Thank you, Elizabeth. In my surgeon's defense, I wasn't able to include in this essay (for reasons of space constraints) all the conversations I had with him, but the man was genuinely a sweet guy, with a gentle sense of humor. He was also not pushy at all; he knew I was considering other surgeons at the same time, and he put no pressure on me to select him. He also seemed to have empathy for the fact that I was a college student, and he had his office work out a (small) discount plan for my procedures. But what really impresses me the most about him to this day was how he reacted to my other insecurities:

At the time of my surgery, I was in an abusive relationship, and I had a lot more insecurities about my appearance than just my nose and my breasts. When I later mentioned having thoughts about reshaping my chin or wanting to remove a mole, he gently discouraged both of these ideas, assuring me that I was beautiful and I didn't need to make further changes to my looks. A surgeon with no ethics or compassion would've been glad to take the money and make a "repeat customer" out of a vulnerable, insecure young woman. But he would not do that. I feel really lucky to have found him.

Anyway, I appreciate your words of support for me! I just wanted to say a few things here in the comments to explain why I referred to him as "compassionate." There are some really predatory surgeons out there, and I'm very thankful that, at such a vulnerable time in my life, I found him instead of any of those. Thank you for reading! :)