If you could see me now. I have a cast on my nose as well as splints going up through my nostrils. I had surgery (Septoplasty for my deviated nasal septum, bilateral turbinectomies to reduce the swelling I've had in my turbinates forever, and because I'd be under anyway I opted for a little Rhinoplasty to shave down the bump no my nose) on January 9th and even though my doctor and I discussed what to possibly expect afterward, I really had no idea what I was in for. I mean hearing her say we'll probably have to break your nose: she might as well said I enjoy coffee with cream. It just didn't register.
Even though I warned the anesthesiologist of my sensitivities to anesthesia, I don't think he held back. I woke up at least three hours after the surgery (I don't know, maybe that's normal), vomiting blood every time I moved or spoke. They didn't want to release me because my blood pressure was way low - another thing I warned the anesthesiologist about. I wanted to go home so bad, but it would be about another hour or so before my hubby was called to pick me up. Just knowing he was on the other line with the nurse brought comfort to me. And when I saw his beautiful face I let out a calm breath and waved that I was okay.
Because of all the oozing of blood from my nose I had to wear folded up gauze, which was taped to my face. The hubby was so amazing, changing out soiled bandages whenever needed. He kept the dogs away from me, and even slept on the couch with them. My mouth was so incredibly dry so he brought me ice cubes to just wet the area. Any attempt at using water, even the tiniest sips had me heaving shortly after.
I think about 15 hours later I broke down and used a suppository for nausea (good times). I wanted to take some pain meds and start on my antibiotics but I didn't want to vomit them up again. Later on my hubby made some soup and I was able to keep everything down. I couldn't see outside of my right eye becuase the swelling was so bad, and I had a lot of natural tears going.
Day 3 was really awful. In the daytime I didn't use the gauze under my nose (it was sooo annoying). Whatever blood came I could just gently absorb away with a tissue. The bad part was the dizziness from the vicodin and how swollen my face had gotten. I already had two big black eyes but my cheeks had gotten painfully puffier. There was a lot of crusted up blood around and inside my nose, and it hurt like hell trying to dissolve it. Using hydrogen peroxide helped and then I would follow it up with a gob of vaseline.
Well six days later and the nose is still oozing some blood, serum and snot. Even after the splints are removed next week I won't be able to blow my nose for awhile. That'll be interesting. Especially with classes starting early February. Something tells me I might have to drop voice class, but we'll see. The swelling has gone down and the black and blues are minimizing.
I'm nervous and excited to see the outcome, once the cast, splints and swelling are all gone. And by that I'm not referring to aesthetics. The reason for all of this was to see if correcting the deviated septum and reducing the swelling of the turbinates would decrease the chronic head and sinus pressure I experience, as well as allergy symptoms. If doing so relieves the pain then all of the above was well worth it. If it doesn't, then it just means I'm one step closer to finding what will.
