Whew - Thanks...

Got my left side Roto-Rooted.  Trying to gert my right side Rot-Rooted.  Doc won't write it up.

After scheduling and rescheduling my surgery is on for the 26th with a follow up on the 2nd.

I have to fly to MD on the 5th - how bad is that going to suck for me??

you should be ok by the 5th. The first week sucks, really badly.They will pull out the packing or tubes on the 2nd and it will feel better. The first two days post are really rough with all the drainage.  

Mrs. Notrega says I am a fool to try to fly so soon due to pressure changes and germ filled air but I need to get this done as it seems this is making me more miserable. Headaches and can't sleep well...

I will just make sure I have plenty of pharmaceuticals

I had it done.  Twice.  The first time was miserable.  I lost three days of my life.  Don't remember a thing.

The second time was much more pleasant (if nasal surgery can be pleasant).  Had gauze packing the first time.  The second time I had silicone splints/tubes.  Had to sleep somewhat upright for a few days but it wasn't bad.  Didn't even need any good drugs.  Just Advil.  Just make sure you use the saline rinse and you'll be fine.

They said the packing would be removed before I leave the surgery center and I would have stents/splints in that will come out a week later.

I am a little concerned about flying though...

My ENT plans to do mine in June and says that he will be using dissolving packing, apparently its the newest standard.

• I had it done at the VA about 5 years ago.  Not particularly painful
  after the surgery, my biggest problem was having to breathe through my
  mouth for a week--and for me that was a big problem.




• Also, they
  said I would bleed, but didn't say how much.  I gushed for a week to
  the point that my physician neighbor thought I ought to go to the
  hospital, but it all worked out.  Being able to take a deep breath out
  of both nostrils turns out to be one of life's pleasures.




• Too bad I didn't have it done 20 years earlier.




• WTF are these black dots?
  
  
  
  

 
 

What dots??

Ask Your Doctor How To Avoid Painful Packing Removal After Sinus Surgery



http://www.nasalpacking.com/for-patients.php

I'm a pilot, and I'm telling you not to do it.  I'm dead serious.

I flew with a minor sinus infection - once.  Never again.

If you have any swelling/pressure/blockage I would in no way even attempt flying.

Is that your brain in there?

Mine is just as bad as yours and I've been living with it for 30 years. I went last year to have it checked out and had the surgery scheduled, then had to cancel it, but I'm getting ready to go back and finally get it done.

I should've done it a long time ago. There are some videos of people who've had it on Youtube, including Joe Rogan, and they all recommend it. I think the worst thing about it used to be getting all the gauze packing pulled out'

People say that's the worst pain they've ever had, but they don't pack it with gauze anymore, so it's not an issue. I'll probably get mine done within the next couple of months. If you have things coming up, just put it off. You've

waited this long; what's a little longer? If I get mine done first, I'll let you know how it goes. Good luck!

I have flown with sinus infections before - last time I had to go to Maryland actually. Wasn't pleasant but I made it.

The packing will come out same day as the surgery and splint/stents will come out 3-4 days before I fly out. I think that as long as I have some pharmaceuticals I will be ok... MAYBE...

I had mine done about a year and a half ago and they put gauze in there, but it was a different kind than they used to. When my FIL got it done he said they removed like 5 feet of gauze from each nose, mine was one swift pull and it was done.

I had stopped taking the pain meds before the gauze was taken out, short sharp pain when removed then a bit of a headache afterward. Took a dose of pain meds, felt fine by that evening.

Surgery scheduled for 11AM - update in OP

Good luck!



 

Wife had the turbinate reduction a few months ago. Didn't really help her symptoms. Recovery was really easy for her though. A day of bed rest and she was back up on her feet doing normal stuff minus heavy lifting.

What really sucked was about a month after the surgery a blood vessel burst in her nose and had a massive bloody nose that would not stop. We had to go to the ER and get her into surgery to cauterize the blood vessel. That was a fun night at the hospital.

First 3 days after surgery sucks, since you have trouble equalizing pressure in your ears.  Plan on soup / soft foods the first 3 days.  After that, it's not that bad, since you'll gently rinse out the packing. You'll be slowly rinsing out packing for a few weeks.  It's much better now that they use the gauze packing that dissolves and you rinse it out vs the old way where they pull the packing out manually and it seems to never end.  

Pain and recovery time depends on what they do.  Chipping bone / opening up the nasal passages takes longer to heal and recover, otherwise not bad at all.

I hope you already have a neti pot, sinupulse, hydro pulse, or large blue ear bulb to rinse out the packing.  Take it easy on rinsing, meaning keep the pressure low and be careful for a week.

As far as returning to work, I would of been out 3 days the first time (old style gauze) but was too young to have a full time job.  Second time I had surgery on Thursday, so it made getting back to work on Monday easy, since I had Friday off anyway (only took one day off).

Headed to the hospital...

Mrs. Notrega has been tell everyone that I am getting cosmetic surgery to look like some movie star. I have been threatening to Photoshop her picture on the daily arrest report for domestic battery.  

She then threatens to shave just one of my eyebrows off while I sleep.

Woo, I just found this thread.

Kind of glad.  My wife's been through a few of 'em.  Usually I tell the guys about how well they'll do, about how great it'll be when it's done... You know, all the handholding shit.

Well, you're already on your way.  You won't see this before surgery.  So I can lay it out there true.

By now, there's an overeducated dude in a rolex up to his elbows in your schnozz.  Rolex too.  He's probably pushing on your brain while you're out and laughing with the nurses about how he can give you a boner just by touching.... here...

But shit man, that's whiskey and soda compared to the main attraction.  For today's fun, they've fired up a (somewhat) miniaturized woodchipper.  They've greased it up in a mix of astroglide and Slick 50, and they've rammed it up your snotbucket.  It'll be turning significant portions of your anatomy into a thick blood and mucous slurpee.  A veritable milkshake of putrescence.  Add to this the cautery... A laser gun set to "fuck your face" that zaps the big gushers closed so you don't die before they get paid, and leaves your recovery scented by the relaxing aroma of incinerated human flesh.

Soon, you'll be emerging from the chemical haze, like a veil parting and revealing a new and awful reality.  Most likely you'll be done puking blood before you're totally conscious.  That's merciful at least, but mercy is mostly futile.  It's wasted on you, because you carry the seed of damnation within your swollen face... Packing...

But hey, that'll be in for a few days.  It'll just drive you a little crazy until then, like the standard booger you can't pick  had a samoan cousin that was into weight lifting and roids.  I won't bother you about that now.  Feel better.  

I has sinus surgery when I was in 8th grade. I don't think the procedure is as bad as it used to be. I had those tampon looking things stuffed up my nose for almost 3 weeks. The worst part is not the pain, but your ears plugging and popping every time you swallow and not being able to breathe at all through your nose for a couple weeks.

You didn't read the surgery us at 11...

I didn't puke any blood from mine.

Oh, whoops!

You'll do fine.  You're going to feel so much better when it's all over.  Go get 'em killer.

Packing won't be in but for half hour. They will take it out before I leave.

Thanks....

I have not heard of any issues with bruising... Will I look like I went a few rounds?

It really aint THAT bad.  Yea, life's gonna suck for a few days, but I'm mostly just fuckin with ya.

No bruising, a little swollen around the nose.

My septum was much worse than yours. Had mine done years ago with the dissolving packing. Best decision I ever made. No regrets.

You may have bruising below your eyes and on your eyelids.  It won't be too bad.  You will be very swollen though!

I will post before and after pics...

I had the same surgery back in 1999, I was 23 years old.  Before the surgery I would get sinus infections about once a month.  After the surgery I got one maybe once every 2 years.  Not I'm getting them about once a year.  So from that aspect it was worth it.  Being young the surgery wasn't bad.  What sucked was having gauze shoved up your nose for several days.  That was honestly the worst part of it for me.

Good luck with it.

Mine was ok until time to remove the gauze from my nose.  A full-sized tampon shoved up each nostril, connected by a little string.  Doc took a bracing stance, held my forehead with one hand (wtf?) took some pliers and literally ripped them out.  Felt like I got hit in the face with a shovel, and the blood that came out supported that.

A couple hours later, though, I had my first smell.

I got my gown on and the traction socks. Waiting on the nurse to come start my IV. I am starving and want a cup of coffee.

Had sinus surgery in 1990.




When I woke up in the recovery I was nauseated and could I had to be put on oxygen because the alarms were going off. My bed had my feet up against the wall.




I suddenly started choking and a crash team showed up. They looked down my throat and they noticed that I had a blockage in my throat. Blood was running out of my mouth.
All of a sudden the blockage moved down my throat and I was drowning in my own blood. I was struggling with the crash team then started going into convulsions. I bent forward and projectile puked all over the wall. It wasn't from my stomach but from my lungs. I spent the next hour coughing up blood. The doctors were still trying to figure out what I had choked on and why I was still bleeding.
After going home I didnt feel great. My stomach was a mess and I was constipated for days. The doctors aid it was the medication. When I finally passed it was painful and I felt like I passed a solid brick.




The following week. The doctor removed the splints. When the doctor removed the first one he said it would pinch a little. He grabbed it with a pair of large needle nose pliers. He pulled out the first  splint. I felt my nose being tugged on when the splint stuck inside scraped along the inside. The pain was unbearable. I was in tears. When he held the splint in front of me, all I could not believe what it looked like.
Imagine a cheap Bic pen curved with a  3/4 inch tall fin on the topside and a 1/2 inch tall fin on the bottom. The only thought that went through my mind was the scene in Total Recall with Arnold pulling out that large round probe out of his nose. But in this case, I had two.
After the doctor finally removed the last splint he looked inside but was confused at what was missing. He was looking for 3 feet of gauze used to stop the bleeding/packing that was missing.




I asked. " Thats it? "




He said. "No. One on both sides."
Then I told him what happened in the recovery room. I also reminded him of the constipation I had.




Then he started laughing at the thought.
ETA



I had a deviated septum with a shitload of polyps as large as 1/2 inch.



The doctor removed them with a laser.
 

 

holy shit, that looks bad.

They gave me a little shot of lidocaine to put the IV in with. That hurt worse than other IVs I have had...

I know two people that have had sinus surgeries and both got huge relief. Good luck, OP.

And you're off.  I didn't remember anything after the IV drip.

chip shot

BTDT

Are they re-breaking your nose?

I looked like a prize fighter after my 2nd surgery.   Eyes almost swollen shut.   But I can breath now out of my nose.

As far as I am aware just the inside. There is significant breaks on both sides and at the top. But they are just fixing the internal structure

On my way back...

If your surgery goes as well as mine did...........expect two black eyes and pain of the tenth degree, but only for like five days. Then, when he rips,  with great force, the seven foot long gauze from your nasal passage, it will bleed and cause further "discomfort".

Not too bad

I once knew a guy who had a pollup in his nose so large they couldn't pull it out through his nostril, but instead had to go in through the back of his mouth.