Holly emailed me on January 2, 2013:
After years and years (and years!) of struggling with debilitating allergies and sinus infections, I was referred out by my physician to an allergist/ENT. From the get-go, he kept asking me if I had ever broken my nose. He noticed I had very swollen glands, and ordered me to have a CT scan of my sinuses the very next day. Upon review of my scan, we discovered that not ONLY did I have a very severely deviated septum (almost completely closing off my right nasal passage), every one of my sinus cavities was full of polyps and infection. I was dignosed with Chronic Pansinusitis brought on by years of severe untreated allergies, and I was VERY relieved to hear that this is probably the cause of my chronic migraine headaches! After an endoscopy, I was told that since the steroid nasal spray I had been using for months had obviously done nothing to help, I would need a septoplasty and bilateral turbinate reduction FIRST, and then endoscopic sinus surgery 4-5 months LATER.
So, on December 17, 2012 I had my septoplasty. We arrived at the hospital at 630 am, got checked in, IV started, and then pretty much just waited until go time at 9:30. I was given Afrin to spray twice in each nostril before they wheeled me into the OR. They didn't tell me, but they MUST have given me some kind of sedative in my IV around the time I got to the operating room, because I started to get really dizzy and woozy when they told me to get from the hospital bed to the operating table. I layed down, they strapped down my arms and legs, put the mask over my face, and it was lights out.
I woke up with oxygen tubes in my mouth and my nose crammed full of packing around 1145. I had full packing and nasal splints sewn into my nose The surgery took roughly an hour, the rest of the time was me waking up. When I came around, the pain wasn't too bad...just more of a throbby ache. To be honest, the worst part of it (THEN) was the feeling that I could barely lift my head or arms and the dizzy sensation of the meds. By the time I was out of recovery and in my room, I was feeling quite nauseated. I was allowed to go home around 4pm. By then, I was in a lot of pain and had to ride home with a bucket in my lap. My mouth was so dry from mouth-breathing I could barely swallow at all. My doctor only sent me home with Tylenol 3, and I was supposed to start taking Azythromyicin the next day. I got home and settled into our large recliner with a drink and my pain meds. I made it about 2 hours before I started vomiting blood. Let me tell you...vomiting after nasal surgery is NOT a good time. A word to the wise about this: If you have a weak stomach like me, and you are PRONE to getting sick, ask the surgeon to have the anesthesiologist suction out your stomach after your surgery. Blood will drain down your throat during it AND after, and your stomach can't digest blood. I requested this, and I am glad I did, because I am sure it would have been a lot worse if I didn't. I was really sick twice. Sleeping that night was a joke. The sleep I got was really just from the meds left over in my system and out of sheer exhaustion, but I was up about every hour and a half.
(Day 2) The next day was HELL. I had a migraine like I couldn't believe, horrific pain, and there was no way I could eat. I tried popsicles and jello and would vomit within 5 minutes. The only thing I was keeping down was sprite. I took the Azithromyicin around 3, and by 6 pm I had broken out in huge hives all over my body. From my feet up to my neck. My husband had to call my ENT and have him paged as an emergency call. I have a severe allergy to several other antibiotics, but never to this one. I had an appointment to get my packing out at 9am the next morning, so we were instructed to take benadryl and try to hang on until then unless I started having trouble breathing.
(Day 3) At my packing removal appointment, I was told that if I couldn't start eating and keeping food down, I would have to be admitted and given IV meds. Then I had to strip and show my doc how bad my hives were. He wanted to make sure they were fro the antibiotic and not the Tylenol 3, so he told me to take one more dose, and if I broke out again to call him back immediately and take more benadryl, or if it was REALLY bad, use my epi-pen. and oh boy...THE PACKING. it was ROUGH. the left nostril came out okay...it hurt. Not TERRIBLE...but it DID hurt. The right side? SUCKED. It was stuck. STUCK. Not sure what happened, there. I don't know it it was the swelling or what...but he was pulling and pulling...and here I am, sick, covered in hives, and in pain. I felt myself involuntarily pushing him away from me! he stopped and told me to hold a tissue to my nose while he went and got some little gadget to help get it out. Honestly, with them out there wasn't much relief. There was so much swelling and drainage, I couldn't breathe at all. He told me I could take my Imitrex for my migraine (THANK GOD!), and gave me vicodin instead of the Tylenol. I went home, attempted to eat some soup. I took the antibiotic, broke out again. Then I just gave up, took benadryl and vicodin and went to sleep! I was able to sleep, and with my headache gone FINALLY, I started to feel a little better and eat. THIS was when I started to get some relief and feel a bit better.
From then on, the days had ups and downs. The surgery was on a Monday. Wednesday was BAD....Friday was okay, and Saturday was rough. But from then on...it got better. I took 2 weeks off of work, and I NEEDED every bit of it. It is now January 2, just a few days past 2 weeks post-op. I got my splints out on Monday (December 31). Let me tell you, that was NO JOKE. I have read a lot of different experiences on that...people saying they slid right out, some people say it hurt a lot. Mine was TERRIBLE. I don't know why I was surprised...my whole experience has been crappy! But for some reason I was NOT prepared for it. I just thought it would be a snip and that's it. WRONG. My doc couldn't get the stitches cut...so he was bearing down on my VERY sore nose (yes, 2 weeks post-op and my nose is still very sore!!). I had tears and mascara all over my face, and I had to tell him to stop and give me a break. If I had known it would be that bad, I would have taken pain meds beforehand. After he got them cut..they DID NOT just "slide out". these things were HUGE, and they had to be PULLED out, rather hard. They felt like they were stuck! I had to ask for tissues to wipe my eyes afterwards. But--I was allowed to blow my nose (gently), and for the FIRST TIME in 2 weeks, I could breathe freely through my nose. I dare say that I can breathe BETTER than I ever could. After all of this--I had better!
As for now...the inside of my nose is sore. It kind of burns, feels raw, and I have stabby pains through it. The air hurts it when I breathe in, so I sometimes will breathe through my mouth just to feel better. I still take a pain pill every now and then if it is bad, but most of the time I can tolerate it. Was it worth it? Yes--because without it, I couldn't have my sinus surgery in a few months (yuck!), AND...I CAN breathe better. I just want people to know that this surgery is NO JOKE. It isn't just some easy, in and out, little thing. It is serious...and you WILL need help. My husband took a whole week off of work to help me. If you have small kids like we do, make sure you have people to help you!!!
Good luck!