What to Expect After a Sinus Surgery #deviatedseptum #septoplasty #polyps #polypectomy #sinuses

I promise that this post won't be gross, bothersome, just informative.

If you're a new reader: I just had a deviated septum surgery. My septum was really crooked on the inside! I was born with it. I had polyps that really did some damage. They ate through nasal receptors. I don't know if I'll ever be able to smell again. I'm really lucky they didn't eat through that bone by my brain! 

1. Typically this kind of surgery is outpatient. There's a few things you'll have to do before they'll let you leave: Walk and pee.
   
   Walking wasn't hard, but for some reason I was shivering up a storm! I wasn't cold, so I imagine that it was just from the anesthesia. It was odd because I didn't shiver at all when I was laying down.
   
   I did learn that the bladder is the last thing to wake up after having anesthesia. I felt like I needed to go, but not a whole lot comes out. The nurses wanted to make sure I could go well before sending you on my way.


2. At first I just relaxed. They sent me home from the hospital with gauze, and something that helps hold the gauze on. If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy more gauze! Enough to last about 4 days, with changing it every 4 hours.
   
   
   


3. Everyone is different with how long the anesthesia stays in your system. I needed those pain pills. I took one before bed for a good solid week regardless of how I felt, so I'd sleep better. I still have a lot of pills left over.


4. Naps are wonderful! I can't always nap when I want to. There was one day where I fell asleep at 1, and slept until 5! Keep in mind that I didn't sleep all night for the first week of recovery. 


5. I had to sleep propped up for the first week and a half. No bending over. I still have to use your knees to bend over. They want your head above your heart. 


6. The breathing tube from surgery really hurt my throat! I got lots of people telling me to try this and that. The things I thought worked great for me: Less talking, lots of cold water to drink, and have a few boxes of popsicles in the freezer! Real fruit is better than others, but I bought bomb pops for the boys for the 4th of July. You can also make your own with your own molds. Smoothies taste good in the molds! I'm sure everyone is different with this. Other things to try: Warm tea with ginger and local honey, and water with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar that has the mother in it. Keep in mind they say no spicy things. I'm used to cayenne pepper in a drink I have. I still have to be careful of that, and I'm on week 3 of my recovery. 





7. I have to have someone around for my first few showers. I made sure it wasn't too hot! I get really fainty on those pain pills.   


8. Ice is great! I wasn't able to use it much until about day 3 of my recovery process. It's just too hard to use it with the gauze. About day three or four I didn't have to use gauze as much. You can use ice packs, or small bags of peas (that you keep refreezing to use just for your nose).
   
   To make your own ice packs: 1 part rubbing alcohol to 3 parts water. This gets really cold, but never hardens.





9. Have soft washcloths on hand! I'd wet them, put them in the freezer for 10 minutes, and they felt wonderful for my nose! I started using them in replace of tissues because they are much softer. If you have access to baby washcloths that's the way to go! Bamboo ones work great too!


10. Take a few Tylenol before getting the splints out. No Ibuprofen. It isn't comfortable. They are much bigger than I thought. I read that there's a lot of relief when those splits come out. I actually hurt a few days afterwards. I've never been able to breathe through my nose fully. With the healing process it's very dry! Air going through everything is so painful I thought. Maybe this was just me. I've read that a lot of people feel so great when the splints come out. 


11. I took ALL of my antibiotics as prescribed. One huge pet peeve of mine is when people don't take antibiotic as prescribed. People that do that - sorry, but you're part of the problem with Super Staph not being able to be treated now a days. (Speaking from someone that had a child with a Staph infection). Take your antibiotics, and probiotics to put that good bacteria back into your body. 


12. The ENT doctor will have you do sinus rinses. I expected it to burn. NOPE! It didn't burn at all. Prior to surgery I bought Flonase. Check with your ENT to see if they'll want you on that after surgery. Mine wants me on a specific Steroid that replaces Flonase. Now I have a whole bottle of it that won't get used. This sounds really odd, but I need something bigger than a tissue for sinus rinses. I use old spit up rags. They work great. I have a stack of them, and wash them after each time. 


13. I can sniff, but not blow my nose. What's the difference anyway? I can't plug a nostril and blow. I can blow softly out both nostrils. 


14. Have a few saline mists on hand. I love Ayr Saline Nasal Mist! Other brands sting when I spray it. I've been so dry. This is much of the recovery process. You know when you skin your knee? How it hurts and is dry. That's how my nose is inside. They say spray every two hours, or more.


15. Reading is overrated! I got books to read. I'd read about 2 pages, and feel like falling asleep. About the only things I got done with surgery is: I watched a lot of TV (sad, but true), I paid bills, I played board games with the boys, and I did crafts with Isaak. Thankfully I did have some meals made ahead of time. Travis has been busy with yard work, dealing with insurance because of hail damage we had, working, and he's in the middle of an art residency. When I did make meals it seemed like I was wore out afterwards. Mica washed dishes by hand for the first time (I did have to check his work), both boys unloaded the dishwasher, and I had the boys lug the laundry baskets up and down the stairs for me. 





16. Shaving is overrated. Remember that I can't bend over unless I use my knees. I went awhile without shaving. 


17. I had very little appetite after surgery. It helped to have applesauce, JELL-O, smoothies and anything soft like that. 


18. My upper jaw is sore. I had to ask, but it's normal to have a sore upper jaw. All the work that was done, was above that spot. Biting down on food that's thick just wasn't something I could do. It's still a bit sore on week 3 of recovery, but it's getting better day after day.


19. Makeup is overrated! With a sore upper jaw I can't put lipstick on easily. I don't even want to touch my nose, so rubbing base in is out of the question. I wasn't a big makeup person, but I always wear a little bit. 


20. One thing I never did much is swell, or get bruises. I read that a lot of people do swell and bruise. The spot where they poked me to put in an IV looked worse than my nose, or eyes. That was a pleasant surprise. 


21. Sneezing and yawning are all awkward and uncomfortable. I have to sneeze with my mouth open. I can't really do anything about yawning. Yawning is like stretching a wound. 


22. Where my nose and forehead are the skin on the outside is so dry! Of course it hurts to even touch my nose, let alone put lotion on it.


23. I had to tell my son Isaak, "No Eskimo Kisses!" 

Recovery Update

This recovery business isn't fun, but I keep reminding myself: Alissa you can see and you don't have meningitis. Those were my two biggest fears.

So...what does it feel like after having a major nose surgery? 

Well I don't look too bad, so looking in the mirror is positive. 

It feels like I have a rug burn inside my nose. I read that online I think it's a pretty accurate description. 

I can't blow my nose for 3 weeks. You know I'm an allergy sufferer, so I'm used to blowing my nose often, very often. Well when I do fall asleep I wake up to a dried crusty nose. If you ever have this type of surgery word of advice: Wet baby washcloths to clean out the tip of your nose is the best. They are soft. Sometimes I stick them in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes because cold anything feels good!

The first few days of healing, blood was dripping from my nose a lot. It was hard to ice it with gauze, a tissue, or baby wash cloth stuck to the end of my nose. Now it's not bleeding so much. The swelling isn't as bad as I thought. I really thought I'd have black and blue under my eyes even. Polyps went that far. Yes my nose is swollen a bit. Ice packs help so much! I just hate when I get them out, and forget about them. Small bags of frozen peas work as well.

My throat hurts bad off and on to swallow. It's from the breathing tube mainly. I wish I could just shake this one. I've tried vinegar in water, lemon and ginger in tea, water, Sprite (just because the bubbles feel nice going down), popsicles and sorbet. The best things: Anything cold! Popsicles and sorbet win! 

Pain Meds:

I've really taken Tylenol mostly. You can't take anything with Aspirin in it due to the fact that it is a blood thinner. Plus I'm allergic to Aspirin. I'm thinking that one is genetic; I have an Aunt that's allergic to Aspirin too. 

Remember I was all excited to get my pain med Percocet? The doctor forgot to leave a written prescription in my chart. I took my first luke warm shower after taking one of those pills. While I was finishing up I said, "Isaak go get Dad! Tell him I'm dizzy!" I got out of the shower, was close to the floor, but in my out of it state stood upright, and Travis caught me. He said I was out like a light, and was shaking. Of course everyone had an opinion about why I fainted. My Brother-in-law: She's taking too much! My Aunt: It's from the shower. We give Percocet in the hospital all the time, and no one faints. Now I just take one before bed, or only Tylenol. I've even fainted from prescribed cough syrup before. 

I'm on an antibiotic and probiotics too.

Energy Level:

This morning I was feeling good. I took a shower, made Isaak's bed (it's high up, as I can't bend over), and played Scrabble with Mica. Well during Scrabble Mica was great at first, then a sore looser that swore I sabotaged the game. I was really feeling low on energy. I gave Mica 1/2 my lunch to eat because I still eat like a child. Then I was out like a light! I slept from 1 to 5! 

Lucky for me I have had cuddle buddies!

Mica even read to me:

Friday morning I get my splints out! Then I can use a nasal rinse. YAY! 

#Allergy, #Asthma, and #Polyps Oh My

I mentioned I had my big allergy asthma appointment on Monday. I scheduled the appointment at the end of the day, so I wouldn't miss work. I kept them way past their work day, and feel bad for it. They closed at 6:30, but I was there with me from 5:30 to 7:30. Saying the boys and Travis were hungry by the end of my appointment is an understatement. We never eat that late!

History

I haven't been to an Allergist Asthma Specialist, since about 2003 or so. I got shots for about a year. Then their office moved way far away.

My Dad talked about his allergies acclimating themselves - meaning that he got shots for certain things, became less allergic to those certain things, and more allergic to other things.

Before that I got allergy shots when I was a kid from about the age of 4 to about the age of 10. My Mom used to give them to me. She was an RN for years. I was annoyed as an adult because all the sudden I couldn't have my Mom give me my shots. They made me go in the clinic to get them, then wait 20 minutes afterwards to see if I had a reaction. I get it. They didn't want a law suit if someone died from a reaction. At the same time diabetics give themselves shots. They too could have a reaction.

Feeling annoyed about my Dad's allergies acclimating themselves, spending money on shots, gas money on driving, my Mom not able to give me my shots I quit.

Fast Forward to Two Months Ago

I got sick with an upper respiratory infection something. I went to my primary doctor. He gave me some antibiotics, and an inhaler for my asthma. I've been hoarding inhalers in case I need them.

I kept get an asthma attack each and every night. It wouldn't stop. The inhaler gave me relief, but I was puffing one every night. I was so done with it. That lead me to make the appointment to go to the clinic.

Allergist Asthma Specialist

I have a new doctor: Ebrahim Shakir. I love him. Travis said, "Am I going to have to watch you with him?" Ha! No. He is informative, supportive, concerned, and handsome. My husband is handsome as well. :)

He looked in my nose and said, "Has anyone ever told you you have polyps in your nose." I'm like, "No. I thought that was snot." He said, "They are the biggest polyps I've ever seen. I'm going to send you to an ENT. One that I'd only send my own family to. I'm going to treat you with ibuprofen, and allergy meds." I said, "I can't take ibuprofen. I'm allergic to it." He said, "What? What does it do?" I said, "Well I start sneezing, then my lungs close up." He said, "WOW! Well that changes things. You're at high risk for getting polyps because you can't take ibuprofen to reduce swelling for you asthma and allergies." I said, "Well this would explain why I haven't been able to smell anything for a few years."

Medicine:

I'm on 2 inhalers, Zyrtec in the morning, Singular (off brand) at night, a nasal wash at night followed up with Flonase. That is only until I can visit the ENT doctor to discuss surgery to remove the polyps and more than likely fix my deviated septum I've had since birth.

Testing:

I failed the first breathing test. They gave me a breathing treatment, while they testing me for my allergies. I'm 70% down in my breathing for the little branches in the picture. I'm 20% down in the bigger branches. Basically I'm not able to breathe properly. I don't smoke, I'm not around smoke, I don't own any pets, I don't have carpet, and I wash our bedding regularly.

10 minutes of this...

Dr. Shakir questioned if I should do the back prick test at all. He didn't want to throw me into an asthma attack. They decided to do it anyhow. One good thing...I'm not allergic to milk like I thought I was all these years.

...while this was going on.

28, 29 30, and 31 are all grasses.

Luckily it doesn't really hurt to get the back prick test done. It just tickled. My back is really ticklish. It didn't even itch that bad. Maybe I'm just used to itching. Ha! I had my breathing treatment going on, and my kids in the room to take my mind off the itching. 

This is after the test is done, my back is wiped down, and calamine lotion is put on it:

Dr. Shakir says I'm a special case. As if I didn't know that all ready. ;) After I meet with the ENT doctor, I meet again with Dr. Shakir. He has 2 plans of action I could do: 1. I can't remember exactly. 2. Allergy shots. I explained my frustrations with them. He said he could send them to a clinic close to me. 

Right now I'm tired, even when I'm sitting up. I would think steroids would get me moving! I kept falling asleep at 8 last night. Maybe I'm catching up for lost sleep. I also feel like I have small bees buzzing in my head. 

Later in March I see my ENT doctor. I was hoping it was earlier, but nope that's when they could get me in.