Deviated Septum Surgery

As you can see, my nose is straight :D.

Last year, I made a decision to get surgery in Korea. There were both perks and downsides to having surgery in Korea, though much more perks than downsides! I have always had breathing problems, ever since I was little. My nose is tiny, I have allergies too. I knew I had a deviated septum, because that's what my father had. I also knew it was going to be expensive, so I decided to try my hand here, in Korea. I briefly mentioned getting a doctor's opinion to my co-teacher who then whisked me away to a hospital near the school. I had originally wanted to get the surgery done in the future, a couple of months, but I soon found myself scheduling an appointment for a few days after I returned from my vacation to China. The doctor who could speak English, had x-rays of my nose, hmmed and hawed. After about an hour of explanation, he told me I had a deviated septum and was almost completely unable to breathe out of my left nostril. He told me the procedure involved cutting the cartiledge at the bottom and top of my nose and that it would straighten out. The procedure and hospital stay would cost me 500,000W. That's only a little less than $500 compared to the average cost of the surgery in the USA of around $4,000. I couldn't believe it. It was a no brainer, I had to get the surgery in Korea. The doctor informed me that he had never operated on a foreigner's nose. That my nose was small and angular compared to a Korean nose. He also said it most likely wouldn't be an issue, despite that.

I showed up for my surgery, stayed overnight in a hospital bed. Meals were Korean, I was not supplied with utencils so someone kindly enough lent me some. There was a convenience store available to me in the basement, but other than that I was on my own. The next morning was my surgery. I went under pretty quick. I remember trying to speak a little Korean and ask some questions, but I passed out. When I was returned to my bed, I was very nauseated for a few hours. I was in some pain, but it wasn't overwhelming. I had big cottonballs stuffed up my tiny nose to help with the leaking blood. I looked terrible, but that's surgery for you. I wanted ice cream and one of the other visitors kindly went downstairs and purchased a cone for me. The next day the cotton was removed from my nose and I was released from the hospital. It didn't take too long for my nose to finish healing, so overall I say job well done. My nose does not look any different from how it used to, and I can breathe. The best part is that my wallet was perfectly fine.

In conclusion, bring utencils, your wallet, and maybe a friend to help you out a little.