Posts by Andrew Rodriguez9

Nancy Perez74 said:It's doable. Give Mercy Hospital a shot; I heard they're top-tier. A colleague of mine had nose surgery there and said they can handle just about anything.

They do everything at the Rib too...

Go eat a salad and chill out. I had a deviated septum myself and the recovery was fine. Honestly, though, finding a surgeon you can actually trust is the hard part because there are so many mediocre doctors out there. Dr. Prgomet is the top guy in the field—he's an incredible surgeon.

Sure, it looks a bit staged at times, but the fact remains that failures happen. I'm heading in for rhinoplasty in about ten days and, frankly, I'm a little nervous. All I can do is pray I don't end up looking like that—but the decision is made...

Exactly. General practitioners just stall for time. Demand a referral for a pulmonologist. I couldn't breathe myself, went through endless tests, and turns out the issue was just my nose.

Rebecca Walker32 said:He was basically telling you to hit up one of our local hospitals, see an ENT specialist, and have them write you a referral for a deviated septum—even if you don't actually have one—so you can get your nose surgery for free.

Exactly!
The referral never mentions "cosmetic" surgery; it just says nasal septoplasty. Let these healthcare bureaucrats guess whether it's for looks or for breathing...

Linda Palmer said:Look, I’m telling you!!! You can get it done if your psychiatrist writes you a referral.
As for a deviated septum, who's to say you don't have one??? Until an ENT examines you or they run some imaging, there's no way to know for sure.

Most people have some kind of deviation, more or less...
Unfortunately, I didn't realize the cosmetic side was covered. I had my septum straightened last year, but this year I'm going back—this time for the aesthetic stuff, and of course using my insurance to get it done for free...

copperfox23 said:So you're interested in how my nose looks... maybe it isn't even that bad... what do you think...

I would love to help you out from the bottom of my heart, but I honestly don't know any surgeons because I'm not really in the loop. Honestly, I'm planning to get my own nose done, but I'm terrified of ending up looking like those people with botched jobs...

Look, here's the deal: Dr. Kinčl is actually quite good; everyone raves about him. Most people seem happy with his work. Since you live in New York City, just go see him and let him give you some solid advice... if the famous ones are more expensive, they might actually be better than those doctors running clinics in the middle of nowhere... oh, I just remembered—Dr. Džepine is working alongside him now... I really hope my advice helps you at least a little bit...

It’s not always about how much you pay; sometimes you get great results for nothing. For instance, I went in to fix a deviated septum and saw this girl who got an aesthetic rhinoplasty at the same time for basically free—she was a total steal—and her nose turned out amazing. So, I'm heading there this fall too...
At the end of the day, you find incredible specialists in public hospitals, regardless of how many people try to trash them...

Everything else seems fine. I finally got my referral for a gastroenterologist, but knowing how long the waitlists are at places like the Mayo Clinic, I’m getting a little anxious here...

So, all my labs came back fine except for the amylase levels. My serum amylase is slightly elevated at 119, but my urine amylase is absolutely through the roof at 1068! I don't have any pain and I feel perfectly fine, and everything else looks normal, including a full abdominal ultrasound...

What’s the deal with the bridge structure? Are the wires visible? I need a right-side unit, specifically the top one, so I want to know how that would look and what the ballpark cost would be.

What do I know? At first, you just stay in slippers, then if I recall correctly, there's about two weeks of total rest. Personally, I felt pretty much healed after a month, but you still have to be careful. I was back at work after two weeks, though I was being cautious (working in a warehouse). It’s best to just stay put at the start, especially during those first two weeks—minimal movement. The more you rest early on, the faster it clears up and the less it hurts.

The nail doesn't grow back there anymore, but you wouldn't even know it—it looks totally normal. You're left with this tiny little scar that just fades away until it's practically invisible. I went back in the next day to get the stitches pulled. Recovery? Honestly, it’s about the same as just having a nail ripped out.

I dealt with this exact same nightmare for a long time, on and off, for about ten years. A podiatrist isn't a permanent fix, and neither is just buying wider shoes. You need surgery—not just pulling the nail, but actually destroying part of the nail root. It’s invisible once it heals, and the nail will never grow inward again. They basically kill off that specific zone where it hits the flesh, and then you're left with a perfectly normal nail. The procedure takes slightly longer than a simple extraction, maybe up to 20 minutes at most. I had mine done at Mayo Clinic and I haven't looked back. Honestly, I didn't even believe my own nightmare was finally over.