Halloween and Christmas ALL IN ONE!

I know that it is a little late to be putting up Halloween pictures! However I thought since our costumes were Christmas oriented it would be okay for the tardiness! We are thinking about making this a Christmas card! And if you can't figure out what we are.....we're a Christmas Mantle. (Yeah, we were struggling for last minute ideas!)

So Finally.....(warning: long blog ahead)

So I finally thought I would tell everyone about ALL the changes that have occurred in my life. This year was a really big year for me. You all know that I got a new house and got a new job (technically it was December of 2007) but did you know I got a new nose? Unless you were around for the surgery and saw the results most people don't even know I had the procedure. However, I thought I would let everyone in on it since I am loving the results! I am also wanting to blog about this because before I had surgery, I looked everywhere for a blog or a post about someone that had been through this and they were hard to find!

Okay, for the most part I was happy with the way I looked. Pictures have never bothered me (I grew up taking a ton of them...thanks Mom) until the past few years. Then I started realizing, I have the CASHION nose! Here are some pictures that will show you what I mean. You may not think its a big deal but I couldn't stand it!

You have to admit, I have a pretty large nose (if you don't wait till you see the after photos)! So this past January I went to a ENT in Birmingham that performs nose jobs as well as other ear nose and throat surgeries. Before I was even able to see the doctor the nurse walked in, asked me why I was there, and informed me I had a really bad deviated septum! Of course, I wanted to talk to the doctor about that and see if that could be the reason that when I get sick, I STAY SICK FOREVER! Immediately the doctor came in looked at me and said lets fix the problem with the nose on the inside and correct the outside as well (per my request). We talked about how I didn't want to look as if I had major surgery done. I just wanted a smaller version of the nose I already have minus the hump. So we set surgery for my Spring Break in March since I was going to be off for a week.

The surgery went very well, other than some timing issues with the hospital. The doctor did find a piece of cartilage that was blocking one of my nasal cavities. For that reason, I had three procedures done that day: a septoplasty, a rhinoplasty, and what he called a nasal cleaning (he pretty much vacuumed out my nasal cavities and made sure the were not blocked). So here are a few after surgery pictures.

The cast was not fun, since I couldn't get it wet!

This is the day I got my cast off! My nose instantly swelled up and was really yellow. You have to admit, I look HOT! My poor nose looked jacked-up on one side of a couple of weeks!

Here is a few days later. I still had a nice black eye! I didn't realize how much the surgery was going to effect me. I couldn't eat anything that was hard or crunchy. My front teeth were super sensitive from the bone being broken and from all the swelling. I wasn't able to taste anything!!Also from the nasal cleaning, I had a surgery induced cold. And on top of all that I couldn't blow my nose for 3 weeks!

This picture is from the day after I went back to work. I was still very swollen and my upper lip was still super stiff. This was as big of a smile I could do without it hurting.

Nevertheless, I started seeing major results after a couple of months. The swelling went down and I started looking much better. Once I was able to smile without look like a pig, things got a lot better. During this time, I didn't take a lot of picture with friends or family. I stayed away from my camera. I also couldn't wair sunglasses or be in the sun (or tanning bed) for 3 months!! So that is why I was so white and obtained a love for spray tans!

So here I am today. I have a lot more picture of pre and post surgery but they are on my desktop computer that doesn't have a working screen. I have tried to put pictures on here with the same angles so you can really see the difference. I am so happy with everything on the outside, but I will tell you that I am having surgery again in December. The cut lines in my nose healed wrong and they curled the opposite way. This left me with no room to breathe...I mean literally! I can't breathe out of my nose. I can for about 10 minutes before I feel like I am not getting enough air. This is no fault of the doctor and we tried everything not to have surgery again. I even had a shot put straight into the scar tissue! I bet you have never seen a grown girl cry like I did that day! I still tear up thinking about it. So nevertheless, I am truly happy with the way my nose looks and can't wait till it is working 100%!