Thoughts while recovering from Nasal Surgery

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I am sitting here at home try to rest and recover up on a Friday night after having deviated septum surgery and pondering on life in general. Of note, I am 47 years old

If it was a Friday night 2o- 25 years ago, I would be out on the town somewhere doing something or visiting some tourist trap, etc

Instead I am sitting at home on Friday night only wanting to get some rest

In my younger years, I would be serious considering catching a flight to some location (Las Vegas/New York/ Washington DC , doing some tourist thing or a bit of a party it up over the weekend (even though I don’t drink) and then returning back late on Sunday to get ready for Monday

Now I just want to rest and work in my garage (if it ever cooled down here) in DFW or go out for 20- 30 mile ride on my road bicycle if I wasn’t recovering from the surgery

Amazing how your perspective changes as you grow older

Just whining somewhat

By the way, deviated septum surgery is very painful in my circumstance

2

Thank you for sharing your experience. I also have a deviated septum, and chronic sinus problems. I’m afraid to get the surgery, because years ago I heard it was not always successful in alleviating the symptoms long-term. Also, while recovering from the surgery, it (supposedly) felt like you’d been punched in the face. :eek:

Rest up. Take care of yourself. Recover. There’ll be time later for your other worries. :stuck_out_tongue:

3

Get well soon. I had sinus surgery done. It was not fun. You have my sympathies.

4

My ex had that done and it was pretty much life changing. She went from almost monthly sinus infections and constant pain to …nothing. I think she went 6 or 7 years without so much as a head cold.

But during the recovery be prepared for boogers of extraterrestrial proportions.

5

Thanks for the support.

I slept something like 12 hours last night and still feel groggy in the morning and just not wanting to get up.

2 more days until these splints come out. Then I should be able to breathe through my nose again. In the meantime, according to the doctor, there is nothing more to do than to wait it out for the next few days.

6

1 more day until the split comes out.

Being able to breathe is going to be wonderful, I hope.

7

Splints have come out.

Their removal was not painful. I can breathe better but it is still not quite to where I was I hoping for. However, there is an improvement and hopefully it should get better.

8

Doctor says to regularly irrigate with saline solution and it should get better in the next 3-4 days so we will see how well that works.

There is an improvement already so far.

9

Another day, and it is slow to get better. Have been irrigating with saline solutions but only a marginal improvement so far

Hopefully, it will improve as in the next few days. At least that is what I am hopeful for

10

Why did you get the surgery?

11

Because it was difficult to breathe through my nose and I was always feeling dead from having no energy.

This is what the ear eye and nose specialist recommended as well

12

I don’t recall that, but I do recall sleeping in a recliner (mostly upright), and snoring so loudly that I woke myself up.

I also recall the charmingly-named “dip pad” that they tape under your nose after sinus/septum surgery.

(I need it again, and told the doc screw that, not until the CT scan shows Jimmy Hoffa in my maxillary sinus.)

Feel better soon, ssgenius! You’ll feel better in a few days.

13

Thanks.

It is slowly getting better. Yes, it does feel like being punched in the nose and yes it is a lot slower to recover than I would have liked it to be.

14

Did not have the dip pad, just some Kleenex to absorb the blood.

15

Still only a marginal improvement today. Can breathe through the nose somewhat but it still feels like there is some restriction on place

16

I had that done 15 or 20 years ago. The day after the surgery was the worst 24 hours of my life. Followed by the doc pulling what looked like 3 tampons from each sinus. Blood clots adhered to them and my sinuses so it felt like he was pulling my brains out of my nose. I remember screaming. Then he stuck a vacuum thing up there and started sucking up the clots. More screaming. I went back a week later and he noticed a web of scar tissue. So he stuck this long wooden stick up there and ripped through it. Guess what? I screamed again. Then I refused to go back any more.

The surgery fixed my deviated septum for 2 years.

I’m not going back.

I hope yours is better!

17

ssgenius, this is a slow healing surgery, as I recall. The swelling in my nasal passages took a while to calm down. Fixing the septum problem helped my snoring problem somewhat. My husband said I could wake the dead with the sounds I made. My ENT finally figured out that my uvula (hangy down thing in the back of the throat), was rather large, and it was causing a lot of my problems.

I ended up going in for another surgery where he removed the uvula and part of the soft palate, which solved 90% of the snoring problem. When I do snore, it’s not as loud, or as often…and can usually be associated with allergies (take medicine and problem solved), or with a disease (cold, etc). Warning: this surgery, referred to as a UPPP… is 1,000x worse than giving birth while having a deviated septum repaired while also having a root canal. BUT it’s worth it.

18

Yes it is a slow healing surgery.

I went back to the nose doctor today and that is exactly what he said about the recovery from the surgery. Namely, that it may take several weeks to recover and to keep irrigating the nose with the saline solution

I need it to recover quicker, if possible.

19

Still only a slight improvement this morning. Nose still feels partially blocked.

20

Same here, talked to the ENT and while the end result sounded extremely positive, the after-effects of the surgery sounded like utter hell, so screw it, I’ll wait until something better comes along.

And maybe it has. Watching the news the other day they talked about a new procedure where a small balloon is inserted into the obstructed cavity, inflated and breathing is greatly improved. Sounds like what they do with arterial blockage. So far the process results have been permanent. This I’d be fine with, although I’m sure it’s not a one size fits all and there’s probably a suitable candidate selection process to clear first.