Septoplasty & Turbinate surgery recovery

[Uncle_Bob]

I had my surgery today.
I had to be in at 6.45am and had surgery completed by 9.30am the doctor told my wife that he took a lot out as i was badly deviated nearer the back
I didn't get out of the surgery center until 12.30pm due to a bad time in the recovery room. nausea bad sweating and i turned as white as the bed linen. I had to have three doses of anti sickness drugs and they a sedative to put me put while the nausea password. I have never felt so sick in my life it was a horrible experience. Even the anesthesiologist said he has not seen anything as bad in years, just my luck

Anyway i have very little bleeding so far and have had my dressing off for most of the afternoon. I have splints and no packing and can actually breath through my nose.

The doctor says i can use my FFM if i can tonight.

[JeffH]

Just take it easy and don't bend over or pick anything up for at least the first week. Luckily you can breathe thru the splints, I did. Get some rest and good luck with the recovery. You are really going to like the results when they take those splints out. I remember it felt like a fan was blowing up my nose I hadn't had any air in so long.


JeffH

[KatieW]

Bob, thanks for checking in. I'm sending wishes for a uneventful and quick recovery.

[spanz]

Dude, DON'T blow your nose, or sneeze by accident!

[Uncle_Bob]

Thanks Jeff and Katie

So on my first night i slept over 4 hours with my Quatrro on, I slept elevated by a stack on pillows even though my nose was not bleeding much. I really enjoyed the warm air (humidifier set to 4 & repti cable for heat) and i think that helped so much comfort wise.
Trying to fit the Quatrro with a sore face was very tricky buy i managed to get fixed up and got a 0.20 Leak over night with and AHI of 5.6 and AI of 0 so not too bad.
I awoke a few times due the heavy rain we had last night and also the house 4 doors down had a SWAT team raid at 5am.

I have not sneezed or anything yet but get very temped to sniff a little. With the way the splints are pushing out my nose and with all the dried blood and gunk I'm wondering out they are going to get the splints out of there

[JeffH]

Thanks Jeff and Katie

So on my first night i slept over 4 hours with my Quatrro on, I slept elevated by a stack on pillows even though my nose was not bleeding much. I really enjoyed the warm air (humidifier set to 4 & repti cable for heat) and i think that helped so much comfort wise.
Trying to fit the Quatrro with a sore face was very tricky buy i managed to get fixed up and got a 0.20 Leak over night with and AHI of 5.6 and AI of 0 so not too bad.
I awoke a few times due the heavy rain we had last night and also the house 4 doors down had a SWAT team raid at 5am.

I have not sneezed or anything yet but get very temped to sniff a little. With the way the splints are pushing out my nose and with all the dried blood and gunk I'm wondering out they are going to get the splints out of there

I can answer that. He's going to get them a little moist and then cut any stitches that are in there and pull them right out. You are going to be surprised how big they are and how deep they go in your nose.

Here's what they look like...
http://3skimo.com/network_medical/_imag ... gen%29.jpg

And here's a Youtube video of them coming out...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrjaoACggdk

And my reaction was just like the kid in the chair....WOW, in a good way.

JeffH

[Lee Lee]

Bob, sounds like you are doing great. The most important thing is to take it easy, and not get too cocky, like my hubby did when he had his surgery. He got up too fast and passed out in the bathroom. He broke the shower doors and very nearly his head! The bleeding started up at that point. This too shall pass, and quickly, so chill out and relax! You're going to love the results!

[Uncle_Bob]

Thanks for the youtube link Jeff, its looks pretty simple there. I would pay good money to get mine taken out but Friday, but i have to wait until Monday

Lee Lee I have already been way too cocky I'm afraid. I need to calm down. I just can't believe that i'm not getting much bleeding, just mucus.

I'm still on the pain killers otherwise my jaw aches too much and i am on antibiotics for infection.

Hopefully i will be off the pain killers soon.

[SleepGuy]

Bob, my mom had her deviated septum repaired when I was a teenager and a friend of mine had the same surgery as you last summer to try to address OSA so I can relate....I hope you recover quickly and that your situation is much improved.

[Uncle_Bob]

I had my nasal splints removed yesterday, it was a strange experience, it felt like someone was pulling my brains out through my nose.

I was amazed at the size of the splints and how far back in the nose they went. The first few breaths through my nose felt amazing, it was took less than half the normal amount of effort to get a nice deep breath. I actually had to stop taking full breaths after a while as it started to feel too dry and i was getting a tingling sensation.

The ENT doc recommended a repeat sleep study but when i called my sleep doc he said he only wants to see me again if i have any more problems

So my first night back on the CPAP (Swift LT) wasn't too bad, an AHI or 5.2 for a 6.5 hour sleep with an AI of 0 My nose felt extremely dry in the morning despite having the humidifier set to 4 and irrigating my nose with saline solution before bed. The ENT doc warned me that things could get worse again before they get better as there will likely be some swelling as part of the healing process. I'm signed off work for another 2 weeks, its really tempting to do some yard work or jobs around the house like painting. I need to force myself to just do some reading or going though the DVD collection with some light walking.

So far so good
UB

[KatieW]

This all sounds good, Bob. Yes, take it easy and give everything a chance to heal.

[warrain]

I'm in Australia. I had my septoplasty & turbinate reduction done here last April. Prior to that I'd wake up each morning with one or both sides completely blocked. Surgery has fixed that and the airways are really good. The only issue I have is one nostril often whilstles when I breathe - very very disconcerting. Nasal irrigation with saline and nozoil etc don't really make any difference. It does seem to be happening less frequently lately, thankfully.

My ENT did the procedure without using splints. Don't ask me how but he made special prior mention that he used a procedure that didn't require them.

From the morning after, I had to irrigate with a solution, basically bicarb & salt in sterile water. Had to do it for quite a while and the stuff that came out wasn't very pretty.

Really glad I had it done, otherwise, I would not have been able to use the CPAP.

Hope you recover well Bob and enjoy the benefits.

[JeffH]

I had my nasal splints removed yesterday, it was a strange experience, it felt like someone was pulling my brains out through my nose.

I was amazed at the size of the splints and how far back in the nose they went. The first few breaths through my nose felt amazing, it was took less than half the normal amount of effort to get a nice deep breath. I actually had to stop taking full breaths after a while as it started to feel too dry and i was getting a tingling sensation.

The ENT doc recommended a repeat sleep study but when i called my sleep doc he said he only wants to see me again if i have any more problems

So my first night back on the CPAP (Swift LT) wasn't too bad, an AHI or 5.2 for a 6.5 hour sleep with an AI of 0 My nose felt extremely dry in the morning despite having the humidifier set to 4 and irrigating my nose with saline solution before bed. The ENT doc warned me that things could get worse again before they get better as there will likely be some swelling as part of the healing process. I'm signed off work for another 2 weeks, its really tempting to do some yard work or jobs around the house like painting. I need to force myself to just do some reading or going though the DVD collection with some light walking.

So far so good
UB

At about 10 days after my surgery was the point I over did it and had trouble. TAKE IT EASY if you don't want to go thru the hell of a week of nasal tampons up your nose.

[SleepyMary21]

So on my first night i slept over 4 hours with my Quatrro on, I slept elevated by a stack on pillows even though my nose was not bleeding much. I really enjoyed the warm air (humidifier set to 4 & repti cable for heat) and i think that helped so much comfort wise.

Here you state that you use your Quatro mask to sleep, but listed on your profile you use the Mirage Swift LT Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear.

At what point in your recovery did you switch to the other mask?

My other question is: Since you did the sleep study again after surgery, was there a change in the amount of air pressure in your prescription. Lets say for the sake of argument that your cpap machine is set at 13, did you lower yours any like to 12 or 11.

By the way, I have have my deviated septum surgery March 4th. This post has relieved a lot of my anxiety.
So I have a big thank you for your honesty about your surgery and recovery.

[Uncle_Bob]

So on my first night i slept over 4 hours with my Quatrro on, I slept elevated by a stack on pillows even though my nose was not bleeding much. I really enjoyed the warm air (humidifier set to 4 & repti cable for heat) and i think that helped so much comfort wise.

Here you state that you use your Quatro mask to sleep, but listed on your profile you use the Mirage Swift LT Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear.

At what point in your recovery did you switch to the other mask?

My other question is: Since you did the sleep study again after surgery, was there a change in the amount of air pressure in your prescription. Lets say for the sake of argument that your cpap machine is set at 13, did you lower yours any like to 12 or 11.

By the way, I have have my deviated septum surgery March 4th. This post has relieved a lot of my anxiety.
So I have a big thank you for your honesty about your surgery and recovery.

After surgery i had splints up my nose, it was not possible to nose breath very well so i could not use my Swift Lt nasal mask. I think I slept the first night with my Quattro on because i was still on the strong pain killers. I slept a couple of nights without the Quattro when my face was a bit too sore, this was when i was transitioning from the strong pain meds back to regular Tylenol. Those strong pain meds made me feel nauseous. I had my splints out 7 days after surgery and immediately started using the Swift LT again.
I have not had another sleep study done yet, I asked if it would be required and my sleep doc said only if there were any additional problems.
On the number side things are weird and i think that is down to the healing process. The nares do swell up again once the splints are removed so you get the feeling of being congested again for a fews days, nasal decongestant will not help this. Also there is the fairly unpleasant process of scar tissue and stuff that needs to come out through gentle nose blowing.

So three weeks after surgery and I've noticed my AHI is better, although hardly consistent, but this may be down to my sleep hygiene.
What has surprised me most is that my pressure is trending up, I'm was set to 7cm to 10cm prior and my average was 7-8cm. Now I'm at 7cm to 12cm. Last night i averaged 10.8cm with AHI of 4.7 and AI of 0.1.

What remains the same is that i get 80% of my HI's in the second half of my sleep and any AIs seem to be between 1-2 hours before i wake.

But i still healing, I will follow up with the ENT in another 2-3 weeks for a check up. Once given the all clear I'm going to change sleep doctor and work with a new sleep center and doctor. At this point it looks as if i may get another titration and/or a split study.

Good luck with your surgery. Mine was not typical in that i had a bad reaction to the drugs they used to put me under.