Kakao messaging, so I didn't get to meet the English translator! So booking was not a problem!

First of all, this place was PACKED with locals despite the coronavirus outbreak!!! I saw two ladies remove their masks and their noses looked really.... plastic I guess hahah. I guess they were here for revisions?? Cocoline is known for natural noses and revising botches, so it made sense to me.
We came early, but we still had to wait over 30 mins for our consultation! They were very busy! You definitely need an English translator for this, or know some Korean; there was a form they asked me to fill out and I had to use my Papago app to translate some of the words... none of the desk ladies speak English by the way!

Eventually I got to see the doctor! His name is Kim Tae Hwan, and he spoke pretty good English! He just assessed my nose by using a headlight and some qtips and he could tell I had a slight deviation in my nose this way. (Pretty impressive I think!) He said it may also be why I had a slight runny nose. This is normal for me, even if I'm not sick lol... didn't know it was cause of my deviation! He did say that my deviation was nothing to be concerned about though, since it is on the "normal" side and most people don't have a perfectly centered septum.

He also thought I didn't need an implant, and tried to show me photos on his computer to explain but his mouse wasn't working lol! Anyways, their before and after photos are on their English website and I had seen them already!

I didn't ask for prices after the consult was done because I didn't feel like they said anything different from the other clinics other than the runny nose thing! They were deff more function-focused I think (after all, they are an ENT clinic) than aesthetic, because he spoke more in depth about nose function than facial balance.

Overall, pretty good! I think Cocoline would have been a safe bet too for noses! I felt pretty good about all the clinic experiences, felt like my research paid off!

[Bruh]

Day 0 (Wednesday, March 4th): I also came to Korea on behalf of my dad, and my dad instructed me to visit Jeonju's city hall to get some paperwork done for him. After that, I had visited Jeonju's traditional village and ate their famed bibimbap! It was soooo delicious!! The area was quite empty; just some shop keepers and maybe 1 or 2 other couples walking around the area. My bf and I had a lot of fun! However, yesterday after the consults, I started getting some itchiness and I freaked out and took some antihistamines last night. I have a contact-dermal allergy which I never found out what causes it. Sometimes I get a full on rash and my whole face swells up, which would have ruined any plastic surgery plans.... I was very lucky I didn't break out.

However, I looked over Alice's instructions for pre-op, and read you aren't supposed to take any medicines (like advil and antihistamines) one full week before operation day.... well no one told me this before LOL... I actually had taken an advil after I had landed in Korea because my ear hurt so much from the air pressure changing....

I messaged Alice in a panic, and she said I would be ok, but NO MORE MEDS hahaha! Don't take your meds before surgery guys, or else you'll be stressing like I was!
I also bought some congee and other microwavable goods this day from 7/11, knowing I'll probably need some home rest after my surgery tomorrow! I made sure to pick something that was on the plainer side; wasn't like I would be able to taste it anyways!

Day 1 (Thursday, March 5th): Surgery day! I showered in the morning, and brushed my teeth! I arrived at 9:10am (Alice had asked me to come earlier!), I wore a button up shirt (it is instructed in the pre-op instructions!) and hadn't eaten anything since last night. They checked my temperature again (no fever!) I got changed into their robe, and washed my face with this special soap they had in their washroom and rinsed my mouth with this mouth wash they gave me. They also said now would be a good time to use the washroom if I needed to, but since I didn't eat anything since last night, my body had nothing to give LOL.

I wasn't that nervous yet, I was maybe 20% on my anxiety scale. I was admitted into the operating room and I guess that's when my anxiety spiked a little more to like 30%. To be honest, I had never been in an operating room before, so all I knew were the images I had seen on TV where it's BRIGHT and WHITE and SUPER CLEAN.
So when I looked inside the room and saw the utensils and sink and the walls.... I was nervous. It was dimly lit, there was a print of the underside of a tree canopy with the sun shining through the gaps on the ceiling which doesn't really work well if the room is dim in the first place. The utensils didn't look sparkling clean, but I didn't get to take a good look cause I had to quickly lie down and there were like 2 nurses going to work with the needles and my blood pressure on my arms. I did get to see there was a "second room" on the other side, where the nurses were taking a break and chatting. Alice was here, trying to help me feel better by telling me what the nurses were doing.

Dr. Cha walked in around the time I started to drift out and "sleep"; this might have been during the surgery or right before I drifted, but I just remember him talking about his glasses and how he wants to try round glasses instead of rectangular LOL, I just remember the other nurse (or Alice?) telling him that round glasses "give a different impression" which I think they tried to imply he looked better with his rectangle glasses HAHAHAH.

I tried not to think too much about how "sketch" the operating room looked like and told myself that they knew what they were doing, and THANK GOD I didn't. Because I was half-awake during my surgeries and if I was scared, I would have probably disrupted their work flow and botch my own surgery...

During my "trip", I saw colorful tunnels with weird textures! If you had ever watched any looping videos of infinite 3D shapes morphing, that's kind of what I saw, except it all kept changing colors and shapes!

I also started waking up cause I heard music; they were playing Psycho by Red Velvet and I don't know why but I told them in Korean "I love this song, Irene is my favorite" and later it played a Black Pink song (I don't remember which one), and I also said something like "I love Jenny" and I also asked to Cha (who I guess I assumed was there, I couldn't really "see" anything) "Do you like Black Pink?" and he said yes LMFAOOOOOO. Then I went out again.

It was kind of a blur, but I remember when they worked on my eyes. I felt some pain on my right side of my eye, and I told Cha so in Korean. He apologized and explained that he couldn't up the anesthesia (or whatever that drugged me was) because if they did more, the eyes would swell and it would be harder to work on. The nurse asked me to try and relax, which was really hard cause I deff felt the threading....

I went out again later, but woke up (sort of) during my nose surgery. I didn't feel anything, but I could smell something burning. I remember asking Cha if he was "doing the osteotomy" to which he said yes to. And the nurse told me to stay quiet HAHAHA I guess I kept talking a lot during my surgery HAHAHAH

Anyways when I came to fully, it just felt like the whole thing was done in under 10 mins! I didn't get to see the clock, but it must've been a long time.

Alice helped me into the recovery room, and my bf remarked that even with my cast on, my nose looked good! But he always tells me I look good LOL so I asked him to take photos so I can see for myself! (As pictured on my progress photos!) And I agreed with him for once on this!! Wow, I looked so different... but in a good way! I noticed right away my nostrils were assymetrical because of the way the cotton was packed, so I didn't pay it much mind.

I couldn't breathe through my nose yet since I had the cotton splints, but other than that, I didn't really feel pain anywhere other than slight soreness on my eyes and pain on my ear where they took the cartilage. Maybe like a 2 on pain scale.

I was surprised I didn't have a lot of bruising! This would later change in the next few days hahaha!

Later, Alice helped me get my medicine and ointment, and she called a taxi for us to get home safe! I was super grateful to her for the entire thing, she has been incredibly helpful and kind!!

The meds were instructed like this: I had to take my first set of pills (for dinner) with food. I was instructed to take my sets of meds 3 times a day, one set for each meal. They contained pain killers, antibiotics and I think some sort of allergy pill! The ointment I had to swab on my stitches (outside and inside nose and on my eye stitches) as often as I can.

I didn't feel very hungry, but I still ate my little congee cup and took my pills and went to bed pretty much.

I brought a neck pillow to sleep upright and it helped so much!! My boyfriend helped me a lot to make sure I was sleeping upright and that I don't rub my eyes (he's the best hehe) and lost some of his own sleep! But thankfully I was able to power it through the night!

Day 2 (Friday, March 6th): Ate the congee and took my beds; then my bf and I walked to the clinic from our Airbnb (about a 20 min walk) to get my cotton splints out! I noticed I had been dripping a bit of blood from my cotton splints (I thought I was bleeding hahah) so I taped a cotton pad underneath my nose to catch the drips.

When I arrived, I got my temperature checked again (again, no fever) and the nurse lead me to a room where she would take out my splints. She asked me why I had taped the cotton pad under my nose, and I explained to her about the blood. She took off the pad and the cotton splints and observed that it was just leftover blood from the surgery and there wasn't any flowing blood. She was right! I never bled through my nose again after the splints got taken out! But I kept dripping a yellow fluid... Alice told me that this is normal and should go away eventually. I was told not to put cotton around there anymore or else I might infect my stitches. Instead, I had to dab a tissue whenever my nose dripped from the outside.... anyways they gave me a de-swelling treatment and I was on my way home!

I was pretty tired from the walk and it was hard to breathe with my nostrils being congested and breathing through my mouth with a mask on. The thing about Gangnam is that there are so many steep hills and the roads are uneven... felt like I was on one of those special terrain tracks meant to build your calves LOL. Just kept it simple after going back home.

Also, I was very swollen this day, especially around my eyes! I was warned it will peak around my 4th day and the swelling will gradually move down my face. My bruising also started turning more yellow, but it still wasn't too bad!

I put on more ointment, ate my congee and meds again, bummed around watching movies and youtube with my bf, ate my third meal with the meds again and went to bed. The thing was, the congee was something like 150kcals per bowl, but I wasn't very hungry and I slept fairly easily since I was tired, so it wasn't that bad.

Day 3 (Saturday, March 7th): Mostly just rested this day. I was so tired and had little energy. Still heavily congested/blocked. Ate the congee and the meds 3 times, changed my drip catcher, added ointment. Swelling did get worse, I started getting the chipmunk look!
I took a look at my nostrils and noticed one was more rounded than the other. I tried not to let this bother me, and told myself it was just swelling. My eyes too; they were quite uneven! Bruising also gotten the worst here!

Day 4 (Sunday, March 8th): Again, same as yesterday. This time though, I attempted to shower without letting the water touch my stitches. I was scheduled to go to the clinic tomorrow to remove my eye stitches, and I hadn't showered since my surgery day... so I was sure I was pretty smelly....

Thankfully it was do-able! The showerhead in my Airbnb was one of those removable ones! I made sure to keep the water running close to my hairline, and leaned to one side to avoid my ear cast/stitches. For my face skin, I wet a cotton pad and wiped it around my skin and carefully applied face wash in the wet areas. Wiped off with water cotton pad, and dried with a dry cotton pad.

I really noticed my chipmunk look from here! Again, no breathing that I could feel through my nose yet.

Day 5 (Monday, March 9th): We walked to the clinic again, and I noticed I wasn't as tired anymore. The nurse took out my stitches on my eyes and cleaned my nose for me. It didn't really hurt that much, but it did sting! The nurse noticed that the skin above my eye was scabbed up and said it was an allergic reaction to something. She told me to stop using the ointment on the creases, but to continue with the nose stitches! I had another de-swelling treatment afterwards!
Alice asked me what my plans were for today and I told her I was thinking of just resting again. Then she mentioned that it's better if I walk around to get the swelling down, especially since tomorrow it would be raining!

That was enough to convince me to try going to the Lotte Department store, and I was surprised at how much energy I had! We must've walked for hours, and the swelling definitely went down a lot!

I had a lot of fun shopping, but I also felt a lot of FOMO because there were so many delicious foods I couldn't taste... I think I had about 2% of breathing around this time where I can blow a little bit of air through my nose (gently) and hear a wet struggle LMFAO....

Day 6 (Tuesday, March 10th): I got encouraged that I can squeeze some air through my nostrils, so even though it was raining, I asked my bf to come with me to explore Olive Young (which was nearby) and look around the shops a bit and buy more things to encourage me to walk around. My swelling did get much better, I almost had my normal face again, but I could tell there was still some swelling left on my cheeks. Still dripping fluids though!

I also noticed I could squeeze 5% of air through my nose, but it would get congested again on and off.

Day 7 (Wednesday, March 11th): My nose started to stop dripping as much! Also, my breathing drastically improved; I got up to 25% breathing capabilities! Of course, on and off... but it encouraged me to try to eat food other than congee! It was also the last day of my meds! I still had a bit of the ointment left, so I just kept swabbing them on my stitches!

[Bruh]

Day 8 (Thursday, March 12th): Finally got my cast off!! Holy crap, it hurt so much when the nurse peeled it off!! I could feel the pain reach my teeth.... but omg, when I looked in the mirror, my nose looked so good!!!! There was some slight assymmetry still on my eyes and nostrils but they were much more improved from the previous days. I decided I would let my body deal with the swelling first before judging! They also removed my ear cast and stitches finally!!! My ears felt so sore and cramped in that thing! She put a tape on where the stitches used to be, and told me it's fine to get it wet! She also advised to remove the tape after 1 week!

Dr. Cha met me to see how my healing was going and he mentioned there was a slight bump on my nose bridge where he shaved the hump, and mentioned this was just swelling and it would go down soon. He pressed down on it a little to show it goes down though it hurt a little LOL. I hadn't even noticed the bump until he pointed it out, my nose looked so good already!!

I thanked him a lot and kept telling him how I was grateful and how much I love my nose already, and him the nurse and Alice just laughed and told me to take care. The nurse also thought my Korean was good enough on my own too, which was a huge compliment!! They were all super sweet, I was sad this was my last day to see them!
I had my final de-swelling treatment, and I also got a facial! The facial was really gentle and relaxing, my skin felt so clean and hydrated after!

Alice later gave me my medical certificate and she also came with gifts!! (It was a lipstick/tint and handcream!) She said it was for being so cooperative and that the staff really liked me LMAO WHAT.... I was so shocked, they were the ones who were super nice and I didn't really do anything out of the ordinary! I was super grateful!! She also mentioned that she will always be available for any questions and concerns, and gave me her card with her phone number and other contact details!

Anyway, this was just a big day for me! I was so touched and happy and I never felt so glad to have picked Dr. Cha for my eyes and nose and have Alice help me all the way!!

I also noticed my breathing became CONSIDERABLY better after the cast was taken off! Like 40 to 45% breathing! I guess the cast really constricted my nose! I celebrated by eating out somewhere yummy with my bf! The nose dripping has also pretty much stopped, only the occasional drip here and there!

Day 9 (Friday, March 13h): I walked around some more and shopped at some places, finally got meals I can taste too! I still get congested here and there; I noticed I am less stuffy when I wake up in the morning, and when I sit down and lean somewhere, that's when I get stuffed up! Anyways, much of the swelling has now gone down and almost all of my brusing is now gone! No more drippy nose either!

Day 10 (Saturday, March 14th): By this day, my face swelling is pretty much back to normal; there's still a bit of swelling, but it's small! Maybe like 10 ~ 15% left! It was also my last full day in Korea, so I shopped some more, and took it easy because I was ready to go back to Canada!

Day 11 (Sunday, March 15th): My bf and I got up early to head to the airport at 12pm, although our boarding time is at 5pm! We were worried about the "3 step flu check" holding us back along with checking in, along with our tax refunds, and baggage, and etc. On the Korean airport end, it was very smooth! We only got our temperatures checked before entering the boarding area, but didn't really get questioned anywhere else. We ended up waiting in the lobby for our plane about 2 hours. It was very empty!
However, after flying into Vancouver (layover) we had some officers ask all the passengers moving into the transfer area if we "felt alright"... lol. No one here was wearing masks, including the staff. I was lowkey shaded by a border patrol man when he told me to take off "that get up" (my visor and mask) and it pissed my bf off hahah. Well that guy is going to get sick...

In the bag check area, my bf went through easily enough, but I was "randomly selected" to check for germs. That is what pissed me off lol, especially since they knew we were together. They had a brush on a stick and swabbed my hands, shoes and dress. They found nothing, and we moved along.

Our flight ended up getting delayed by 2 hours and 40 mins (just 20 mins short of being eligible for compensation lol) but later they had announced they had room for people without checked luggages for an earlier flight! Me and my boyfriend both had carry-ons only, so we were eligible for this at least! But we would have to be seated separately!

It was a CRAMPED plane.... really noisy too because of a toddler that wouldn't stop screaming. But we made it home safe and sound and all in one piece!!

Day 12 (Monday, March 16th): That leads to today! I am self-quarantining with my bf for at least 14 days! My nose looks pretty good now and I don't think I have much swelling left on my face. My nose I think might have some swelling left, but my nostrils are now COMPLETELY symmetrical!! My eyes still have some swelling to go! I think it's because it is slightly irritated and itchy... however, there's no pain at all! I could comfortably look up without the feeling of something tugging my skin around my eyes! There is still the puncture marks on my eyelids, but other than that, looks like it's healing nice!

That's all for my updates until I reach my 3 week mark! (The 19th!) I will be posting my updates weekly until I reach my first month/5 week mark! (April 2nd) Then from there, it will be monthly updates until the 6th month! And then I will try to remember to post my 1 year update! 

Thank you!

[Bruh]

Today's update! I am 15 days (or 3 weeks) since my surgeries!
Someone asked about my scars and how they are healing, so I posted my eyes and nose from today! I started using Dermatix (a scar cream that a kakao PS friend has reccomended!) which is a silicone-based scar cream on my nose, but there is really no scar that I can see so far. I'm using it just in case though as my nose is very dry where the incision is. I'm only putting it on the outside of my nose. Alice had told me not to put it on my eyelids cause there's a risk of getting it into my eyes!

My eyes are definitely evening out now! And I know I mentioned my nostrils are "100% symmetrical" before but it wasn't until I took a photo I realized it's still a liiiiittle bit uneven. Though it is extremely slight; in real life, I couldn't really tell LOL. It doesn't really bother me enough, and I think for 15 days it is great progress.

There is still some deff "scarring" or whatever the points where they were stitched are for my eyes. My left side of my eye is healing nicely, but my right side (the one that looks larger/uneven) has a bit of trouble because it gets irritated a little more easily! There's one "hole" near the tail of my eyes/double eyelids that keep getting irritated; I suspect it's having some trouble healing for some reason. So I am being careful to make sure my eyes stay clean! I don't think wearing makeup at this point would've been a good idea... even though you're technically allowed to!

I started exfoliating my skin (avoiding my eyes, duh hahah) using my knock-off Clarisonic on the gentlest setting on my nose because all the pores on it was clogged and the skin was rough.  In fact, when I was using my cotton pads to spread my toner around, I had dead skin flaking off my nose!!! It's much better now, I expect that with my regular skin routine back in progress (exfoliating, toner, essence, serum, eye cream, and finally moisturizer and the Dermatix), my nose will be shiny, smooth and with small pores again!

Anyways see you guys on the 26th for my 4-week update! 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Bruh

[Bruh]

TODAY'S UPDATE!
I am now 22 days post op! (Or 4 weeks!)

Well, not much has changed I think. I carefully overlay my photos to keep the angles and position similar to my other progression pics and this time, the overlays were quite similar as last week's! However, these are taken in the morning; in the afternoon, I notice my nose gets a bit slimmer. (I'm sorry, I just can't be bothered to take more pics... the lighting in my home is better in the morning too) I heard this on and off swelling thing will be the norm until I reach my fully healed position at 6 months. ONE thing I noticed is the swelling "bump" where my hump used to be is now gone! I really feel like this is now kind of my final nose look, and I'm still quite happy with it!
 

OH also, it seems my swelling has moved more to my tip now! It's as expected, Alice had warned me that the swelling on my nose will move from the top of my nose and move down to the tip. I guess I'm almost done with the swelling then? HAHAHA

Scarring looks a bit better maybe? I kinda stopped caring. I'm in quarantine (pretty much all of Canada is) and no one is going to see me, so I just live my life comfortably as a hermit and take my sweet ass time healing. My internal stitches in my nose are still there; I am waiting for it to fall out on its own and it still seems pretty securely there. I tried putting scar cream on my eyelid scars, but maybe I put too much one time cause it stung my eyes and made them irritated so I stopped LOL.... I still diligently put them on my nose scar, which is surprisingly healing the fastest. My eyes is taking a bit longer, but I think it's because the eye skin is just more delicate so it will take longer to heal fully.

I also forgot to mention, out of my entire progress I hadn't taken any bromelain, arnica, pumpkin juice or any of those extra medicines. I am just lazy and I haven't really found any evidence that it works. I think I'm healing fine without it, but I dunno, maybe my eyes would've healed better with it? I'm willing to be the "control" that doesn't take any of those meds to the people who do use bromelain and stuff so you guys can compare and see if there really is a difference between these additional help haha.

My next update will be my 1 month!  (April 2nd!)

I will see you guys then, and start posting monthly after that!

Edited March 26, 2020 by Bruh

[Yukino147]

Wow thank you for the detailed review! I'm considering eyes and nose surgery as well but haven t been added to the discord group chat as admin hasn't added me yet. 

 

 

Can you provide me Kakao id for wannabe and Ive? 

 

[onlyoneknows]

On 3/16/2020 at 10:26 PM, Bruh said:

thanks for your detailed and funny review! am wondering did dr cha do your eyes? is there. reason why you didnt have dr chang do them as i thought he is the eye specialist at wannabe. also, do you remember if there was a separate anesthesiologist or did dr cha do your anesthesia? 

 

[Bruh]

@Yukino147 HEY! Thanks for reading! I hope it helped! Wannabe's ID for Kakao is eng_wannabeps, and IVE's ID is ive001; they only have a Korean consultant there, so you need a translator! I am in the discord and I check it from time to time, but it has very low activity so I think you are not missing anything. I think the coronavirus situation has put everyone's plans off.

@onlyoneknows Thanks!! I'm glad you found it funny LOL! Yes, it was all Dr. Cha! I wasn't aware if we could consult BOTH doctors so that one can do eyes, and the other does the nose. I was personally more concerned about my nose and I felt like Cha could do a good job with my eyes too; I think I had learned during my research that he is good with eyes as well?

Chang didn't really come under my radar at all to be honest; I knew there was another doctor, but I just heard praises for Cha mostly. I have NO clue what Chang is like; I didn't even see him when I was there (but you don't get to see them until they are summoned anyways?); but according to some ladies who had their eyes done with Chang, they were not really impressed by him? Something about how they barely got to see him (I'm not sure how long is enough for them, but I didn't really need a whole hour or something with Cha after the stitches came out; I just wanted some sort of confirmation my healing was going fine and Cha did exactly that. I think it took maybe 10 mins of his time?)

Cha didn't do the anesthesia for sure; they have an in-house anesthesiologist which was one of the reasons why I narrowed down to Wannabe! It was a woman and her name is Hong Jung Eun (she's listed on their website); the room was all women except for Cha. He didn't walk in until I was already kind of going out. Hope this cleared things up!

 ----------
Here is today's progress: I have finally reached 1 month! It feels like its been such a long time!

My eyes are evening out a lot more; I think applying the scar cream helped with its healing progress a bit! Guess my eyes are a bit more sensitive than most people! I already kinda figured I am slow at recovering from things like scarring from past experiences of getting scratched and bruised lol, so this doesn't really worry me especially since I have no place to go in public anyways with the whole lock down and everything!

My nose just looks better and better everyday! There's still some slight tenderness if I sleep on one side more than the other (I still use my neck pillow to sleep because it's more comfy than my actual pillow LOL it also helps me not crush my nose on a surface) and I still get bouts of congestion but I think considering its 1 month mark it's been going very well. When I am awake and walking around my home, I think my breathing is actually much better than before!

I still apply scar cream on my nose scar too, even if it's virtually invisible; it's hard to capture on camera, but there's a very slight pink line that only appears on my left side of the incision site. It also is the more "sore" area when I rub with a q tip (to apply the scar cream), so I think it just needs more time to heal. The red line only shows from the "transition surface" (like the rounding corner?) of the inside of my nostril to the middle of my collumnella. Ah I wish I could explain better.... My right side, it's basically completely healed though.

I sometimes forget I had any work done; until I touch my nose to scratch the skin or something; the tip is still feeling kinda hard, but anyways it basically feels natural and I don't really think about my nose as much anymore. I am also washing my face more normally (but still keep it somewhat gentle for my nose and eyes) but I feel comfortable enough to rub the skin a bit more like when I spread my toner with my cotton pad. I just wouldn't squeeze it or anything yet haha!

I am just living my life as usual (with exception of the lock down that affects going outside haha) and I have no reason to wear make up, so I can't attest to how that is like yet! I think the longer I put off putting on make up, the better; I want my incision areas to relax so that it heals nicely. I honestly also feel like I look much better without makeup now with my new eyes and nose too so HAHAHAHAH

Maybe at the 4~6 month mark I will feel more comfortable to wear make up and hopefully the lock down won't be in place anymore so I have a good reason to!

Anyways! From here on out, I will be posting monthly until the 6 month mark! My next update I think I will shoot for May 1st! (Then June 1st, then July 1st...) After the 6th month, well, I think I will post for my 1 year update! And after that, maybe another year later? I'm not sure how long I should keep doing that haha. I feel not enough people post what happens after 1 year, so I will try to remember to keep posting!

[Yukino147]

Absolutely love your result. I sent you a dm. 

[Happy123]

Hi, thanks for sharing! i love your results

[Bruh]

Thanks guys!! I hope you guys are well and healthy!

It's been 2 months now and I am back with another progress report as promised!

Sorry for it being so late in the day, my job has been hectic and I was pretty caught up with video games hahah!

So a few things to note! My internal stitches FINALLY came out! I think it was maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago that they started to come out; I did have to kind of dig my nose with a q tip to kinda encourage that but it didn't hurt or anything. And another TMI thing is like.... I keep getting HUGE boogers, it's really annoying. That's why I keep sticking q tips in there and cleaning my nose hahah.

I still diligently put on the scar cream on my nose and eyes, and I can see when my nose incision site is dry, there is like the tiniest kind of "silver line"? And if I irritate that area (like if I eat something hot and spicy and my nose runs) the area gets a bit red but I think it's always been like that for me.

My eyes are healing like really well now though! There's still a couple of dark "spots" where I guess it was threaded? But it's barely noticeable now.

Just going to note this because I know people worry about this sort of stuff: I noticed in the photo this time my nostril asymmetry is more apparent; I think it's a distortion/angle from the camera that makes it look more like that. It didn't really change that much from last month. I just got too lazy to take a better photo and tbh almost forgot to post today hahah. It's really hard to take consistent photos in this angle; I basically bring my phone close up to my face and angled below my nose where I can barely see the button to press it. Plz forgive me for those inconsistencies, I'll let you know if it's something alarming though hahaha!

On there I am wearing the scar cream. Basically when I wear this scar cream, I noticed that where the incision is made, it's basically invisible. I guess the trick is, as long as it's moisturized, that line will stay pretty much invisible?

Other than that, I am just enjoying my new eyes and nose. I almost forget I had anything done until I look in a mirror and just feel happy LOL. I go into my digital work meetings without make up and no one noticed. I think I made the right choice to go natural; I still look like me, but like way better!! I had a video chat with a friend too, and she didn't say anything about my change in appearance. It's like she doesn't even know? I'm glad cause if I can put off the awkward "oh yeah I had plastic surgery" talk for as long as possible, that'd be great HAHAHA.

BTW I am kind of going to go AWOL on Kakaotalk. I never really used this app in the first place, and I'm not much of a social media person tbh. Sorry if anyone messages and don't get a response for a long time. I'll check in once in a while when I can.

OK see you guys in month 3! (June 1st!) I'm going to go play my video games hahaha

[cactus]

thank you for a comprehensive review, as well as following up consistently! i agree with the other commenters — your eyes and nose are very well done! i think i’ll have to put wannabe on my list haha. am also looking at kowon, gowoonsesang and nana but have a few reservations :/