Cast is off!!!

Sort of. I still have to wear the cast as often as possible for the next week.

I did get the 3 inch splints out as well as my stitches though.

Let me give you some details. My surgery was to remove severe polyp infestation, turbinate removal as well as correcting a deviated septum. I also received some rhinoplasty to remove a hump on the bridge of my nose that absolutely no one else in my family has. Combined, they call that a septorhinoplasty.

When I went into the doctor yesterday, he told me a little bit about how my surgery had gone. Normally, when people have polyps in their nose, they remove something like a small wall of polyps and then go further back and remove mucus and such that has built up over time. In my case, my polyps were ever more extensive that my doctor had realized even with the ct scan. I had polyps the entire way back. What this means is that, eventually, the polyps would have pushed against my eyes and such, breaking the thin barrier there and corroding my sight. My brain is also all in that area. So these polyps can be very dangerous. Especially with how many I had living in me.

This means, unfortunately, that there is a VERY high chance I will end up back at the doctor's again at some point. At the very least, I will need annual visits to keep this under control. It also means I must start seeing an allergist and getting allergy shots once a week.

This process has been not as difficult as it could have been, but I have no real desire to go through it all again.

That was my bad news.

The removal of the splints came first.

First off, do not let me scare you. My doctor assured my that my case was about 100 times worse than normal. I do not know why.

Removal felt like giving birth. Out of my nostril and without an epidural. It HURT. Many, many tears were shed. I honestly thought I was not going to make it through this part. It hurt THAT bad.

Then it was over.

Next, removing the cast. It was also harder than normal. Apparently, stuff REALLY sticks to me. But this did not hurt. My nose just felt sore and it was a little scary having scissors close to my face to help remove the tape.

Then the stitches came out. Felt awkward, but easy done.

Then I got to see!

I was terrified I would not recognize myself. But it was me. All me! The bump from my nose was completely gone. Other than that, my nose was sort of lumpy and swollen. Not the prettiest thing in the world but I was just one week post op.

I go back in next week.

Here are my pictures!

Before! So excited. My smile is doofy because the tape makes it hard to smile all the way.

After!

I'll get a better side view pic soon! The bruising is still there some. I look a little bit like I got in a scrap, but I am okay with that. It will go away soon enough.

Katy

Lazy Times

I have no pictures for you. I apologize. I assure you I look very much like I did in the previous post though.

Tomorrow, I get the cast, stitches and and splints all removed! So yes, I should post some pictures if not tomorrow then the next day.

Yesterday started off promising. Something went wrong though. My head started killing me. The pains meds only made it bearable. I was actually begging a friend to chop my head off to end the pain. I have never felt pain like that in my head. Ever.

Today, my head hurt again but to a much lesser extent. I am hoping this is normal and will bring it up with my doctor tomorrow. I can not continue to stay on pain meds. Pain meds that do not work unless I take two. I want to drive. I want to be mobile. I want to leave the house. I am ready for my life to go back to normal.

I have so much to do and I want to get started right away.

I have found out that the pain sometimes begins when I a) talk a lot b) laugh a lot or c) eat a lot. I can not NOT do those things. Like I said, something has to give.

The bad news about today besides the headache happens to be my lack of smell. I honestly can not smell anything. At all. Several people tested me out today to find out if I really could smell or not. I can't. I am assuming it is the swelling and the fact that I have not been able to blow my nose all week.

I know. TMI. But it is true. So you can only imagine.

Bruising is still there. Not much. A lot of yellow with a little pinkish-red mixed in. I never wear a lot of make-up and do not plan on wearing hardly any tomorrow for my first outing in a week even though the doctor insisted wearing loads of make-up would cover my bruising.

I am not too worried about stares and such at this point. I just want to see a nose on my face again!!

So excited for tomorrow!!!!

Katy

2 Days in One!

Got a little lazy with the ol' blog yesterday.

So, quick update. Yesterday was a good day. I felt really congested, really lazy, and really cranky. I blame the Prednisone and lack of sunlight, but who knows.

I take all my pictures right after I wake up. Excuse the hair. I do not even bother to tame it before the pictures. Like I said, lazy.


You can also see my cheeks are pretty red. Sort of a bruise-y thing. They were red the whole day.

Last night, I slept AMAZING. I have not slept well in so long I had forgotten exactly what it was like to sleep like that. I hope I sleep the same tonight. Aside from my nose itching up a storm under the cast and wanting to blow it with a fiery passion, all seems well.

So here are the pictures I took this morning!



The second picture looks a lot like the day before's picture. I do not really get creative with these. I roll out of bed, walk to the bathroom for some okay light, and snap a picture. I just want you to see how AMAZING the bruising has been. I mean, I get the cast off and the 3 inch splints out Thursday and my brusing is a light yellow with only some pink today. I am extremely impressed with my recovery. EXTREMELY.

Today was GREAT! Finally was able to watch movies. Sat down and watched Penelope as it seemed appropriate. The pressure in my head is gone. The headaches are gone. I only have slight pain right near my eyes, but only if I touch them. The ONLY time I took Hydrocodone today was after I ate my breakfast and dinner. It makes my face really sore to eat. It felt like a setback as I really wanted off it by today, but it really did hurt. And I have the pills. So why not?

Besides, they were worth it. I had fries AND chinese food today. Honestly, today is one of those days I really would not mind reliving over a couple more times. It was just a nice, relaxing day.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but I am going to go ahead and say it will be an awesome Tuesday.

Katy

Night 2: Day 3

Slept a little better last night. Got some good sleep from about 1 until 6, then my nose beckoned me. Keeping it nice and moist is a task. Then there is also keeping my mouth moist as well.

After icing it and cleaning it all out, I went back to sleep and was able to sleep from 8 until 11 and then had to go through all of it again. My swelling felt pretty intense at first. It normally feels a little worse after I have been resting. The doctor has me on Prednisone though, so every morning after I eat I pop some of those and feel so much better within the hour.

My mistake last night is that I also tried to stop taking my Hydrocodone. I gave in again this morning because of the pain. I won't try that again overnight. I am still trying to not take it during the day although I am bout to give in now for the first time since around breakfast.

I feel like my recovery is going amazingly well. That it is going even faster than I thought possible. I am already craving Chinese food like nobody's business.

The biggest news today is that I finally took a bath. Unfortunately, I took a bath after the pictures I am about to post. These pictures were taken this morning when I felt the crappiest from lack of drugs.




Right now, I am clean and happy. A little uncomfortable but nothing too major. My headaches have stopped completely. Now, my head just feels sort of pressure filled.

I DO NOT regret my surgery at all. If now is any indication of how great I can possibly feel further down the line, I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Hopefully, I won't ever need to again. But just saying.

Katy

PS: Since I had not bathed again until today, I had no idea on of the monitor things was still left on my ribs. That hurt to take off. A part of me was lazy enough I thought about just leaving it. But I went ahead and got it. For posterity.

Night 1: Day 2

Last night I slept pretty terribly. I would have slept some throughout the day but every time I tried, someone was at my door. My house is a busy one and this was inevitable.

My nose has completely stopped bleeding. I have been using a saline mist often and keep it cleaned out so it does not end up feeling crusty and gross. I felt worse for the wear today. A little like I had been beat up. "Crappy" is the best description.

I did not take a good picture today. A camera phone picture will have to suffice.

I have been taking one Hydrocodone every two hours and that seems to help a lot along with keeping ice on every so often when I start to feel swollen.

I plan on getting sleep tonight. I have already iced myself. Cleaned out the ol' nose, and have a huge mound of pillows to lay on. I feel prepared for tonight. The biggest deal will be staying elevated, keeping my nose moist and keeping my mouth moist. It is a terrible sensation to wake up with your nose and mouth completely dry.

I also have a humidifier running to add a little moisture to the air.

Tomorrow, I plan on tackling a shower. Or a bath really. I am still pretty weak. The heaviest things I have picked up are my laptop and my cat. Not going for anything heavier for now.

Katy

You should see the other guy...

Day One: Surgery

Slept about 3.5 hours the night before. Not really because I was freaking out but more so because it tends to be hard to sleep with my messed up nose.

Showed up at the Surgicenter at 7:50am. They called me back to change about 8:25. Everyone there was incredibly nice! I actually was not nervous at all. I was simply tired. When you get that tired, you really just do not care. In the waiting area, they covered me up with nice warm sheets and stuck me with my IV. This did hurt. A lot. Apparently I have "tough skin."

Around 9:30 the decided it was time to start getting me ready for surgery. This meant giving me a heaping dose of Valium. The last thing I remember is telling my mom not to worry, not to cry, and to make sure and eat breakfast. I do not remember any of the anesthesia part thanks to the Valium. THAT is how amazing that stuff was.

The next thing I remember was waking up but keeping my eyes shut because I wanted my nap to keep going. Then, EPIPHANY, I could breathe through BOTH nostrils. This is even with the gauze over my nose and the 3 inch long tubes stuffed up my nose. Honestly, I could not have been in a better mood. I immediately started cracking jokes with the nurses that were helping me out.

I had an INSANELY bad headache, but they gave me some Morphine. When that did not work, they promised me more pills provided I eat something. This something was a cup of jello. Yeah, I know. But it got me two Hydrocodone which fixed me right up.

After this, my parents were able to come in. The first thing I did was ask if my mom was ok. She was. She asked how I was. I was great. I had energy even with all the pain killers. I actually kept up my energy all the way home and then for about an hour more. The one extra thing I found out is that the surgery was harder than expected. I guess all my polyps were a little worse than what the doctor first thought.

Then, the headache came again. It takes two Hydrocodone every time to knock it out. So every fours hours I have to take two more. This KILLED my energy. It made me lethargic the rest of the day.


I also had to use ice packs on my eyes everything other 30 minutes. This is annoying. I can say though that it has helped a TON. The swelling has gone down tremendously. My doctor warned me that my eyes may swell shut by day three so I am more than willing to take the inititiative and ice my eyes 24/7. Besides, check out my amazing ice packs!! These are the octopus ones but I also have shark ones.

Since being home, The gauze around my nose has been changed out about 3 times and I have had to use Afrin spray or I just bleed and bleed and bleed. I am only going to include one picture. There is blood. So don't look if blood bothers you.

This upcoming picture is cool. You can see the stitches on my nose. My nose is mostly cleaned up. I used q-tips and diluted hydrogen peroxide to clean out the blood and have done so on every single gauze changing. You can also see my bruising starting to form. I am curious as to how bad it is going to get by the end of the week.


Overall, I feel pretty good. Really tired. Sorta of sore. I am only supposed to lift things under 5 lbs. That stinks a little. I am not used to having to ask for help for everything I do.

I was able to eat some today. A jello cup, some MnM's, a gogurt, an applesauce cup and some honey nut cheerios. My teeth are all really sore and the top of my mouth is numb so food is not the most exciting option right now. But as I am mostly laying around all the time, I am not too worried about it. As long as I am still able to eat SOMETHING.

Like I said, you should see the other guy.

Katy

So the fun begins.

For the past year and a half, I have been in an almost constant state of sickness. Before, I was almost never sick. Now, I catch absolutely everything. I have caught various sicknesses, held little babies, and those little babies did not even catch what I was catching.

What it all came down to, no matter what main sickness I was diagnosed with (anything from bronchitis to hand, foot and mouth), I also had sinusitis.

A couple months back, I got fed up. My right nostril was getting zero air. My sleep cycle was being completely ruined by this sinusitis. I was ready to hurt my doctors. Why had they not yet FIXED me?? Finally, at the suggestion of my aunt, I asked me doctor to look up my nose and check me for a deviated septum.

After an x-ray, it was discovered I indeed had an extremely deviated septum. I was then referred to another doctor.

This doctor told me to go get a ct scan because my nose was so deviated that the middle part (septum) touched the outer wall of my nose. Mind you, I have never broken my nose. This is all thanks to my birth which happened to be pretty intense according to my mother.

Turns out, my face is completely overrun with polyps as well. I mean, anything connected to my nose at all is just infested with the things. Good to know. I also have inflamed turbinates. No wonder I can't breathe.

What is good is that I had spent the last year and a half on every drug out there. This includes several steroid shots, antibiotics out the butt, steroid nose sprays, ect. You see, otherwise my doctor might not have been willing to do surgery on me. You HAVE to go through these steps.

My nose is worse off than I thought possible. Surgery is not optional. I have to have it to restore my way of life.

Therefore, next Thursday, the surgery is happening. I am terrified. I have read all the horror stories online about the pain.

At this point, my nose is just getting worse. I get daily headaches/migraines, my sleep is still awful, leaving me tired constantly, and no food can entice me at this point as my taste buds are so far gone from lack of smell.

So, I am also excited. I can not even imagine how many things this will change for me. Being able to breathe, to taste, ect. How will it affect my voice? My asthma?

I am writing this blog to keep a diary as to what these next couple weeks bring me. I expect pain. I expect being extremely uncomfortable. I am hoping for a speedy recovery.

Scared but hopeful,

Katy