Sinus Surgery 101

Long overdue blog post I know.....I honestly thought I'd have more time to blog when I was recovering from surgery, but I was either sleeping like crazy, too tired, and/or too busy watching my kids and getting back to normal life. I know, no big surprise, but I really had no idea what to expect in terms of recovery seeing as I'd never had surgery before.

On the day of my surgery we got to the surgical center about 9 am. They took me back for my surgery right around 11, so it was two hours of me being really nervous and waiting (I just didn't really know what to expect). You'd think after getting an IV three other times in my life I wouldn't be nervous about that, but I was. And every other little thing too. Like even when they put the "relaxing medicine" in my IV before taking me back to surgery, I was freaking out that I would have some kind of bad reaction to it or something. Not so, but it really didn't do a heck of a lot to relax me. I remember going into the operating room and thinking it was really weird that they had egg-crate looking stuff in some of the cupboards; I was expecting more of a sterile OR style room I guess. I remember moving from my bed to the table. I also remember them telling me I was going to have a good nap.....but I don't even remember closing my eyes lol.

Next thing I know someone is asking me how my pain is. All I could think to say was "my throat" because it hurt (probably from being intubated). As the guy fed me an ice chip, I asked if the doctor had to break my nose, and they confirmed the answer I thought I already knew--yes. Then I noticed that the headache and sinus pain that I had felt right up until my surgery was gone, and decided it was worth it!! Then I fell asleep again (you'll hear that phrase a lot haha). The next thing I remember is something painful being injected into my IV (pretty sure that was an anti-nausea med). Then, you guessed it, I fell asleep again. Finally I was able to keep my eyes peeled open for more than five seconds, and noticed Sam was there with me. I decided anesthesia was a really powerful thing, since I didn't even notice being transported to the recovery area where Sam was.

A little while after that, the doctor came in and explained what he had done in surgery. They cleaned out my yucky sinuses, had to break my nose halfway through due to a bone spurr that got in the way of their instrumentation, and ballooned open my forehead area sinuses. I tried really hard to stay awake and alert during his whole explanation, but I'm pretty sure I was in and out of it. I think the recovery nurse encouraged me to eat and drink a little bit, but the cracker and juice I had weren't very appealing. I just was not hungry one little bit. Then they wanted me to try and get dressed. I tried to stand up, but Sam had to help me put on my clothes because I was so unsteady and tired. Plus I felt really sick to my stomach, so I decided to lay back down and sleep some more. I think we finally left the surgery center around 3:45, and I slept the entire way home.

The next 24-48 hours were pretty rough. The pain wasn't so terribly horrible (probably thanks to the Percoset I was taking), but the nausea sure was. I threw up blood (and who knows what other goo from surgery) a handful of times--you really take for granted how your nose works until everything from it is draining down your stomach. So gross. I don't think I ate or drank hardly anything during that time period. And I slept a TON. Percoset makes me really drowsy. Then after the 48 hours my nose started drying up a ton and that was kind uncomfortable. It kept getting worse as the bleeding slowed, until I got the splints out of my nose a week after surgery. Now there's another gross experience that was uncomfortable, but SO worth it. It was like breathing for the first time after they were gone!

It's been two weeks since my surgery, and I definitely don't regret it. However, I wish I would have known that there would be so much bleeding for quite a while, and that I get really stomach sick if I take Percoset without eating. Oh and that I was going to be so tired for the first week. But hey, guess I know now. Luckily everyone was very nice at work and took my shifts that I ended up not being able to do (instead I was watching my kids and trying to gather up energy). I have one more post-op appointment on Monday that I'm not really looking forward to, where they numb me and go up and do a last check on the sinuses/remove any scabbing or packing left. Ugh. But I bet I will feel even better after that ultimately. And once I kick the cold I've picked up, I will know just how good the surgery was for me :]