December 02, 2011-
Check into the Ear Nose and Throat Center of Utah, fill out the usual paperwork and then wait. First I had my consultation with my surgeon Dr. Steve Miller (he was great and very reassuring). Then the consultation with my anesthesiologist, the most AMAZING anesthesiologist I've ever had - Dr. Preston Richards from Mountain West Anesthesia.
If anyone knows my medical history, they know that I am afraid of anesthesia because I have woken up during surgery. Also, I have horrible veins, so getting an IV started can also be a very damaging experience. When I had my feeding tube in when I was 17, it took 5 nurses and an anesthesiologist to get the IV started and I almost walked out.
Dr. Richards got me into the operating room, gave me some nitrous to relax me, then numbed my hand before inserting the IV. I didn't feel anything. It was an incredible act of kindness from him because he listened to me and took into consideration my past traumas. He also had great bedside manner and didn't talk down to me at all. I felt empathy and mutual respect. More than I can say for most doctors I have come in contact with.
Back to surgery. Once I went under they made two small incisions on the inside of either nostril. Corrected the septum which was almost closing off my right nasal passageway and cleaned up the turbinates. Then I was done. A few stitches and two splints later and I was waking up. The nurse held my hand as I started to wake up, which is also very comforting.
I got home after only being at the surgery center for 3.5 hours. I was groggy but felt ok. I started to swell slightly but nothing bad. The bleeding is the most annoying part. It's not at all like a nose bleed, more like a runny nose. The gauze wrap helps though. Had an appetite by about 6 pm and as long as I stuck to food that was soft and didn't require me to open my mouth wide I was fine. Finally fell asleep around 2 am with the help of a sleeping pill.
Day two- December 3rd, 2011
Today is harder than yesterday. I got about 3 hours of sleep last night, between being uncomfortable propped up at a 30 degree angle and the feeling of suffocating when my entire mouth would dry out from not being able to breath through my nose. The gauze wrap wasn't comfortable but wasn't bad either. The only problem was you could feel when the gauze would collect blood, so there was a constant feeling of wanting to wipe my nose.
Today the swelling is twice as bad and has spread from just my nose out to my entire face. I don't have bad bruising, just dark circles under my eyes. I look more like I had a really late night than surgery. I can't open my mouth very much so I'm still eating soft food and drinking through straws. Not that I mind, I think everything tastes better through a straw regardless.
The pain in my nose isn't terrible, feels more uncomfortable like when you have a cold and you've been wiping your nose until it dries out and cracks. I can't feel the splints inside my nose at all. The bleeding out of both sides has stopped, now there is a little drainage, but nothing I didn't expect. My main complaint is a migraine (feel like I got hit in the face with a brick or something) but again, nothing I didn't expect. Some pain pills every four or five hours keeps everything comfortable.
Will write more tomorrow and hopefully it will be nothing but continued good news. This is a lot better and easier than I thought it would be!
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