As many of you know, I am currently home recovering from nose surgery for my deviated septum. I thought I'd blog about it and share the experience for friends and family, but maybe also strangers who google like crazy like I did. :)
Let me start at the beginning. Since we moved to Texas, my allergies have been worse than ever, and I felt like I was getting sick with a sinus infection every other month. In July I had yet another, and the pain in my right side of my face never went away, even after 2 rounds of antibiotics. So, I finally decided that I needed to go see an Ear, Nose, and Throat Dr. This brings us to mid- October. I went for the visit, which consisted of them asking me some questions about ever having facial trauma, etc, and then they numbed my nose and looked up it. He told me the right side was so far deviated that it was touching the bone on my left cheek and that I'd need to schedule a CT scan in order for him to see more.
November 1st, I received the CT scan, and then went back on November 1oth for the Dr. to look at it. He showed me how badly my septum was deviated, and that there was a ton of fluid in the right side of my face. No wonder it hurt! So, he asked if I'd like to go ahead and get it surgically corrected. This scared me to death, but I knew if I was going to stop being plauged by sinus infections all the time, this was what I would have to do.
I went ahead and called my mom to see when she would be able to come help, as I knew I would need help with Sadie. She said the 1st or 2nd week of December would be good. I then met with the surgery scheduler, and we set the surgery for December 7th. In addition, I made a pre-opp appointment for the week prior to surgery.
So, I left myself 3 weeks to obsess and google EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING that one could possibly think of pertaining to surgery. I am not kidding. You name it, I googled it! Everytime, it showed me the same thing-I was more at risk of getting hurt or killed on the way to the surgery center than that actual surgery. Did that stop me from googling? No, of course not! I googled all the way up to the day before the surgery.
Let me backtrack a second now. The Tuesday before, I went to the hospital for all the pre-opp tests. They drew several viles of blood, did an EKG, and a chest X-ray. It took awhile, but all in all not bad. They said everything looked great.
Fast forward to Tuesday night, December 6th. My mom flew in. Her flight was delayed of course, and Sadie had been waiting to see Oma so of course I couldn't make her go to bed, so she stayed up insanely late to go get Oma from the airport. That's ok, it make Oma really happy, and Sadie too! Went back to the house, had the rest of my dinner (as I could not eat or drink anything after midnight) and took a Xanax. I knew that I would need one in order to sleep the night before!
The next thing I knew it was 6:30 and time to get up.
Sadie was awake so I spent a little time with her and then got ready. Put on a button up shirt, jeans, and my pink fuzzy boots. The surgery center is only about 5 minutes from the house. We needed to be there at 7:45. I think we arrived at about 7:38 or so. In a short time, they called me back. Adam was told to remain in the waiting room until they came back for him.
They had me spray some stuff up my nose, and then change into my gown. Once I was changed, they came back in to start the IV. It was slightly uncomfortable, but not the worst that I've had. Once this was done, Adam was allowed back with me. He came back and we chatted about who knows what. The Dr. arrived, and asked how I was. I told him I was nervous. He said he wasn't! What a relief! :) The anesthesiologist came in a few minutes later. I made sure to tell him that I get nauseous very easily. He said they would make sure that I had something in the IV during surgery.
Next, the nurse came in and gave me a sedative in my IV. This was the craziest part! I was literally watching it go in and feeling it work! I remember saying, "Wow, that works fast! I feel so weird!" I then said good-bye to Adam and they wheeled me in the O.R. At this point I was super loopy from the sedative so didn't really realize that I was in the O.R., but remember them saying that they were going to give me a little oxygen so I could breath nice and easy. I said, "that sounds good!" and was out cold in 2 seconds. The next thing I knew I was in recovery and they were telling me that I was done. I said, "oh good!" I asked for my husband right away, but they said I would need to wait about half an hour. I slept for most of this time. I felt pretty nauseous so they gave me so medicine for that and a short acting medication for the pain. Adam came back and got me some cranberry juice and a saltine. I took the smallest sips and bites. I just layed there in and out of consciousness for about 2 hours. I asked when I could go home and they said whenever I was ready. I decided that I was ready, mainly because I was in so much pain and they were not allowed to give me any more medicine. I had filled my meds the night before so knew that they were waiting at home for me to take, so had them help me sit up and get dressed. They helped me into the wheelchair while Adam pulled the car around. I remember being thankful that the ride home was so short.
I got home, gave my mom a hug, took some pain meds, put on my pretty Soma nightgown, and went straight to sleep. This was around 1:00 pm. The hardest part all day was not letting Sadie know that I was home. She knocked on my bedroom door a few times, particularly when it was time for her shower, as she normally takes a shower in our bathroom. I woke up around 5, took a shower, and had some chicken noodle soup. Adam headed off to class to take his calculus final, while my mom continued to entertain Sadie.
The night was not easy. I woke up about once every hour or two because I was so thirsty from sleeping with my mouth open. I just kept the pain meds going and slept as much as I could. Thursday was a decent day. I slept a lot still, and kept the pain meds going every 4 hours. Sadie was sure happy to see me again. She was very sweet and wanted to kiss my nose boo boo.
Friday I decided I needed out of the house, and went with mom, Adam and Sadie to the store. This was over zealous of me. After about 30 minutes I felt sick and tired. They took me home, where I went back to sleep while they finished errands.
Saturday I woke up in more pain, but it could also be that I had begun to back off the pain meds. Took it easy, worked on Christmas cards and napped. Sunday mom finally had to go back to Arizona. The trip sure went fast, but I slept for a lot of it, so that is understandable. Today, Monday, I am tired, just lounging around the house. I plan on working on the Christmas cards some more. Tomorrow is my post-opp appointment. Looking forward to feeling all the way back to normal.
In conclusion, I am already extremely glad that I went through with the surgery. The pain that I had been having on the right side of my face was gone upon waking from surgery. The Dr. told Adam that I'd had a sinus infection for months so it's no wonder my face hurt. The anesthesia was not scary like I'd imagined it. If you stumbled upon this blog because you are thinking about getting the surgery, do it. I can already tell it will have a great impact on my health!
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