I had been dealing with a chronic sinus infection since May of 2016. I remember because it was right before I was supposed to go to Haiti on a missions trip. The sinus infection never went away even with several rounds of antibiotics and steroids. a CT scan at my allergist revealed that I had a polyp in my sinus cavity. These can go away with steroid nasal sprays but mine did not. Even my polyps are stubborn.
With my sinus infections I had major migraines. I am prone to migraines anyways but these were always in the front and very painful causing me to take high amounts of pain relievers including Excedrin migraine. These would only dull the pain and the aura of a migraine was always there. So after I had reached maximum treatment with antibiotics I was sent to an ENT who prescribed surgery. He also said I had a deviated septum which can cause sleep apnea, trouble breathing, headaches, etc. He would also fix this during the surgery.
I will openly admit that I am a HUGE scaredy cat when it comes to being put to sleep. I always think I am not going to wake up. In preparation for my surgery I was not allowed to use advil or aspirin for three weeks. Or anything natural or chemical that would thin my blood. I did also stop eating my chia seeds.
The week before surgery my head all of the sudden started splitting and I was running a fever and had been all weekend. I had to have my sister take my to the ER. I was afraid I had meningitis which is a complication of severe sinus infection since the bone separating the brain and the sinuses is a thin bone. I will never go back to Ft. Sanders ER. I waited three hours to be treated. When I finally had a Dr. look at me he gave me fluids and a migraine cocktail (benedryl, toradol, promethazine) which usually helps my migraines but this did nothing for me. They gave me Rocephin which is a strong IV antibiotic and stronger pain killers. My CT just showed how bad my sinuses were and I was allowed to go home. It took days but I finally started to feel better. I think the Rocephin helped most of all.
I was scared and excited for the day of my surgery to come. I was ready to get back to normal. I had been in bed a lot. Sleeing a lot, and taking medicine around the clock. My sinuses were so bad I had a rash around my eyes where the sinus infection was seeping out of my eyes and basically burning my face. something I had never seen before and made me feel like a leper.
DAY OF SURGERY
I woke up and went to my Mom's and picked her up since she would be driving me home. We got checked in at FSRMC at 10:30 am. We had a little wait before they sent us upstairs and I went into pre op. I had to give a urine sample, blood draw, vitals. My blood pressure was skyrocketed because I was so nervous and I was running a low grade fever. We waited in pre op until 12:30 then they took me back into this other communal room where I would receive my anesthesia before being taken back.
I loved my nurse she comforted me when I told her how scared I was. She told me I was definitely going to wake up. I let her know about my panic disorder and that I was having a panic attack. MY IV was the best IV I had ever received. They numbed it with some kind of lotion before they stuck in the numbing shot and I barely felt the iv go in. After I saw my dr she gave me some versaid (sp?) for my anxiety which did nothing to me. I made sure to let them know. I was VERY awake when they wheeled me into the operating room which I did not like at all. I could see every instrument.I got on the stretcher myself. Watched them strap my arms down. At this point I was going to tell them NOPE, NOT TODAY! The really cute anesthesiologist put a mask over my face and told me to take some deep breaths of oxygen. Then they switched to anesthesia and I only took three breaths before I was out.
WAKING UP
My pre op experience was heaven compared to post op. The first thing I noticed was that something was wrong with my throat. Flash back to tonsillectomy. It hurt bad. I let the nurse know and she was not concerned at all and could care less. Her job was basically to tell me to breathe and quickly became the most annoying person I have ever met. Why do I need to remember to breathe all of the sudden? Maybe if my throat didn't feel like it had been violated with burning embers I could breathe. They do not want you to sleep either. Every time I closed my eyes there she was. Candice you need to breathe. When I complained about my throat for the umpteenth time she brought me ice chips and said I could have pain medicine when I brought my oxygen level up.
They basically bribed me with pain medicine to breathe. I have also never realized how hard it is to be forced to be a mouth breather. I find it extremely uncomfortable. I noticed the throat pain before I noticed the nose pain. The face pain came soon after. The wheeled me into recovery and my Mom and Elijah were allowed to come back. I could have gotten stronger medicine for my pain but that would have meant staying longer and at this point I was ready to be somewhere that I could just sleep. We finally left the hospital around 5 pm.
This was taken the morning after my surgery. I was in immense pain.
The First Night
The first night was all about learning to breathe through the mouth and trying to fit my huge nose into my full face C-Pap mask. I should have talked to them about it and maybe they could have offered a better solution. My nose swelled up to about the size of the old mans from UP. I woke up often from pain and took pain medicine every 4 hours.
Eating was weird and unexpected. When you don't have your nose your taste really changes. the best thing was popsicles because it helped soothe my throat which was still in pain and now extremely dry from sleeping with the cpap. This would be a good time to try healthy stuff you normally wouldn't eat. I had some spinach yogurt and since I couldn't smell it I really didn't have an opinion on the taste.
I lost a lot of blood during surgery and had a lot of post surgery bleeding that my Doctor put off removing my packing for a while. When he did remove my packing it wasn't as bad as I thought. The most painful part of that experience was when he sprayed something in my nose. Tears sprung to my eyes. It felt like acid. I saw stars and I couldn't stand on my own so I had to sit in the room for ten minutes until I could leave. I had to come back to have the splints taken out and they were a little painful coming out, but my pain decreased a lot after my packing and splints came out.
It's been two months since I had the surgery. I can breathe better, but unfortunately I'm still having sinus trouble. I am back on allergy shots and I am experimenting with essential oils. I don't recommend the surgery for everyone. I had a deviated septum and I do notice a difference since it was repaired. I also had to have the surgery because my infection was so bad. I would only recommend it as a last option after you have tried everything else.
This picture was after I had my splints removed. I got a lot of relief after that.
