Blake’s experience of nose surgery – back to his own life again!

Blake in his early adolescence encountered   a life threatening accident – A drastic car crash while traveling to Indiana. He was traveling to meet his grandfather one summer. Luckily, his family survived, but leaving certain injuries and scars. In the accident, his nose was left deformed with his nose tip being pointed at one side and with totally unsymmetrical facial contour. Few months after the accident and recovery, he realized that the people look at him in a different way deviant from before. It makes him feel awkward. Some of his peers started teasing him regarding his broken nose and the   weird shape he has been left.  Some elders suggested his family members to take some initiative to change his appearance.

He finally had to think about it. He consulted few professional plastic surgery specialists, who diagnosed him from various angles. His facial appearance was repeatedly checked by them. As he met one after other plastic surgery specialists, he realized that his nose requires a complex operation requiring incision at more than one site.  Rhinoplasty- what most surgeons’ mentioned seems to be a multi-step process.   There has to be an internal incision to fix the symmetry of his whole nose, including an external one to fix the tip of his nose. The consultants described him the anatomy of the nose and what has to be done before he can actually acquire his desirable appearance.

“I started getting mentally prepared, although I anticipated that the surgical procedure is complex. Mom was giving me the courage that things will be better. Nothing else mattered”. Blake shared about his feelings before surgery.  His decision of getting himself under the knife seemed essential at that moment. He was not willing to accept people’s scorn and wanted to get back to his ordinary life.

The surgery was held few hours before he was transferred to the cabin. “At the beginning, I could not feel anything, but after sometime I had unbearable headache. The doctors gave me painkillers”. Blake was given strong dose of opiates to soothe his pain along with some steroids to keep inflammation at lowest level. He was asked to have bed rest for few days.

All the best wishes for Blake

“I am really excited to see what’s inside these bandages.” Blake said when I went to meet him one day after the surgery. “I had extreme headache, but its fine now”, he admitted that he has started to feel optimistic towards the operation and hopefully he will be able to get back to his own life.

After interviewing Blake in his operation room, I felt sanguine in the same way that advancement of science and human expertise has indeed contributions to change one’s life. All my best wishes to young Blake.