septoplasty

For quite a few years now, I have been plagued with chronic sinus infections. I get them in the spring, I get them in the fall and I get them even worse since I've gotten older. About 3 years ago, my doctor was finally tired of prescribing antibiotics and referred me to an ear, nose and throat specialist who could find out what the problem really was. One cat scan later, we found a severely deviated septum and some other gross stuff going on. Good news - it could be fixed forever with an outpatient surgery. Bad news - I had just found out I was pregnant with Sloane. He said to come see him again after I had all of my kids and was finished nursing. Literally the week I finished with Porter, I called. I was ready.

Diagram of a deviated septum

We scheduled the surgery, lined up for childcare for awhile with my mom and dad, and in I went. It was a fairly lengthy surgery. We decided to go for the whole gusto while we were up there and not only straighten out the septum, but widen up nasal passages and sinus passages and remove a turbinate which had grown into the deviation. The whole enchilada, if you will.

A non-gory diagram of surgery

What was supposed to be a 2.5 hour procedure ended up being 4. Thankfully, he took his time and once he got up there, found out things were worse than he thought. He corrected them nicely, stitched me back up and I woke up in a recovery room none the wiser of the brutality that my nose had just gone through. In the beginning, I specifically asked the kind doctor that he spare me the gory details of what it was he was going to do or the aspects of what to expect for recovery, lest I talk myself out a much-needed procedure. (I found out EXACTLY what he did a couple of weeks after..... Thank you, Youtube. I am now scarred from those images burning into my mind. It was NOT a delicate procedure as I had naively imagined.)

My wonderful husband was such a rockstar. He set up our recliner in our living room in front of the TV and for a full week, he would come home after working all day and take care of both kids and a patient. Recovery was a bit worse than I thought, but with the help of alot of pain meds and my awesome friends who came by to visit and bring me things, I got through it.

Immediately after surgery

The day after

3 days after

I am still recovering. The doctor has said it could be 6 months before I'm back to normal and maybe even longer. Unfortunately, both children have taken a pretty good shot at my nose, reinjuring it twice now. I'm hoping there's not any new damage because of this, but in the meantime, I can breathe like I have never breathed before and optimistic that when the sagebrush starts blooming, I'll stay healthy and infection-free.