I'm HoooooOOoooome!!
O ... M ... G... I thought it was going to be a walk in the park, a piece of cake, no sweat.
Boy was I wrong!
Background
I have a deviated septum. What does that mean? It means the cartilage in my nose is crooked -- Enough the point where it blocks my left nostril from breathing. Also, the tissue inside both my nostrils is always swollen. The combination of those two pretty much makes me breathe through my mouth 90% of the time. On really good, allergy-free days, I could breath out of my right nostril and a little bit of my left nostril. I saw an Ear Nose Throat doctor last month and he recommended nasal septoplasty (fixing the cartilage) and interior turbinate reduction (cutting away some of the overgrown tissue inside my nose). I had done some reading online a while back and read really positive stories about it.
The day of the surgery
Here's a play-by-play version I wrote in an email to a friend:
I just woke up. Been sleeping most of today.
Yesterday I arrived at 1pm, got wheeled in on a bed at 3pm, feeling pretty nice. Everyone was super nice!
Got past the IV-in-my-hand jitters sometime around 330. Woke up at (I think) 530... That's when things got bad!! I had severe nausea, the room was spinning. Nothing like the anesthesia experience I had when I got my wisdom teeth taken out in '99!!
Ying dropped me off at 1, but had come back at 5 to pick me up. I slept/threw up for a few hours after the surgery. They suggested I stay the night, but I didn't want to sleep there. At 9pm I said I was well enough to go home so they got me a wheelchair and someone to push me to the car... then I threw up in the elevator (I rule!). Good thing I had made friends with the half-circle throw up tub and it was readily by my side. Now I know why they don't want you to eat before the surgery! Threw up in the car once. Got home threw up again! Man I was weak. All this time it's near midnight (Ying stopped by CVS to pick up my antibiotics and pain killers). I realized my last meal was 8pm the previous night; I hadn't eaten in nearly 28 hours.
<..some parts snipped...>
Anyway I'm better now! My nose is hideous -- they have it PACKED with gauze, then I have this big gauze square rolled up into 3rds taped across my [face] to catch any leakage. I can't breathe out of my nose of course. It makes swallowing hard. Lips are way dry and should start cracking soon... I can't feel my left front tooth (all I want for xmas is..?) Nurse says to ask my doctor about that, she thinks it was because of the breathing pipe they had to stick down my throat in the OR and that feeling should come back eventually.
Ok this is turning into a blog post. Maybe I should put this online! I took some pictures of me in a OR gown (if only I had known what was in store for me that night!) I think Ying stealthily took some pictures of me after the surgery too (heh heh heh, she said I looked soooooo bad) I knew she was taking pictures of me. She said she felt bad taking pics but knew I'd wanna see. And I'm glad she did! It'll be cellphone pics, but I'll doctor them up (no pun intended) with photoshop.
I'm in high spirits now though! Ying made awesome chicken soup with an entire whole chicken! And there's a beef soup waiting for me right now too. Oh and I had the most delicious bowl of cheerios this morning too. I let them get soggy so I wouldn't have to chew too much, which on any other day would have made them into a bad bowl of cheerios... But not today!
So there you have it!
Here's me around 1pm in good spirits!
My feet in booties!! hahahah so cool.
No pants!! No boxers! ho ho ho!
AFTER the surgery... I'm totally PWND. The anesthesia really got to me. The pink thing near my right hand was my new best buddy -- the puke pan.
Close up of me in my anesthesia-induced stupor:
WARNING ... For those of you that don't like to see blood, you can stop reading here..
... really, if you dont want to see blood then go somewhere else...
..
.
. Last Chance!....
So you saw me with the gauze after the surgery... this is what the gauze looked like the morning after... you can see my nostril markings!:
This morning there was a trail of dried blood running down my face onto my neck. And me, in my infinite wisdom, chose to wear a nice (at least soft, comfy cotton) A&F off-white t-shirt to sleep last night. It's got blood stains on it now. Go me!
24 hrs after the surgery, the gauze isn't too bad:
Here's my face without the gauze. My nose is HUGE! Don't worry, it's just packed with packing inside my nostrils. It'll go back to my normal Dean-size after it's removed (I HOPE!)
The black thing is string. I don't know if that's a stitch or if it's to help make packing removal easier...
I'm trying to smile for the camera...
I am the Phantom of the Operrrrraaa!!!
So at least I'm well enough to post long blog postings!
-Dean :)