Septoplasty Surgery

So on August 19th, 2010; I had septoplasty and turbonite reduction surgery. I will start with a log of the last four days.


August 19th, 2010
I arrive at the hospital at 9:00 am to check in. Check in was quick and I am quickly in a backless robe awaiting surgery. An IV is installed in my arm and I sprayed some decongestant in each nostril. The worst part up to this point is that I am dying of thirst and the nose spray is dripping down my throat and causing irritation. I wait until about 10:15 am and my number is up. I am wheeled into the OR where my anesthesiologist asks me to breath deeply as she adds a drug to my IV, which I do.

I woke up at approximately 12:00 in the recovery room with a swatch of gauze under my nose thirsty as all hell. A nurse hands me a small cup of ice, which I devour nearly immediately. I feel great, actually. 8 of 10. Another 20 minutes of recovery and I am out of the hospital feeling fine.

Later in the day around 2:00 pm I get a pretty bad headache and just focus on the movie I happen to be watching. Headache subsides around 5:00 pm, or about 30 minutes after I take a few vicodin.

All in all the first day was pretty good. Changed gauze about every; oh, hour'ish with laughter stating how I was on my period. Bleeding mostly stopped around 9:00 pm when I passed out... Note the picture I look pretty groggy and some blood is coming out of the nose.


August 20th, 2010
I wake up early and feel fine, lets say another 8 of 10. Slept surprisingly good considering I had to sleep on my back and first night after surgery.

Nose is stuffy and only in minor pain. I spray some saline up each nostril and reapply some gauze. Of course, now that I am sitting up and not laying down I can feel the liquids oozing on the gauze again. I take my pills, which consist of steroids, antibiotics, and of course vicodin. I eat some food and sit down to some need for speed: shift. Yes, I feel good enough to play video games; perhaps I should have went to work?

Luckily I didn't go to work. I change the gauze approximately every 2-3 hours and it actually is pretty bloody. Not a good thing for work. Regular maintenance of pills, using saline spray, and using gauze and I am good all day long.

August 21st, 2010
Not much to report. One thing that happened the night before was after I took two corticosteroids for the inflammation. I was hearing all sorts of voices and could not understand the language that was spoken. This morning I looked at the side effects and low-and-behold a side effect is psychosis and/or psychotic episodes. Fantastic.

Bleeding; however, has completely stopped. My nose is just dry and the saline helps clear some crusted and dried blood. Pain is minor but only comes about when I need to take vicodin. This could just be a sign of dependency though so I take Tylenol instead. Pretty relaxing day I just watch movies, had a few visitors, and played some video games.

August 22nd, 2010
I feel great today. My nose is stuffy and dry just like yesterday. Lots of energy today not drowsy at all. Nose is not bleeding at all still and I don't need to have gauze on my nose. Breathing is stuffy at best. The nose is clear and I can see the stints. Looking forward to getting those out.

Proof that I feel great; I completely rearranged my living room today, swept and mopped, watered the plants, did the dishes, and dusted the apartment. I may go to work tomorrow. Note the picture as my nose is pretty darn clear and I can actually breath partially okay out of it.

August 23rd, 2010
Feeling okay today. Sinus pressure around 1:30 pm giving me a headache. Leaning head forward, back, or side-to-side causes pressure to sway. Pressure; however, is manageable and not really an issue.

August 24th, 2010
Woke up with a very stuffed up nose. I realized I have not used a nasal rinsing kit since August 22nd and really should again. So I use the kit anticipating that it would be pretty disgusting. Boy, was I ever right! Long strings of crusted blood came out. Just a warning in case anybody reads this before getting the surgery. You will see anything that has ever been in or passed through your nose come out. To quote a review of a product I read many years ago, "At one point I even saw Jimmy Hoffa go by."

So I feel fine now. Completely cut out Vicodin the other day and am not taking Tylenol or any other painkilling meds at all. So... I suppose that means the pain is pretty minor. Just like yesterday; however, I still feel some pressure. Less than yesterday though so maybe the cleaning helped that out. Also, I wish I would have known this before, try to stock up on juices and fruits or something. If you are clever or witty than you know what I mean.

August 25th, 2010
First day back to work. The day went well but the nose was stuffed up pretty good. Of course, I used to get a stuffy nose just going to work anyway and would generally only sneeze at work due to paper dust and other minuscule air pollutants. Slight pressure all day. No big deal I would say a 1 of 10 on the annoying/pain scale. Just barely noticeable but not gone entirely. Minor sinus headache also all day; again maybe a 1 of 10.

Tomorrow is the day to get stints and stitches removed. Looking forward to it and will keep this post updated. Until next time!

August 26th, 2010
Today I got the stints/stitches out and my good gravy lord what a miraculous difference it is! I feel that I could breath in the world, the sun, and yes even the planet Pluto! Even better news is that the doc said within a week or so it will get even better once everything really heals and de-crusts; I know, gross right? Well, either way gross or not, I can breathe I would say quite honestly I can breathe through my nose about four times better. Was it worth the vacation time from work, the surgery and downtime? Well so far at day seven I say yes!

I will likely not post daily logs at this point perhaps in a week, a month, first quarter after I meet with the doc again, and then next year! Very quick, relatively painless, and worthwhile procedure. I do suggest it to anybody that needs it!