Septoplasty (Deviated Septum) & Bilteral Turbinectomy (Submucous Resection) W/ Genioplasty - Washington, DC

After moving to DC I began to suffer recurring sinus infections- about 1 every other month or so. Symptoms between infections aligned w/allergies/rhinitis, but after 2.5 yrs, 4 specialists, 3mo high-dose antibiotic therapy, 3-4 rounds of injectable skin/blood allergy tests, 4 CT scans, steroids (spray & pill), wasted time & money trying just about every anti-histamine known both OTC/Rx, I vowed to stop torturing myself & simply try to live w/ it. Until I couldn't anymore. That's when I decided to make an appt. w/ Dr. Chaboki & booked a surgery within 2 weeks (see Doc review). Surgery is ~3 hours long (depending on what you're getting) so for me: 1hr septum (note: this is NOT a rhinoplasty- it's a septoplasty) & ~1hr turbinate reduction/submucous resection PER side. Also, I had a minor procedure done, ~30min, while I was under- a genioplasty- to help correct recessive lower jaw (always had it, felt it was worsened after an accident w/head trauma) aesthetics (accident again) for proportion/smoothness. Very simple & quick. Because surgery length, you'll be intubated. My teeth did ache afterward & lips/gums were a bit swollen/dry afterwards from biting down on tube. But, totally manageable. I spent ~1.5-2hrs in pre-op, given IV lorazepam to keep calm/collected (severe GAD sufferer, mild-moderate PTSD from past med procedures too. Highly recommend if you're a nervous wreck like me.) I was changed, given some highly attractive OR socks, & settled in to read w/ my IV until time. You typically can't have your sig. other w/ you in pre-op, so at this point, you're alone w/other patients & medical staff. When it was time, Dr. Chaboki came to get me. He exuded confidence & friendliness which kept me happy. He marked up chin/nose & examined breathing & led me to OR. I yelled out to nurses to hide everything from me (though, thank god, lorazepam is quite a savior here). 3.5hrs later, I was waking up in recovery, SOMEHOW eating graham crackers & sloppily drinking cranberry juice. Nurse was monitoring me. Due to a past history w/ general anesthesia, like waking up during surgery & horrific side-effects post-surgery, I was pleasantly surprised to discovery that no, I did NOT feel like throwing up my entire stomach. They'd pumped me full of Zofran (thank god!) ~2hrs later I was changed & wheeled out to my boyfriend- it was all executed perfectly. I had detailed post-op info & Dr. Chaboki's cell. He called that night to check in.

Obviously, you're given steroids & nice narcotic pain meds to keep you comfy. Take them & ask your doc if you think you need a higher dose. I have weird body chemistry w/meds which I'm currently having tested, & the pain meds weren't enough for me, so we switched to Percoset. My motto is, a comfortable patient is a happy patient is a fast-healing patient. Fact. Now. First 24hrs I was impatient because I had surgical packing up my nose. I HAD to keep Aquifor/Vaseline next to me. Good news is, it's just 1 night, you can do it! Breathing out of mouth sucks (at least, for me!) but it all comes out next morning. Changed gauze at end of nose a couple times, it was quite bloody post-op but totally normal. My chin was swollen & a teeny bit bruised. Nose was tender but fine on meds.

Next morning was packing removal & it was life-changing. Was terrified, but it doesn't hurt- not at all. Coated in a non-stick material & quite honestly, fascinating. My boyfriend said it wasn't the sexiest thing ever, but we both couldn't help but stare at the 6in of used packing. If your bf can sit & watch that come outta your nose, that's true love, ladies. Anyway, for the first time in my life, I could breathe. Easily, Openly. Wonderfully. Fully. It was absolutely INCREDIBLE & I was in complete & utter shock. So this is why breathing in air is a big deal! It's fantastic. I couldn't have been happier in that moment. Stitches in nose weren't visible unless looking up in a mirror. Dr. Chaboli throughly & gently cleaned everything out. It's not uncomfortable at all! Packing was out, but splints remain at back of nose to support new septum & nasal anatomy structure for healing. You can't feel them, don't worry. It's comfortable.

Wound care, ointment application & pain meds were easy. Nothing was gory or gross- in fact, it was nothing like I imagined & I was pleasantly surprised, nothing super gross or scary happened. I just sat in my apartment for days watching TV on Percocet & sleeping a lot, which is totally natural & good for you. I could tell my body was healing nicely. My personal tip here is to ensure you drink PLENTY of water; I was too dry, was obvious from my skin drying out & dry mouth. You've got to keep your body in tip-top shape w/ hydration & nutrition- it honestly helps you heal faster & better. The breathing was excellent although there was, as I was told, some rebound swelling as the packing was no longer holding things at bay. Nevertheless, it was far better breathing than before surgery.

You have 1-2 follow-up appts the week after surgery, then 1x/week for a few weeks. At week 2 or 3, the splints were removed from my nose. Also completely pain-free, no discomfort, just feels odd, like a giant snotball coming out (we've all had colds like that, don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about here!) I was diligent w/ wound care & meds, so healing was accelerated & smooth. ONE thing that happened is that I lost my nose stitches early. That can actually be a good sign though- I was healing very fast & my immune system was actually fighting for the first time in years- & commonly this means stitches are "pushed out" by the body. Just monitor very closely if you think this is happening to you. I told Dr. Chaboki, I checked in there w/ boyfriend multiple times a day (again, true love!) & when one morning ALL my stitches suddenly undid, I had to remove them myself (they had untied, were hanging out of my nose.) HOWEVER- I was at the END of the suture healing period & was about 4 days from having them removed. I could CLEARLY see that I could remove them & have no issues, & there was no discomfort but I'd honestly say, just run in to your doc & let him/her do it. I went to see him a couple hrs later & was told everything was fine, no stitches needed to go back in & to remain diligent with hygiene, saline spray & ointment application. DON'T blow your nose. DON'T sniff too hard- try not to sniff at all if you can. You have to be very careful not to let anything bump your nose and/or chin. My 9mo old puppy did a few times- ouch. Now, that does hurt, but it's just more of a shock than pain, & the sensitivity lowers over the days & weeks. I had minimal bruising, my chin sutures (dissolvable) were all intact & swelling was going down very fast- not evenly, but fast & this is to do w/ where the deepest part of the pocket is made during a genioplasty. Still had mild yellowish bruising & numbness from the dental block given during surgery. I'm now 5 weeks post-op, the scar isn't noticeable unless you look for it- it's healing nicely from keeping it covered for 2 weeks & then placing vaseline on it daily per Dr. Chaboki's instructions. One freaky thing here is that one of the internal genioplasty stitches (these dissolve at a different rate) has probably popped out- it's a harder material because it's suturing muscles onto the muscle/fascia of chin bone, & I've been forewarned that it MAY make its way OUT through my skin. This is another totally normal post-op thing, & it's simply an immune system reaction to ridding the body of a foreign object while healing. It will go away he says, and I believe him! It's just a question of whether my body pushes it out before it has dissolved. I think at this point, it's just going to dissolve.

I do still have, at 5wks post-op, some lack of feeling (not numb, just not sensitive at all) in my chin, but this is normal. It takes up to a year to heal, including your nerves- you have a major nerve type running around your jaw bone, & it is moved & possibly stretched, tightened or inflamed during & after surgery. While slightly annoying in the beginning because I was chomping down on my lip all the time which made it swell a bit and dry up, there's really no big deal here.

As I regained jaw and face movement, there was mild nerve discomfort as things continued to heal. I could feel a never twinging every time I did my exercises of open/close jaw, massaging, etc., & during eating & drinking, but it was all mild.

Unfortunately, I did catch cold & develop a fairly bad sinus infection & cough about 4 weeks after surgery. I was a new person, I was almost completely healed on the surface, I couldn't even tell through the illness that I'd just had surgery. Best part was that I was able to blow everything out of my nose. For the first time in my life, I was able to get everything out with neti-pot and gentle blowing, whereas before, the infection would live on & rebound & worsen because there was no drainage out of my nose because of chronic inflammation. This period was absolutely disgusting but fascinating as there was a shocking amount of awfully-gross colored phlegm making way out of my nose. Brilliant. Couple weeks after kicking that, I caught another bad cold/cough, but so far, it has NOT turned into a sinus infection which is the first time in YEARS that a cold hasn't ended up turning into a major sinus/ear/throat infection. This is absolutely incredible news for me. Aethetically from the genioplasty, I'm happy. My proportions are better & smoother.

I will add information through the healing process- though I have considered myself all healed since week 3, the fully healing process does take up to 1 full year for everything to absolutely settle into place & begin functioning normally. Please ask me any & all questions- there's no such thing as TMI with me. If you have any question, no matter how personal or gross, please ask! I truly want for others to experience this sort of positive life-changing event, too. I went from helpless, hopeless and sickly to fixed, hopeful and on the mend. I would do it all over again a dozen times if I had to. I can't speak more highly of my surgeon & my results. As far as cost, this is still being finalized w/insurance & hospital, but it's nothing above the ordinary- it's very reasonable- and it's medically necessary (not genioplasty but septo and turbinectomy, in my case.)