Rooster's Septoplasty and Turbinate Reduction

rooster wrote:Now my voice has a nasal sound for the last two days. Wifey and I want to know if this will go away?

Yes.

Harry's voice even changed for a while after his tonsilectomy. Freaked me out. Didn't like it at all. His normal voice came back after swelling went down, thank goodness--since it is so darn cute!

I just cannot believe how fast your recovery is from this. You sound like you are doing just awesome. In retrospect (thinking about how much more I suffered after the same surgery), I'm jealous. Of course, you got those plastic splints--amazing inventions!--and I was undiagnosed with apnea still at the time. My health was not peak.

Jen

Jen

socknitster wrote:...
I just cannot believe how fast your recovery is from this. You sound like you are doing just awesome. .....

I worked 8:30 - 8:30 a second day in a row and was making a presentation to a group of 75 people at 7:30 tonight. In some respect I feel like I am running on adrenaline from being elated about the quick recovery. Probably by Friday night I will have to crash (oh gosh - just remembered, the first Christmas party is Friday night!).

The nose has recovered so well I am thinking about sucking on the Hybrid tonight.

Rooster, I'm sooooooo happy to hear you are doing so well

rooster wrote:Now my voice has a nasal sound for the last two days. Wifey and I want to know if this will go away?

I'm assuming by 'nasal,' you mean almost that echoing reverberation that sounds a lot like a you have a cold - not a high-pitched whiney 'nasal' voice like Neil Young. (Sorry Neil - I know it's your gig, and it works for you.)

Mine lasted for two weeks as the 'head-cold' kind of sound, but has never really gone entirely away. I'm assuming that besides your turbinates being reduced, you also had your septum straightened. I think it's because now your septum acts like the sounding board it's supposed to be. Septal warpage damps the sounding board. I think the change is somewhat permanent, but will mellow and become less distinct, less like a cold with time. It will certainly go away if enough warpage is re-introduced. From what I understand, sometimes the straightening doesn't last.

Chris

DreamDiver wrote:........- not a high-pitched whiney 'nasal' voice like Neil Young. (Sorry Neil - I know it's your gig, and it works for you.)

.........

Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around anyhow.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ap4RQsm12-0

I missed this whole thread! I'm sorry I never responded to your first question. I'm glad to hear the surgery and recovery went so well!

I just have one life-changing question for you.....


How could you possibly be sleeping on your back with the water bottle / tennis balls / porcupine on you back?

You really need to do whatever it takes to stay off your back while sleeping. You'll sleep better and won't require as much pressure.

jburnham wrote:..........
You really need to do whatever it takes to stay off your back while sleeping. You'll sleep better and won't require as much pressure.

jburnham,

There is pretty solid evidence from the sleep lab and my experimentation at home that my 90% pressure on my sides is 9 cm and on my back it is 19 to 20 cm.

I have finally come to a firm conclusion that, like you say, I have to do whatever it takes to sleep exclusively on my sides. The last weeks I have been trying to do it "voluntarily" and that is well short of 100% effective.

Tonight the belly pack containing tennis balls will sleep with me. But, I have to find or construct something better. I am thinking in the directions of a terry belt that ties under my arms across my chess. For the irritant, maybe a water bottle in a tube sock as someone suggested.

PADACHEEK, any ideas? I think there is a market need for something effective and comfortable, and cool during the summer months.

If there is one criticism I could make of this wonderful forum, heretofore, there seems to have been very little discussion of positional osa and the wide variation in pressure needs. Of course it was never mentioned by the two sleep labs and three sleep docs I have used - par for the course.

Well, Rooster,

I know how you feel about pillows.

But I'm going to make a suggestion anyway.

As I find myself in the category of knocked up, I happen to know a lot about pregnancy pillows. Now hold onto your seat, Rooster! They make pillows specifically so pregnant women cannot roll onto their backs because it is dangerous to the fetus (a major vein and artery run right under the uterus and past 16-20 weeks the weight of the baby is enough to stop bloodflow--putting baby and the mother's lower extremeties at risk.)

Warning: they are large. And oddly shaped. But according to the women who use them, utterly comfortable.

Here are some on amazon, starting with the one I just bought:

http://www.amazon.com/Leachco-All-Night ... 560&sr=8-7

http://www.amazon.com/Leachco-Snoogle-T ... 560&sr=8-2

THere are, of course, many others available. I chose the first one because I'm tall and it seems to be the most flexible. If you place these pillows behind you and you try to roll on your back you end up in a semi-sidelying position that is, apparantly, safer. And may help an apnea sufferer as well.

At least, Rooster, you aren't confined to only one side. Pregnant women are supposed to sleep on their left side as much as possible.

I would love to give you a review of this pillow, but I've been busy and fatigued from the pregnancy and haven't even opened the box yet. I'll let you know later what I think.

Good point about position making a big difference. It may be we haven't talked about it much before because we didn't realize that it could make such a huge difference in some folks. For me, the difference is there too--but far less dramatic. My pressure only goes up one point or two on the back.

I'll turn 12 weeks on monday so I'll be saying hello to the second trimester and its new challenges and goodby to nausea and debilitating fatigue (hopefully).

Jen

Saturday was day 18 of recovery. I decided the danger of hemorrhaging was low enough to get back to my weightlifting routine. I tried the barbell bench press with a shade less weight than before surgery and quit two sets short of normal. It felt good.

I was not as strong as before surgery but this is probably because it has been three weeks since I lifted and I am sure the trauma of the surgery and anesthesia took something out of me.

Today, Sunday, I did barbell squats. I kept the weight just below my before surgery workout and stopped a few sets short. I really felt great afterword.

By next weekend I hope to be back to the pre-surgery routine.

A friend from out of town visited and asked about the surgery. He has a friend who has been doing this surgery for 14 years. This doc said there has been a tremendous advancement in the technique. When he started 14 years ago, he was using 30 feet (!!!!!) of wadding to pack the nose and under the skin.

He told a funny story about in medical school they have the student take the end of a 30-foot roll of wadding and walk down the hall while the instructor held the roll.

I have needed this surgery for a long time but maybe procrastination is sometimes a good thing.