Hello, old blog! I’ve missed this old gal.
Since I’ll be home recovering for at least another week, let’s catch up.
Monday was the dreaded day. Surgery #2 for ‘22 - Septoplasty submucosal resection of inferior turbinate; nasal valve repair. Finally fixing my deviated septum and collapsed nasal passage.
I knew it would be terrible. Even Dr. Chen said the recovery would be more painful than the thyroidectomy. So I went in expecting the worst, and so far on day #3 it hasn’t been that awful. There have been terrible moments, okay maybe terrible hours, but I’m feeling good at the moment, so maybe I’m just being generous.
We arrived at the hospital at 6:45 for a 9:00 surgery. It was nice to have Matt there this time, since last time he wasn’t allowed in at all. I had the same surgeon and same anesthesiologist as last time, so that was comforting.
They put massagers on my legs (they must have done that when I was already asleep last time) and decided I didn’t need a catheter (adult diaper for the win!), placed an oxygen mask that I hated, and then talked to me as I fell asleep. Waking up from anesthesia is slow and a lot of work, but I finally came around enough to go back to my little pre-op room and Matt was able to come see me. It was a 3 and a half hour surgery and Dr. Chen said it all went really well.
I’ve been taking awful pictures every few hours to track progress, though I don’t think it looks very different at all.
I’ve got a bunch of sutures that will fall out on their own - looking forward to that - and then one that he’ll need to remove in his office on Monday, when he’ll also remove the stents and, from what I’ve been reading from other peoples experiences, vacuum out all the gunk. The good news is after the stents come out people are amazed at how well they can breathe. So even though suture and stent removal sounds pretty grody, I am counting down the days!
Matt’s got my whole medical arsenal set up and he’s been keeping track of everything. I’ve got pain killers, antibiotics, saline spray, and bacitracin.
It feels like a terrible sinus infection. And then that burning/tickling sensation when you need to sneeze. And also like someone punched you, or actually what did happen, that someone took a hammer and power tools to your nose. I feel super congested and my nose is swollen, but for right now I’m doing ok.
I can’t taste anything. I’m sleeping propped up on a bunch of pillows, which is not the most comfortable, but I’m managing. We’ve gone on little walks each day and go a little further each time. And now that surgery/recovery update is out of the way I can get to more fun things.
