Morgan’s Septoplasty: 7 Months After Surgery

Eva Sheie (00:11): This is Before and After Stories. I am Eva Sheie, and on this podcast, we talk to people just like you and me to find the real beauty of plastic surgery and elective treatments.

Eva Sheie (00:26): Hi, Morgan.

Morgan (00:27): Hi.

Eva Sheie (00:28): Today is June 29th. It's a Tuesday morning. And, it's been how long since you had surgery?

Morgan (00:36): Let's see. I had surgery December 2nd and it is now the end of June. So about seven months.

Eva Sheie (00:43): Yeah. Amazing.

Morgan (00:45): Yeah.

Eva Sheie (00:47): So, go back for a minute and tell us, just briefly, why you had surgery and what surgery you had.

Morgan (00:54): Yes. So, I had a septoplasty done because when I was seeing Dr. Bhrany for injectables, talked to him about some problems I was having sleeping or breathing at night. Would wake up in the middle of the night and felt like I wasn't getting enough air through my nose.

Eva Sheie (01:14): Okay, so you had surgery. What can you tell us about that sort of two, three, four weeks right after surgery and what you went through in that immediate post-op period? I know we talked to you a week after. No, actually, it was the day after.

Morgan (01:31): I think it was, yeah.

Eva Sheie (01:32): You sounded all stuffed up. It was really cute. And then, tell us about what happened after that.

Morgan (01:39): So, really it was the first few ... I would say the first five days were the toughest. Just with the swelling, getting used to rinsing my nose out, having the splint in there. And then the pain, I think, was a little bit more at the beginning of that week. And then, so, my surgery was on Wednesday, on Monday or Tuesday, I forget which day it was, that's when they removed the splint. As soon as they removed the splint, it was amazing how much I could breathe and notice the change right then.

Eva Sheie (02:07): What does the splint actually do?

Morgan (02:10): So, he put in two splints to go up against the septum to just control the bleeding. So put pressure on there, and keeping the swelling down as well.

Eva Sheie (02:18): So it's like a splint sandwich inside your nose.

Morgan (02:21): Pretty much.

Eva Sheie (02:22): Okay. Got it. And then, when were you able to start walking, running, working out, going to the gym?

Morgan (02:29): A week after.

Eva Sheie (02:30): Really?

Morgan (02:30): Yeah. I went on the Wednesday. The exact seven days after surgery, I went to the class.

Eva Sheie (02:37): He said you could go?

Morgan (02:38): Yep.

Eva Sheie (02:38): That's really different from body surgery, where they tell you you can't do anything for two months or whatever.

Morgan (02:44): I mean, that first seven days, of course you can walk. You don't lift anything that's going to make you exert pressure in your face. I didn't go all out at the gym after that. I wasn't trying to max deadlift or anything like that for another week. But, I mean, I was doing things after that.

Eva Sheie (03:04): So, if you can think about before surgery and after surgery, what was the thing bothering you the absolute most and how is it different now?

Morgan (03:13): That question is difficult. And the reason being is, like, you don't know what you don't know. Right? And so, I didn't realize how much of a problem I was having breathing through my nose until I had the surgery done. It's because it's complete night and day. The amount of air, the amount of volume that I feel like I'm getting by breathing through my nose is the biggest difference that I still notice to this day.

Eva Sheie (03:38): I think your voice even sounds a little different.

Morgan (03:41): That part I haven't noticed.

Eva Sheie (03:42): Well, we'll have to go listen. We can hear it before and after and decide for ourselves.

Morgan (03:47): Exactly. Well, I haven't had any coffee this morning, so I'm sure I'm a little raspier this morning.

Eva Sheie (03:52): Oh right, from yelling at the coffee lady.

Morgan (03:55): Yeah, that's what everybody wants to be known for.

Eva Sheie (03:58): Does your nose look any different on the outside or does it look exactly the same?

Morgan (04:02): I would say right outside the nostrils I notice a little bump from where the cartilage graph went to do the nasal valve repair, but I haven't noticed anything else from the exterior.

Eva Sheie (04:16): How often did you hear from Dr. Bhrany, sort of, in the weeks and months following surgery? When did he reach out to you?

Morgan (04:25): Well, I consistently see him every three to four months anyway for Botox. Every time I'd go in, he'd do a follow-up and take a look in there.

Eva Sheie (04:34): That's convenient.

Morgan (04:35): Yeah, it's really nice. He had me fill out a survey of how well I think I can breathe now. I'm sure he's using that for tracking purposes too. And so, you know, the only thing he's really noticed, he's asked me if I'm rinsing out of my left side, because he notices that I still get a little bit more of a mucus buildup on my left side than my right side. He's like, "But if it's not bothering you, then you don't need to be doing it."

Eva Sheie (05:00): So you're still rinsing? How long does the rinsing go on?

Morgan (05:03): No, I stopped that months ago.

Eva Sheie (05:05): But do they tell you to keep doing it forever?

Morgan (05:09): I mean, he said, he's like, "If you want. If you can tolerate it."

Eva Sheie (05:13): A lot of people just do it because it's nice to have a nice, fresh, clean nose. I mean, especially in places where allergies are high or mold.

Morgan (05:22): I never have been susceptible to allergies or mold. I'm one of those weird kids.

Eva Sheie (05:27): Yeah, that's true.

Morgan (05:29): I appreciate that, I think. I mean, as a kid, I lived in a house of smokers. So I thought it was always allergies, but it was actually just the smoke. But after moving out and being on my own for so long, I really have no problems with allergies.

Eva Sheie (05:45): I want to ask you, obviously you would recommend Dr. Bhrany to others. Can you articulate why you tell other people that they can trust going to him based on your own experience?

Morgan (05:59): Yeah. I think I've seen him now over four years for injectables, and then this surgery too. And I just appreciate the fact that he still comes in. You know, even now, his PAC, his nurse injector's out on maternity leave, so he does my Botox again. But his nurse injector, Ann, was doing it for a while, the Botox, and he would do the filler. Even when it was just a Botox appointment, he made it a point to stop by and check in. He's thanked me for referrals from the nine or 10 other people that now see him because I've recommended him. And I just think it's still rare to find a successful facial plastic surgeon who also ... One of the reasons why I like him too, he does a lot with the trans community in terms of facial feminization research. And then, also, the fact that he was so thankful at the time when I used to work at RealSelf, when RealSelf sponsored him to go over to do medical procedures.

Eva Sheie (07:03): Oh yeah, that's right.

Morgan (07:04): I think in India or Indonesia. I think one of those two countries. I'm probably completely off base. You don't find that a lot, from what I've heard from other friends that get injections done or have had facial procedures done. You know, he's not all about, like, rushing through a patient. He wants to spend time with them. That's what he cares about. And so that's why I think very highly of him. And like I said, the first night after surgery or the second day when I blew out a sponge. He laughed about it, picked up the phone. He answered right away when we called him. It's just those small things. That's someone, I think, that's doing this for the right reasons. I just think that's why his business and his practice is successful.

Eva Sheie (07:49): I agree. You know, he's on episode three, so you can really get a sense for his personality and the warmth and the energy that he's bringing to the relationship. So if you're listening to this episode and you want to learn more about Dr. Bhrany, you can go back and listen to episode three and you'll meet him there. Which I think is really unique and special, that we've been able to talk to both of you about this journey over the last seven or eight months, so.

Eva Sheie (08:17): One thing I wanted to point out was in the data, there's an equal amount of people who are dissatisfied with things being slow. You know, you hear about wait time being a problem with doctor's offices. There's an equal number of people who are upset when they're rushed. So what you're saying about him taking the time and listening, it's actually really super important because it goes both ways. You can either be rushed or you can be made to wait too long and have your time wasted, and no one wants either one of those things.

Morgan (08:48): I feel like I rush him. That's the funny thing.

Eva Sheie (08:54): Well, I'm sure you're confident enough in your relationship with him to tell him that.

Morgan (09:00): Oh yeah.

Eva Sheie (09:03): Yeah. Okay. What are you going to do next? Nothing? Are you done having procedures for now?

Morgan (09:10): Oh yeah, I think I'm good. I need to lose the COVID weight before I plan anything else or at this time.

Eva Sheie (09:17): Okay. Well, I'm sure if you decide to do anything else, we'll have you back on.

Morgan (09:22): I think the only thing I would probably do again ... I look at some old pictures when I was doing ... my triathletes shape. I think the only thing I would probably consider would be maybe CoolSculpting, or doing a little bit of fat reduction on the bottom part of my stomach.

Eva Sheie (09:37): Yeah. Who wouldn't?

Morgan (09:39): I know, right? Who doesn't want that to go away?

Eva Sheie (09:43): Well, thanks for telling us your story, Morgan. If anything ever changes with your nose, we'd love to hear from you again. Or if you decide to do CoolSculpting, we'll talk about that too.

Morgan (09:52): Yes. I would love to come back.

Eva Sheie (09:54): Okay.

Eva Sheie (09:59): If you'd like to tell your story on this show, or if you're a medical professional who would like to submit someone else's story for consideration, send us a message at beforeandafterstories.com, or follow and message us on Instagram at #before and after stories podcast. I'm Eva Sheie, the host and producer of Before and After Stories, and my co-host is Queenie Dalin. Our engineer is Daniel Cruiser. Before and After Stories is a production of The Axis, T-H-E A-X-I-S.io. That's axis like axis of Eva.