Septoplasty and Turbinoplasty to Ease Chronic Sinus Infections - Quincy, MA

This will most likely be my last post on the subject. Tomorrow I go in for what I assume is my final post-op appointment. Last week the ENT literally vacuumed out my sinuses. It didn't hurt, because he numbed the area, but it definitely felt uncomfortable and sounded unpleasant. I could feel the pressure, which was again, unpleasant. But there was no pain because the area was numbed. He sprayed novacaine into my nose and packed it with cotton for a bit, then came back in and removed it all and vacuumed me out. I could breath clearly right after - it was definitely a welcome change! Since then my nose has stuffed back up a bit again. I think I caught a cold. :-(

Today I woke up and the right side of my nose felt like someone punched me in the face. It's hard to see in there, but it looks like it's swollen and still raw. Doesn't help that I can't stop touching it (on the outside) - but it feels like something is lodged in there so it's really bothering me. Hopefully when I see him tomorrow he takes care of whatever is going on. If anything major happens, I'll post again. Otherwise this is my final update. I leave you with this gorgeous picture of me with my nose packed with cotton! LOL

In the morning I'm heading back for my post-op appointment. Not much bleeding anymore. Mostly clear drainage with a tinge of blood. I can breath through my nose a bit too! Mostly through my right side, but my left side is starting to open up too. I can't wait for the doctor to clean it out so I can breath clear! I was told the cleaning can be fairly painful, so it's a good idea to take a pain pill before. I don't know how accurate that is, considering a lot of what I was told to expect for pain so far has been greater than I actually experienced. So I'll let you know how that goes too - and if the doctor tells me anything else that would be helpful to pass on to you guys, I'll let you know! Two more pics - 1 to show how the drainage has lessened over the last couple days, and the other is just me - my nose is a smidge swollen, but all in all it's coming along nicely! :-) Time to get a couple winks before I head out! Night all!

It's been 2 days since my surgery and for the most part the pain has been pretty minimal. There's still some bloody discharge but I'm not changing the dressing nearly as much as I had to the first day. Today I felt pretty crummy - sinus infection crummy. My ears were popping and everything. Make sure you take the antibiotics they give you! I struggled to keep my eyes open today - I almost fell asleep while I was folding the laundry and a few other inopportune times. I think only being able to breath through my mouth has a lot to do with it. Like I said, it makes talking and eating a little more challenging cause you're kind of fighting between taking bites and taking breaths. So you just have to be mindful and try not to rush through everything like I do. aside from feeling very tired and feeling like I have a sinus infection, there really isn't much else to note. All in all it's not nearly as painful an experience as I thought it would be. On Tuesday I'm going in for a post-op appointment and he's going to clean my nose out - then I can finally blow my nose again! I never thought I'd be excited about the prospect of blowing my nose, but there you have it! :-) I'll let you know what that appointment is like so you'll know what to expect.