Operation over - phase one begins

[Dareman2]

My turbinectomy is over and it went well. It was kind of wham, bam, thank you ma'am. In at noon, out by four. No pain, but I can say right now that the nose packing is a royal irritant. I've been on CPAP nearly 15 years and have been nose breathing all that time. Shifting to mouth breathing was nigh onto impossible. Can't sleep, sore throat, grouchy, rummy. The doctor is going to remove the packing today and hopefully he won't have to re-pack. Sneezing is certainly fun. It must be done with the mouth wide open and that isn't easy, but it certainly is noisy and embarassing. I guess it's better than having a sinus blowout.

I did reap one instant benefit. Having been on Afrin every night for 6 years, I think it was dulling my taste, because my nose was always messed up. Only on the best of days could I get much taste out of anything. Doctor said the operation wouldn't do much for that. He was very wrong. My first meal after surgery was a complete shock. My sense of taste was so sharp it was almost scary. I could suddenly taste peanut butter, and strawberry jam, and hot chocolate. What a revelation!. Now on to phase two, whatever that might entail.

[kem]

Hi Dareman,
Great that you made it through the operation okay! Hang in there and keep us posted.
Kathy

[Billinseattle]

Dareman,

It'll get better day-by-day.You'll feel pretty "normal" by a week.

Especially when you get the stuff out of your nose.

Did they use plastic splints in addition to the packing ?

Good luck,

Bill

[Dareman2]

Wow, I'm already in phase two. I went back to the doctor today, 24 hours after the operation, and he removed the packing (boy, there was a lot of it). He said there was very little bleeding, no pain, and after checking it over he said I could begin the saline flushes on Monday, and start using my CPAP again Tuesday.

I think I really picked a good doc on this one. I was expecting a lot more problems than I got, that's for sure. In fact, the only problem is sitting up to sleep. That's a real drag.

[snork1]

Congrats and its great to hear you made it through safe and sound!

I found recovery was more irritating than painful.

Do those saline flushes religiously!!! You will be glad you did!

[dizzy]

the real benefits will be several months down the road. We kept telling you that Afrin stuff was BAD but Noooo throw that crap away.

you get your packing out use only a saline wash with a pinch of baking soda, the baking soda breaks down mucous like a major runny nose and shrinks swollen tissues.

[Dareman2]

There was never a day went by that I didn't know that Afrin was bad, the way I was using it. There also wasn't a day (or night) went by that I wasn't stuffed tight at bedtime. It was either Afrin or nothing. Now I have done the operation and I'm hoping the long term results are good. I'm just not certain what I'm going to do when I have a head cold and can't use my CPAP because I can't breathe.

[Billinseattle]

Stuffy head colds, try putting menthol crystals in warm water and inhaling (don't drink !).Sold for a couple bucks at pharmacies (I'm not sure of prescription is required).

Commercially available in Breathe Right Vapor Shot (over the counter).

It is not systemic and works for several hours.

Bill