phoebebuffey Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Hi all! My name is Stephanie, and I’ve wanted a rhinoplasty for as long as I can remember. I got serious about it in college, then again in July 2018. After receiving a few VERY high quotes from doctors in LA/Beverly Hills that I wasn’t crazy about, I stumbled upon PurseForum and began researching plastic surgery in South Korea. Eventually I decided that with my ethnic nose (I’m half-Filipino and have a bulbous tip, flat nose, with wide alars) - going to a Korean doctor was my best bet. Along the way, I decided on a few other surgeries I wanted, too. I’m going to write this post first from the POV of consult, surgery, and aftercare. Because there's a 10,000 character limit per post, I'm going to post my consult / surgery / aftercare in posts back to back, and then in future posts, I will write about how I did my research, why I picked Namu, and of course, add photos. To see diary entries, search this topic for “phoebebuffeydiarypost” - to see my photos, search this topic for “phoebebuffeydiaryphotos”. Or, just search this thread for posts by me. (I created an Instagram account just to post updates and photos for friends/interested people. If you want to check it out it's herizin on Instagram.) Also, I feel I have to note this but: I did not go through a service to find my clinic - I did all my research myself. I actually compiled a list that I color coordinated with who I liked/didn't like and why that I can share later. I didn't do a modeling contract with Namu, and I didn't get a ton of discounts simply because I'm not good at bargaining. I just want to share my experience because I read through SOOOO many posts while doing my research and messaged so many people here and on Kakao to find the right fit for me.CONSULTATION Namu’s driver picked me up from the airport on Friday, November 16. He was waiting right where our baggage claim let out, and even sent me a map of where he would be waiting. The drive from the airport to Namu took over an hour because of traffic. It was definitely nice not having to worry about finding a ride after flying for a full day. I went straight to my consultation, which wasn’t the original plan. Originally, they were going to pick me up from the airport Friday, I was going to have my consult Saturday morning, and my surgery Monday morning. A few days before I left, Linda (the consultant I was speaking to), informed me that the doctor set to do my rhinoplasty - Dr. Joung - would be out of town Monday-Friday, and asked if we could move my surgery up to Saturday. At first this made me nervous but after going to the consultation Friday night (where I met with both Dr. Kirk and Dr. Joung) I was glad to have my surgeries Saturday as it gave me 2 extra days of healing time. When I got to Namu, I was greeted by Claire, a translator and consultant. She informed me that Linda was in another consulting appointment so she was taking over my case. I’ll admit, at first this rubbed me the wrong way. I thought I was being handed off to someone else for being ‘less important’ or something. BUT, Claire is the best! Throughout this post I’ll try to recount how kind and empathetic she was, because it made a huge difference in my surgery experience. First Claire and I met alone, and we went over every operation I wanted as well as how I wanted each to look. She asked me not only the procedures I wanted, but why I wanted them. Forehead reduction. I have a very large forehead, and in recent years I’ve started to lose hair at the crown of my head, making it appear even bigger. Proportionally, my forehead is just… too big. She went over the risks of the surgery, like a scar that would be left from temple to temple. I had thought the scar would be hidden in the hairline, but it is below the hairline, meaning I will need bangs for at least the first 3 months (and I was trying to grow out my bangs - ah!). She also said that the maximum it could be moved down was 1cm, MAYBE a little above 1cm… 2cm is the absolute max but she didn’t think that would be possible. When Dr. Kirk came in he went over these risks again (scar and ~1cm max), and after everything, I still wanted to do it, so we moved forward. Facial lipo. I wanted actual liposuction for an ‘immediate’ result, but she cautioned against this as it can be very harsh on the face. She suggested Acculift instead, a laser lipo, because it’s more gradual and will prevent sagginess of the skin on the face. This would be applied to my jawline, jowls, and double chin. She also said I should get buccal fat pad removal, something I had been nervous about because I’d heard horror stories of people removing too much face fat. But as you will see from my pictures… I have a very fat, bottom-heavy face. She explained that people want cheek fat in the apples of their cheeks, as this gives them a youthful look. Fat in the bottom of your face gives you a saggy and older impression. Rhinoplasty (bridge augmentation, tip plasty, alar reduction). I brought in many photos and explained that I wanted a natural looking nose with NO implant whatsoever. After doing a lot of research, I just felt uncomfortable with any kind of implant because of the risk of rejection in the future. I have a very Filipino looking nose, and I knew my face wouldn’t suit a small, thin, Barbie ski slope kind of nose, because it just wouldn’t fit. I wanted tip plasty and alar (nostril) reduction. When I met with Dr. Joung he mentioned that because the very top of my nose (between my eyes) was very deep, I may want to get Botox fillers eventually to raise it - as that is something a silicone implant would do. But he kept repeating that he was not saying or suggesting I needed to use an implant; he could shave off the slight hump of my nose and make it a bit thinner without an implant. Arm liposuction. Originally Claire didn’t understand why I wanted arm liposuction - and asked me why I thought I needed it - but I’ve always had disproportionately large arms. Even at my lowest weight, my arms were huge! Once she and Dr. Kirk saw them, they agreed. Dr. Kirk even said that I was a good candidate for arm liposuction because my skin and fat was very soft. Under eye filler. I have deep eye bags and mentioned that I wanted filler before the end of my trip. She said that transconjunctival blepharoplasty (removing the internal fat from beneath my eye) and then doing a fat graft to the external part of my under eye, would be cheaper and more effective because of the delicate under eye skin. Because I was doing so many procedures and was already doing arm lipo, they gave me the fat graft for free. Dermatology work. I have a milia underneath one of my eyes that I wanted to be removed, and to have chin filler. Again, I was nervous about any type of implant so I wanted to try out filler first since multiple doctors had recommended genioplasty for me. Over Kakao, I had asked Linda several times if there was any discount to paying by cash. She said no. During my consult, I found out that cash gets a 10% discount AND a 8-9% tax refund; credit cards, on the other hand, get a 10% FEE and then a 8-9% tax refund at the airport. I definitely would’ve brought cash if I had known this. I paid half that night. As an aside, even if Namu really didn’t have a discount for cash, I wish I would have brought cash. I planned on using my Citibank card because I have a priority debit card which meant no fees for overseas transactions - but it caused SO many problems. Even though I called to confirm international travel (in South Korea) and put a note on my account that I would be making purchases up to $20,000 (just to be safe) - it was declined each time. When I called Friday night I didn’t know my “secret word”, but luckily I was able to push the purchase through by approving the fraud detection email on my phone. The next day when I tried to pay the other half, it didn’t work because there’s a $10,000 limit every 24 hours. AH. I had to call and wait over 20 minutes to get them to raise my limit for a signature-based (rather than pin) debit card charge. The reason I hadn’t brought cash was I didn’t want to have to declare it - but I definitely should have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebebuffey Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share Posted November 19, 2018 SURGERY I was very nervous on surgery day. Luckily the two girls I was staying in an Airbnb with also had surgery the same day, so we were nervous together in the morning (we all got up at 4am and couldn’t go back to sleep!). I was able to walk to my clinic with one of the girls as hers was across the street. After paying the other half of my balance we went to the surgical floor, I changed into a robe and slippers, and washed my hands and my face. Claire and I went over all the procedures I wanted and the risks for each, then a nurse took photos of me for the doctors to reference during surgery. (This part was a bit awkward as I’m not used to being topless in front of… people. Especially for photos.) The doctors came in after that, went through all the details of my surgeries and drew on my face / neck / arms as reference points. Then, it was time for surgery. As a frame of reference, they told me to be there between 9:30-10am. After a snafu with my credit card (turns out there’s a limit for charges every 24 hours so I had to call to raise it) we went to the surgical floor by 10:10. After going over everything with Claire and the doctors, it was about 11:20am. I went to the operation room, laid down, they put two needles in me for sedation (I have weak/thin veins so they used my foot and my hand). At this point, I began to freak out and cry. I was more scared of the anesthesia than the surgeries, because I was worried I would wake up in the middle of it or have a bad dream or something. She had told me that I would be intubated, under double sleep anesthesia (so part general), and would be woken up in the middle of it to flip over (I would start laying on my stomach so they could do arm lipo from the back, and then be woken up to roll onto my back to do all the other surgeries). Claire and the nurses and anesthesiologists were so sweet (I’m sure they deal with these nerves all the time), and she held my hand and told me about her own experience with plastic surgery. Turns out, I don’t remember anything. I don’t even remember falling asleep. Apparently I gave Claire my mom’s number to give her updates but I kept giving her different numbers! Oops, sorry to whoever got those texts. I woke up to Dr. Joung and the nurses bandaging my head and Claire holding my hand. After laying there for ~an hour, I was put into a wheelchair and taken to a room. Originally I was going to go home after the surgery, but because the surgery ended up going so late (until 8pm!! They thought it would only take 5 hours total!) they decided to keep me there which was amazing. Not only because I was totally disoriented and uncomfortable, but because they had a night nurse who checked on my heartbeat and blood pressure every 15 minutes. I couldn’t sleep because I hate breathing through my mouth, and the heartbeat machine I was hooked up to beeped constantly. Also, I was so freaking thirsty. I hadn’t drank anything since ~10pm Friday (when I fell asleep) and at that point it was 9pm Saturday. I asked Claire if I could drink at 12am and she said yes… but then the nurse later told me it was actually 12:45am. I swear I checked my phone every ten minutes. When she finally brought me a water…….. wow. She unhooked me from the heartbeat machine at around 2:30am and told me to ring the buzzer by my bed if I needed her. I ended up going to the bathroom myself 3x and getting water 2x, just carefully dragging the thing I was hooked up to (it’s one of those tall rolling metal things that has iv drips on it… I don’t know what it’s called). I think I slept a total of one hour Saturday night. It was miserable, but I knew my whole week would probably be miserable because of the discomfort. At this point I felt no pain, but I’m a side-sleeper and that wasn’t possible. It was a LOOOONG night. phoebebuffeydiarypost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebebuffey Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share Posted November 19, 2018 AFTERCARE I am in the midst of my aftercare right now and I am SWOLLEN AS HELL. I wrote what's below on Sunday (the day after surgery) and again today (Monday, two days post-op). On Sunday, Namu is normally closed, but because Dr. Kirk had told them to keep me there overnight he and Claire both came in. Claire came around 10am and gave me a protein drink and encouraged me to walk around. She filled me in on some parts of my surgery, like that Dr. Kirk was able to lower my forehead by 2 cm (!!!!!! - this is the maximum for their forehead reduction and they were very clear they didn't think I'd be able to get the full 2cm) and also gave me a slight brow lift. About an hour later, she and the night nurse took me to a different operating room and the night nurse began unbandaging me and cleaning my wounds. Dr. Kirk came in, removed the tube connected to my head that was draining the blood, and looked at all my surgery sites / incisions. His confidence and the fact that he cared enough to let me stay overnight and come in on his day off made me feel the surgeries had gone really well. I got to take a look at my forehead when the nurse unbandaged it (I didn’t want to because I was worried it would be gross but Claire insisted!) and I loved it. The scar is definitely going to take a while to heal and I'll have to be diligent with scar cream and get bangs... but I finally have a proportional forehead. I will say: a side effect I did not expect was extremely swollen and bruised eyes. I thought I would be bruised beneath my eyes but my eyelids - all the way up to my brows - are dark purple and puffy. At one point, they were almost closed. I still can’t open them fully. Forehead surgeries affect eyes - which I didn’t realize. Every time I look in the mirror I feel like my eyes look worse. And I can’t ice them, because that may cause a problem with my forehead surgery. Also, the most painful thing is my arm lipo. The incisions were made on my back and it feels like I worked out really hard yesterday - the most intense and localized ‘soreness.’ My arms are also bandaged very tightly, making it hard to dress, go to the bathroom, move, etc. Claire gave me pumpkin juice, antibiotics, ice packs, and surgery masks, and then the Name driver brought me home by 12pm Sunday. My biggest worry at the moment are my eyes (which I know will go down, but look absolutely ridiculous) and my nose (my nostrils look very small and my tip looks very tall - but I have very thick skin so I know I’ll be swollen up to a year). My throat is very sore from mouth breathing, too. Today (Monday) I went to the clinic because when Claire checked in on me I mentioned I was swollen. She was off work today but had Linda meet me to give me laser deswelling treatments. When I saw Linda and she asked how I was I said, "I'm okay... a little swollen," and she said, "No, you're VERY swollen!" They fitted me for a compression garment (a 3/4 sleeve shirt) that I'll be getting tomorrow and I stayed under the laser for 1.5 hours. To be honest, I didn't see a difference, but fingers crossed I see more tomorrow. Right now it's 8:23pm on Monday night, 2 days post-op. I noticed today at the clinic that my forearms, wrists, and hands are EXTREMELY swollen. My nose is running a lot, and I now have what looks like a blood blister inside my mouth from eating chicken that wasn't even that spicy !! (I think it's because my mouth/lips are so chapped and dry from mouth breathing.) I'm going to update the post later with pictures, updates, how I picked my clinic, reviews, and what I wish I would have brought. Let me know if you'd like to know any other info I haven't listed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archonei Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 Hi @phoebebuffey congrats on your surgery, i hope you're healing nicely and swiftly. Maybe you can try to put a gauze which had been dipped into water and squeezed dry, put over your mouth while you breathe to lessen the dryness? Looking forward to hear more of your experience when you got the time to write it of course, since you will be busy from recovery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebebuffey Posted November 21, 2018 Author Share Posted November 21, 2018 Thank you for the suggestion! I attempted to do this with a towel but it got my pajamas/pillow all wet when I slept. Gauze probably would've been better as it's smaller! Thanks for the well wishes on recovery! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebebuffey Posted November 21, 2018 Author Share Posted November 21, 2018 Just wanted to post my first recovery photos! I'm currently 4 days post-op. If you want to see more progress photos, look at herizin on Instagram or search this thread for posts by me or the tag phoebebuffeydiaryphotos. I experienced VERY severe bruising around my eyes. Today the purples beneath my eyes began to fade to greens/yellow. I got my bandage off yesterday from my forehead surgery, but I will get my hair washed and stitches taken out tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparklingeyes Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 Thank you for sharing @phoebebuffey. I truly thankful you could share your experience with us. I hope you heal quickly and nicely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollipop09 Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Thank you for sharing @phoebebuffey. I wish you the best on your recovery any how I was looking up to your instagram for the recovery process but I couldn’t find you. If you do scroll through the comment please drop off your ig here thank you so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebebuffey Posted November 22, 2018 Author Share Posted November 22, 2018 Thank you both so much! My IG is here:https://www.instagram.com/herizin/ Just DM me or let me know your username so I know to OK it! Some 'friends of friends' irl were being nosy so I made it private. (: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebebuffey Posted November 22, 2018 Author Share Posted November 22, 2018 HOW I CHOSE MY CLINIC (NAMU) Since I know choosing a clinic or doctor is a long and very personal process, I wanted to detail mine. As I was looking into Korean plastic surgery I found a bunch of YouTube videos featuring a service called DocFinder Korea. It seemed like everyone was using it and it would be an easy way to go to Korea with a “tour guide” of sorts, planning the logistics for me. Eventually I decided against DFK, because: - The price estimates for surgery was so much more expensive. - The clinics they work with have a reputation as bigger “factory” clinics and I was worried about not getting to know my doctor well / safety. - I had read from other people that going on your own and navigating Korea and the clinics is not difficult. Talking to clinics for online consultations is super easy. You email or chat with them on an app (Line, Kakao, WeChat) and usually will send over your photos and basic information; they’ll send back price estimates for surgeries. Something I realized quickly was that many clinics will give you a list of surgeries you “need” that aren’t what you asked for. I trust my gut in everything. It’s how I picked my home, my job, my orthodontist. If I got a negative feeling by the way the clinic’s English translator was speaking to me, I usually crossed that clinic off my list. Here is a list of clinics I reached out to and my thoughts on them. I put them in red if I crossed them off quickly, orange if I considered them before deciding against them, and green if they were one of the final clinics I looked at. - April31: Reached out on Kakao and they responded three months later. I didn’t respond. - Uvom: A very informative and kind translator. Always quick to respond to messages and questions. - MVP: I was originally very ‘into’ MVP because of all the good things I’d heard about Dr. Seo for primary rhinoplasty. - Dream: They immediately recommended all the surgeries I wanted + a chin implant, a face lift, and facial contouring. - VIEW: There was really nothing ‘wrong’ with View, I just didn’t connect to the translator or feel strongly about their clinic either way. I remember the prices being higher, so that was another factor. - Opera: I really liked Opera. I felt they did consistent work at good prices. But I just didn’t connect with the translator or the doctors and stopped following up. - DAPRS: Said they would get back to me and never did. - Apgujeong Seoul Plastic Surgery: The consult was nice enough, but I felt their prices for forehead reduction and facial liposuction were a bit high and as I wasn’t interested in them for rhinoplasty, I crossed them off the list. - Regen: I only talked to them about forehead reduction. - Cooki: They didn’t know what forehead reduction surgery was - or there was a miscommunication with their translator. They started talking about fat grafts to the forehead and I was like “no.” - Namu: I reached out via email and then spoke to the translator on Line and then Kakao. I just had a good feeling about this place, both from speaking to Linda and talking to a member of PF who went to Namu (during summer 2018). They took a while to respond to a list of questions I had asked and I followed up. When another clinic would forget to respond I just let it go, but I continued to press Namu because I just… had a feeling. - JW Plastic Surgery: Never responded to my inquiry. - MINE Clinic: They directed me from Line to email, and I decided against them quickly. There was nothing wrong with what they said, I just didn’t think it was a good fit. - Hanabi: He said he would get back to me and never did. - VIP: They said I needed a rib rhinoplasty and it would cost over $11,000. A lot of people on Purse Forum have said they heard the exact same thing from VIP, so I didn’t love that. I felt that they recommended rib rhinoplasty simply because it’s more costly, whether or not the patient would truly ‘need’ it. - GNG: I originally liked because I had seen some YouTube videos from them, but then I found a bunch of negative PF reviews so I crossed them off the list almost immediately. *I know some people will think me trusting my gut is a little silly, but its always worked for me. Some of the clinics in red are in red because of something surgery-related (I didn’t like their work, bad rumors about the doctors, I didn’t like their recommendations), but some are because I didn’t like the translator or didn’t connect with them. I felt I had to have 100% trust in the translator to get what I want across to the doctors, so I felt that if I couldn’t trust them I wouldn’t be able to trust the doctor or clinic. Everyone on Purse Forum will tell you that the best things to do when choosing a doctor are: To choose a DOCTOR, not a clinic. Do your research on doctors and make sure they specialize in the surgery you’re receiving. For example, a doctor who does facial contouring, rhinoplasty, and breast augmentation probably won’t be an “expert” in any one of those surgeries. You want an expert. To go to multiple in person consultations to meet the doctors, the translators, the anesthesiologists… to see the facility and the patients in the waiting room… etc etc. Both of these things will help you find the right doctors for you and to get the best price when bargaining for the final price of surgery. Locking in a clinic before going isn’t ideal because you won’t be able to bargain as much and you won’t have as much bargaining power. Also, you obviously won’t be able to meet your doctors in person and compare and contrast doctors you meet. The ideal way of doing things (in my opinion) would be to go to Korea for 1-2 months / 4-6 weeks. Set up in person consultations with as many clinics as you want to visit for the first few days, make decisions, book surgeries. If you want to go to one place for breast augmentation and another place for rhinoplasty, separate the surgeries with enough time for basic recovery between them - and have enough time from your last surgery to the end of your trip for aftercare and recovery. I did… none of these things. I was only able to take 2 weeks off of work to go to Korea in November, and I worried about not having enough time to visit clinics and then book surgeries within the next few days. So, I made a decision on a clinic before I left. I wouldn’t recommend doing this, but this was really just what I had to do in my case. Here’s what I ended up telling another person on Kakao: “Like at the end of the day if the clinic has some good results (and some bad), the doctor is safe and board certified, it’s a toss up if you’re going to like your new nose.” She had gone to GNG (before a bunch of negative reviews popped up on PF) and was happy with her nose, but acknowledged she could’ve gone somewhere else for the same results. I just wanted to pick a place that was safe (board certified), had a rhinoplasty specialist, had good word of mouth, and had a staff that I felt good about. (The gut feeling again!) Here’s everything I did to decide on my clinic: I talked with the consultant… a lot. Once I decided on picking a clinic before leaving, I sent them a list of like 40 questions. Super annoying for them I’m sure, but it really helped me make a more informed decision. I had questions for the doctors that would perform each surgery, the anesthesiologist, and the translator. I checked out forums like SoYoung and Babitalk. Babitalk is a Korean app and you need a Korean phone number to create a login. I got a login from someone who got it from someone else, so I don’t feel comfortable sharing it as I don’t know the original user, but if anyone has a login that is free for people to use please post it here. Babitalk is a little difficult because everything is obviously in Korean, but I would go to the clinic’s page and screenshot reviews and photos, then use the Google Translate app on the words. Most of the photos were self-explanatory, though. Talking with people on Kakao. This was huge! I talked to so many people from PF on Kakao, and joined a lot of plastic surgery groups. I chose Namu for a lot of reasons. Good word of mouth, good reviews, and I really liked their consultant. (I wrote this above, but I'm going to repeat it here because I think it's important: I felt I had to have 100% trust in the translator to get what I want across to the doctors, so I felt that if I couldn’t trust them I wouldn’t be able to trust the doctor or clinic.) Choosing a clinic before going to Korea has some pluses... they were able to reserve my surgery date, and they sent someone to come get me at the airport. PS: Something I learned that was really important is to advocate for yourself by learning the in’s and out’s of the surgeries you want. If you want rhinoplasty, know what procedures you want and the best practices for the surgery. Do you want a silicone implant? What kind of implant and why? Do you want a tip plasty and/or alar reduction? Open or closed? You’ll be able to understand the doctor and identify what kind of procedure you’re looking for. phoebebuffeydiarypost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viamala Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 omg @phoebebuffey , thank you so much for sharing! it amazes me that you can still find time to share with us while in recovery ! May your swelling go down soon when you have time, do you mind sharing Claire's kakaotalk ? Because currently Linda seems very slow at replying, maybe because it is high season right now. oh and if it's okay with you, I would love to exchange kakao to talk more about PS I have booked my surgery date with Namu on February next year. sooo nervous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebebuffey Posted November 22, 2018 Author Share Posted November 22, 2018 The first few days of recovery were very rough, but there's not much to do other than lay around, watch Netflix, and wait. I've been taking walks and going shopping but even then, plenty of free time! Haha. Sure, Claire's Kakao is namupsen. Just as an FYI, I think that each consultant is assigned people... so Linda is technically your assigned consultant right now. Claire became my consultant because Linda was not scheduled to work on my surgery date, and they didn't want me to meet with her for my consultation and then have someone new on my surgery date - too much chance for miscommunication or something, which I agree with. Claire does email inquiries I believe, so you can reach out to the Namu email if you have additional questions. Linda is pretty busy since she handles Kakao inquiries, but when I followed up with her I always got a response. (: My Kakao ID is 91377 if you want to reach out! I'll be updating this post with things I wish I knew before going, what I wish I knew about my surgeries beforehand, dermatology services at Namu (I'm getting filler and some dermatology work at the end of my trip), and more information about Namu once I'm home and 'done' healing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonya714 Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Awesome review phoeobuffey. I am glad you are happy can’t wait to see your update dear. I haven’t been on pf for a long time just heard someone on kakao told me u made a review I just wanted to read it and it is amazing. Goodluck with everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ariyapp9 Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Great photos. Thank you for sharing here. Can't wait to see your nose without a cast and bandage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebebuffey Posted November 24, 2018 Author Share Posted November 24, 2018 WHAT I WISH I WOULD HAVE KNOWN / BROUGHT 1. Exchange money at the airport, or make plans to exchange money there (Myeongdong has the best exchange rate) BEFORE surgery. After my surgeries I wasn’t able to leave my house for two days because of my forehead surgery so I was stranded with 10,000 baht (after spending 40,000 on a SIM card and 30,000 on antibiotics I had 10,000 left). Luckily one of my housemates let me drink her water then went out and bought me some, otherwise I would have had to venture out while TOTALLY out of it. Speaking of… 2. The night you get there or the day/night before your surgery: stock up on food and drinks. Water, juice, pumpkin juice, honey, bread, etc. Also, the snacks I packed were ALL crunchy. Pretzels, banana chips, nuts. I’m not even sure what I could’ve packed that would be soft (since many things wouldn’t be allowed on an airplane) - maybe oatmeal packs, but that just goes to show you need to buy food before your surgery. I would have bought bread, applesauce, porridge, oatmeal… 3. Make sure your Airbnb/hotel has extra pillows to help prop you up. I tried to stay sitting up during the day and fell asleep sitting up a few times, but at night I need to lay down to sleep, so I had two fluffy pillows AND a neck pillow. Sidenote: definitely bring a neck pillow! 4. For rhinoplasties, mouth breathing for a full week is super harsh on your throat. By the second day after my surgery (Monday), I woke up in the middle of the night with a really bad sore throat. I would have brought a travel humidifier if I had known how bad it would be. Instead, I tried wrapping a hand towel around my lower face and tucked it under my head to ease breathing. 5. A button up comfortable shirt and a zip up hoodie. Dumb me, I bought a few crew neck sweatshirts, some large t-shirts, and one zip up winter jacket. To surgery I ended up wearing a very loose t-shirt with a big neckline and my winter jacket, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to fit a crew neck sweatshirt over my head. Definitely pack a button up shirt you can lounge in (one of my housemates brought satin button up pajamas that looked really comfortable) and zip up hoodies to not only be able to put them on easier, but wear a hood if you need one when you go out in public. 6. A scarf / hat / sunglasses to cover your face/head after surgery. We stayed in Gangnam but our area didn’t have a lot of people who had plastic surgery (that was more the Apgujeong area), so be prepared that people will stare or avoid staring at you. I couldn’t wear a hat or sunglasses because of my stitches / rhino but one of my housemates picked up a beanie her first day here. 7. These things can easily be purchased here but would have been easy to pick up at the dollar store before leaving: -PooPouri (I actually did bring this and was glad I did) -QTips -Vaselina (I brought Blistex chapstick but my rhino gave me severe bruising inside my lips and Claire said to buy Vaseline to smear inside my mouth so my lips skin wouldn’t split… yikes!) -Painkillers (one of my housemates looked up the pain meds given to her and it was like a 750mg Tylenol) -Body/baby wipes and oil blotting papers for when you can’t shower 8. An inflatable butt pillow. With how much you have to lay down after surgery (and how hard the beds are here), your tush will be in pain. I would end up sitting at the hard bar stools in our kitchen to get a break from laying in bed. 9. A wall adaptor. The outlets here have 2 circular prongs - I brought one, but luckily our Airbnb provided a box of extras! 10. Reusable bag. The plastic bags here are flimsy so it’ll be better for your arms and the environment if you bring a sturdy grocery bag, especially for lugging big bottles of water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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