Sinus Surgery-Recovery [Final Thoughts]

[5aces]

Here it is already week two after the epoch-making Sinus Surgery.

Followed the all important Post-Op advise to a tee:
>finished Ceftin Antibiotics
>no nose blowing/heavy lifting
>stay elevated,take it easy/keep quiet
>swab with mineral oil/Polysporin.

Have not used CPAP for 9 consecutive nights.
Vasillating between moments of nasal clarity and complete congestion most of the days but at night while lying down,most certainly swollen shut.
Just plain choked with the full face mask,so I put it all aside.
Called the ENT Surgeons office on Thursday and he returned my call on Friday morning.
Naturally by then the last of the blood clots had dislodged and the swelling had gone down so things had improved in 24 hours.
Still,the good Doc reassured me that swelling is still to be expected at the two week mark and I have more internal mending to do.
More take it easy time,start the Nasonex steroid spray and use a vaporizer if necessary.Gentle rinsing of the sinuses is allowed but I am not yet that brave.

Friday has been the best day yet since surgery,even though I fell asleep while sitting on the couch at 3 pm.
Bedtime was at 10:00pm and I decided to try nasal CPAP.I must say it was like after an engine has had the valve heads "PORTED & POLISHED".
The air whooshed up through the nose with little effort and NONE of those former "swirling backpressure" or 'blocked' or 'drowning' sensations.
Amazing,to the point where I greedily choose to ignore the Respirologists advice to "build up CPAP time" when I was ready.
Oh how I enjoyed my new air passages!
Downside was I woke up dry and stuffy.(even with humidity-still raw up in there)
Looked at the LCD Efficacy Data for the night *and*...drumroll:



0.7 H I
0.0 A I

New Low! Things look promising.

[Hawthorne]

That data is great! It sounds like things are coming along really well!

Keep it up and keep us posted!

[Slinky]

Whooo hooo, 5Aces! Great to hear. ENJOY! Ahhh, easy breathing is sooooooo .... NICE!

[elg5cats]

5Aces, I just read your sinus surgery journey.............then went into immediate flashbacks...............I had maxillary and ethymoid sinus surgeries in the 80's.............whosh! I feel your pain!!!!! I'll never forget being willed through the hospital with tampon like packing in both nostils with the stings tied together at the nostril exit! Packing removal should be classified as a barbaric experience and have associated felony charges since brain is replaced with gauze only to be yanked out at Indy 500 speeds. My surgeries were done in a series as the ethymoid needed OR awakenings to be sure they did not "get to close to the brain." Did you doctor happen to mention they may have to do the ethymoid's again in about 10 years...maybe procedures have changed and that is no longer anticipated..........anyway, knowing the experience of sinus surgeries...........I do emphasize.........Loratab was my buddy for several weeks, I think morphine was a wise request.......hopefully you are seeing the real light at the end of this tunnel and will find breathing more pleasant!

[5aces]

Well,I hope that is not my case to repeat,elg5cats.Acutely aware that all the surgical treatments may have to be performed again.

Chronic sinus infection,polyps and blocked sinus drainage can most certainly reoccour.

I can only hope to prevent the deviated septum by not breaking my nose.

Already,I am concerned about the perforated septum repair,that the flap procedure did not 'take' and was told to wait it out the full 6 weeks.

For now,I know it most definitely could not have been much worse,making the choice inevitable.
Untreated and combined with Severe OSA,I had already been put in a life threatening cardiac situation,in-hospital for five days during December,2007.
At least these problems were fixable.Some people never get the chance.

[OutaSync]

Fantastic improvement, 5aces. And I know that you paid dearly for it. But I have just one more question. Can I come to your house for dinner next Easter?

Bev

[5aces]

Always room for one more at the table,OutaSync!

Wondering why no tells you it is such a LONG recovery...

Been a week of using the cpap 4-5 hours,ditching the mask,waking up unrested,swollen and blocked.

Hey the great numbers are offset by my new job of carefully attempting to dislodge blood clots.

Still a walking zombie,laypeople just do not get it...week four WILL be better!

At least THIS(door whack on nose-poor Uncle Buck)did not happen:


I watched Live-O.R. FESS(wow a whole hour!):http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 4918778053
(right click and open in new window-if you dare)

and enjoyed THIS guys Blog:http://ttya.net/features/sinus_surgery.html

[5aces]

Today is the six-week mark of the infamous Sinus Surgery.

Yesterday,I had my final appointment with the ENT Surgeon.
Up the nostrils with the fibre optic camera and thankfully,a clean healing was pronounced.
Also,the removed polyps and tissues came back from the lab as benign.
Given that I came into this with Chronic Sinusitis,I will always be prone to nasal inflammation.
A maintenance regimen of Sinus Rinse,Nasal Spray and Nasal Gel was recommended.
The nasal perforation sutures had dissolved last week by Tuesday.
I cannot say the the perforation has completely closed at this point but has been signifigantly diminished with the procedure and should not impede breathing.
As I got up to leave,I told him I had been singing a song on the way over to his office.
And what was that song?
"Unforgettable-That's what you are..." He grinned.
I will never forget the painful healing process,perhaps exacerbated by the fact that I had a lot going on besides obstructed sinues.(Heart issues and very Severe Sleep Apnea)
I shook the good Doctors hand and thanked him for a job well done.

If your nose is congested for whatever reason,that is not going to bode well for using Cpap or Dental Devices.

Either way you have to breathe well through your nose for these devices to work effectively.

Nasal surgery to help you breathe better through your nose helps you to facilitate treatment options,whether using Dental Devices or Cpap.

If you have the appropriate anatomy where you can define the nasal obstructions then surgery is an option,of course a last resort.

There is a very systematic approach to doing surgery with decent results.

Using my Cpap and Pulse Oximeter data gave me the feedback I needed to troubleshoot problems and verify improvement.

I now have a better opportunity to benefit from Cpap,a therapy to which I am very resistant.
Upside is...well,look at this data:


Another'JACKPOT' [A.I.-0 H.I.-0]
The one blip is when I took the mask off for a washroom break.

Oximetry vastly improved to 'NORMAL':[again,the BPM blip is a washroom break]


Successful? Well I still feel like I'm living in the trunk of a car...but at least I have a chance to get out of it!