My experience with repair of a deviated septum and turbinate reduction.
After years of suffering with restricted airways that I had always been able to treat with a diluted solution of Afrin and saline, I finally decided to go to the Doctor again. Several years ago, I had seen and ENT Doctor about the condition and he had recommended surgery but gave me a prescription for flonase. I decided I didn’t want surgery at that time and the flonase seemed to work a little. I also think the symptoms have been somewhat seasonal and the seasons may have changed, anyway I didn’t have it. It was a new Doctor this time and he also recommended surgery. I had been putting off seeing a doctor again because of the horror stories I had heard about extended recovery time and the thought of having my nose packed with yards of gauze didn’t appeal to me. I just got along with the symptoms. Most of the time, I only had to deal with it at night. Every once in a while, things would flare up and I would be stuffed up all day but not too often. In the end, I finally could not get any air through the right side at all without Afrin. Over the years, I had found that there is little or no rebound with the diluted Afrin. When the Doctor discussed the procedure with me, he mentioned that he no longer packs the nasal cavity with gauze. He said that I would leave the hospital breathing better immediately. This was the thing that sold me on the operation.
Day One: The day of the operation was much like any other outpatient surgery. My surgery was scheduled for 2:30 PM, so I arrived at the hospital around 1 PM. The operation took about an hour and 15 minutes. After the operation and in the recovery room, I had some pain in my sinus and was given something through the tube still in my arm. The pain subsided quickly. I did notice I could breathe quite well through my nose. I was a little light headed as we were leaving the hospital but nothing serious. I woke up from surgery with a small roll of gauze under my nose, held there with some tape. The nurse sent some extra gauze and tape home and told me to change it as often as it soaked through. We arrived home about 5 PM and I went immediately to the couch to lie down. I then started some serious bleeding that was passing down my throat and also out my nose. This lasted for about an hour then finally subsided. We treated it with ice packs and lots of paper towels. My wife had called the on-call doctor and he said to give it a while, so we did and it eventually quit. I also noticed that by time I quit bleeding, my nasal cavities shut right down and I felt like I was swimming in either blood or mucus. It became very difficult to swallow and when I did, it would bubble in my nose. I put up with this for that night feeling somewhat claustrophobic and not sleeping well.
Day Two: Through all of this, I had no appetite so about 10:30 that morning, I tried some chicken noodle soup and it went down well. About 2: PM that day, a nurse from the hospital called to inquire how I was doing. She was doing a survey for the hospital and wanted to know if I was following the recommended saline flush procedure. I told her that I was entirely plugged up and the saline would just run back out of my nose. I mentioned that I had no drainage down my throat and was completely clogged up. She said I should call the doctor. I called him and he said that I could try to snort the blockage out and down my throat and if that didn’t work to come into his office. That didn’t work so, I went into his office and he tried to suck out the mess in both nostrils. The left one cleared a tiny bit, but the right one didn’t budge. He also tried some industrial strength Afrin and that didn’t help either. The doctor said my turbinate’s were swollen sealing off my breathing passages. He gave me a prescription for a cortisone (steroid) (medrol brand name) regimen to reduce swelling and sent me home to try it. I immediately went on it that night taking 6 pills with dinner. I did notice that my left side had cleared some more by bed time, but not enough to breathe through and if I really sucked hard on the right side, I could get some saline through. I noticed some overall itching at bed time but didn’t think anything about it.
Day Three: I got up the next morning (didn’t sleep at all again) and continued the cortisone with breakfast (5 pills). By early afternoon, I noticed that the itch was back and all over my body-- must be allergic to the cortisone. Also, my nose seamed to be plugging back up. All gains I had made the night before were lost. I should mention that the doctor gave me a prescription for pain (Hydrocodone) and I had taken a few during this process, but I really haven’t had much pain. I think it helped me deal with the claustrophobia I was feeling the first night. And I don’t think that it is causing me the itching. Also, by this afternoon I had been able to get rid of the gauze under my nose because most of the outside drainage had stopped. I also have been able to clean most of the crusty material from inside my nose with q-tips and Neosporin.
Day Four: Slept a little better last night, maybe I’m getting used to sleeping with my mouth open. The Doctor had recommended sleeping with a vaporizer in the room and since we have one, I tried it. I couldn’t see much difference. Also, in the middle of the night, my left side seamed to open back-up a little. I’ve been flushing with saline a couple times a night, and several times during the day. I still have to force the right side. Most of what I’ve read on the internet says that day 2 and 3 are the worst for swelling so my hopes are up. The Doc called about 10 AM to inquire how I was doing on the cortisone and if the swelling was going down any. I told him of the allergic reaction and no progress on the swelling. He agreed to discontinue the medication and said that I was probably on the downhill side of the swelling and it should get better by it’s self. He was going golfing for the weekend and wanted to check on how I was doing before he left.
Day Five: No improvement in congestion in either side. I’ve tried Sudafed, Nyquil, and other sinus remedies with no relief. Last night I tried 4 way nasal spray and it did give me some relief, but only lasts about 3 hours. I keep trying to flush with saline but really have to suck it in. Still have a little blood coming from the right side.
Day Six-Seven: My wife suggested I try flonase since I still had some from a few years ago, it seamed to give me some relief and drainage. Still stuffed-up at night and sleeping with my mouth open. It’s getting a little easier to snuff the saline and that’s probably due to the flonase.
Day Eight: Went to a surgical follow-up appointment with the doctor. He sucked out some more stuff and gave me some relief in the right side. He said that I can blow my nose now and that might help to clear up some stuff. He also scoped up my nose and said there was still considerable swelling and scabs to come out but otherwise seamed to be healing well. He said that sometimes the repaired septum will slip out of place, but mine looked good. He gave me a sample bottle of Veramyst which is similar to flonase. Flonase is a steroid spray.
After years of suffering with restricted airways that I had always been able to treat with a diluted solution of Afrin and saline, I finally decided to go to the Doctor again. Several years ago, I had seen and ENT Doctor about the condition and he had recommended surgery but gave me a prescription for flonase. I decided I didn’t want surgery at that time and the flonase seemed to work a little. I also think the symptoms have been somewhat seasonal and the seasons may have changed, anyway I didn’t have it. It was a new Doctor this time and he also recommended surgery. I had been putting off seeing a doctor again because of the horror stories I had heard about extended recovery time and the thought of having my nose packed with yards of gauze didn’t appeal to me. I just got along with the symptoms. Most of the time, I only had to deal with it at night. Every once in a while, things would flare up and I would be stuffed up all day but not too often. In the end, I finally could not get any air through the right side at all without Afrin. Over the years, I had found that there is little or no rebound with the diluted Afrin. When the Doctor discussed the procedure with me, he mentioned that he no longer packs the nasal cavity with gauze. He said that I would leave the hospital breathing better immediately. This was the thing that sold me on the operation.
Day One: The day of the operation was much like any other outpatient surgery. My surgery was scheduled for 2:30 PM, so I arrived at the hospital around 1 PM. The operation took about an hour and 15 minutes. After the operation and in the recovery room, I had some pain in my sinus and was given something through the tube still in my arm. The pain subsided quickly. I did notice I could breathe quite well through my nose. I was a little light headed as we were leaving the hospital but nothing serious. I woke up from surgery with a small roll of gauze under my nose, held there with some tape. The nurse sent some extra gauze and tape home and told me to change it as often as it soaked through. We arrived home about 5 PM and I went immediately to the couch to lie down. I then started some serious bleeding that was passing down my throat and also out my nose. This lasted for about an hour then finally subsided. We treated it with ice packs and lots of paper towels. My wife had called the on-call doctor and he said to give it a while, so we did and it eventually quit. I also noticed that by time I quit bleeding, my nasal cavities shut right down and I felt like I was swimming in either blood or mucus. It became very difficult to swallow and when I did, it would bubble in my nose. I put up with this for that night feeling somewhat claustrophobic and not sleeping well.
Day Two: Through all of this, I had no appetite so about 10:30 that morning, I tried some chicken noodle soup and it went down well. About 2: PM that day, a nurse from the hospital called to inquire how I was doing. She was doing a survey for the hospital and wanted to know if I was following the recommended saline flush procedure. I told her that I was entirely plugged up and the saline would just run back out of my nose. I mentioned that I had no drainage down my throat and was completely clogged up. She said I should call the doctor. I called him and he said that I could try to snort the blockage out and down my throat and if that didn’t work to come into his office. That didn’t work so, I went into his office and he tried to suck out the mess in both nostrils. The left one cleared a tiny bit, but the right one didn’t budge. He also tried some industrial strength Afrin and that didn’t help either. The doctor said my turbinate’s were swollen sealing off my breathing passages. He gave me a prescription for a cortisone (steroid) (medrol brand name) regimen to reduce swelling and sent me home to try it. I immediately went on it that night taking 6 pills with dinner. I did notice that my left side had cleared some more by bed time, but not enough to breathe through and if I really sucked hard on the right side, I could get some saline through. I noticed some overall itching at bed time but didn’t think anything about it.
Day Three: I got up the next morning (didn’t sleep at all again) and continued the cortisone with breakfast (5 pills). By early afternoon, I noticed that the itch was back and all over my body-- must be allergic to the cortisone. Also, my nose seamed to be plugging back up. All gains I had made the night before were lost. I should mention that the doctor gave me a prescription for pain (Hydrocodone) and I had taken a few during this process, but I really haven’t had much pain. I think it helped me deal with the claustrophobia I was feeling the first night. And I don’t think that it is causing me the itching. Also, by this afternoon I had been able to get rid of the gauze under my nose because most of the outside drainage had stopped. I also have been able to clean most of the crusty material from inside my nose with q-tips and Neosporin.
Day Four: Slept a little better last night, maybe I’m getting used to sleeping with my mouth open. The Doctor had recommended sleeping with a vaporizer in the room and since we have one, I tried it. I couldn’t see much difference. Also, in the middle of the night, my left side seamed to open back-up a little. I’ve been flushing with saline a couple times a night, and several times during the day. I still have to force the right side. Most of what I’ve read on the internet says that day 2 and 3 are the worst for swelling so my hopes are up. The Doc called about 10 AM to inquire how I was doing on the cortisone and if the swelling was going down any. I told him of the allergic reaction and no progress on the swelling. He agreed to discontinue the medication and said that I was probably on the downhill side of the swelling and it should get better by it’s self. He was going golfing for the weekend and wanted to check on how I was doing before he left.
Day Five: No improvement in congestion in either side. I’ve tried Sudafed, Nyquil, and other sinus remedies with no relief. Last night I tried 4 way nasal spray and it did give me some relief, but only lasts about 3 hours. I keep trying to flush with saline but really have to suck it in. Still have a little blood coming from the right side.
Day Six-Seven: My wife suggested I try flonase since I still had some from a few years ago, it seamed to give me some relief and drainage. Still stuffed-up at night and sleeping with my mouth open. It’s getting a little easier to snuff the saline and that’s probably due to the flonase.
Day Eight: Went to a surgical follow-up appointment with the doctor. He sucked out some more stuff and gave me some relief in the right side. He said that I can blow my nose now and that might help to clear up some stuff. He also scoped up my nose and said there was still considerable swelling and scabs to come out but otherwise seamed to be healing well. He said that sometimes the repaired septum will slip out of place, but mine looked good. He gave me a sample bottle of Veramyst which is similar to flonase. Flonase is a steroid spray.
Day Nine: Tried Afrin last night and it worked. I had a good night’s sleep breathing through my nose. However, the re-bound is still there and my clear nose lasted to about noon today. I am nervous about getting dependant on Afrin again so I’m going to try and use it sparingly.
Day Thirteen: Not much change in stuffiness maybe a little better but I’m not sure.
It is now just a waiting game. It may take a month or so before I can really breath great. I hope it will be great by then.
I hope this worked out for you...
ReplyDeleteHow did it turn out?
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