Septoplasty

I decided to write briefly about my experience with a septoplasty when I noticed there is a pretty high demand for personal stories online.  So here is mine.

Nearly 20 years ago, I was in a bike accident that sent me skidding down the road face-first.  This was my brother's fault, I just have to add that. ;)  He felt real bad about it at the time, but I think he has since gotten over it, so now I try to sometimes bring him back to that place of guilt, because that is a sister's duty, after all. ;)  The accident was pretty bad in that my family still talks about it at Thanksgiving, but not bad enough that I had to go to the doctor for stitches or a broken arm.  Well, not for 20 years at least.

It turns out that at that time, there was internal bleeding within the nose that fused together certain parts of nose, eventually causing a deviated septum.  I am sure my nose hurt at that time, but so did my entire face, and I eventually healed up, so I didn't really pay any attention to it (I did not know there was internal bleeding at that time; that was discovered many years later).

About 11 years ago (10 years after the accident), I quite suddenly had problems breathing when I laid down.  I tried decongestants and they didn't work.  I talked to a couple doctors about it, but they dismissed it as allergy problems.  I should note here that I have never suffered from allergy problems or have ever had a sinus infection, that I am aware of.  Just couldn't breath out of right side of nose when laying down.  It wasn't a big deal until I became pregnant.  Then it got worse so I started wearing breathing strips to bed every night. EVERY night.  Not just when I had a cold, or during allergy season.  EVERY NIGHT.  Like a baby needs her pacifier, I HAD to have a breathing strip.

So several years later, I finally realized that using the breathing strips for so long had created some discoloration on my nose.  I decided it was time to fix this problem once and for all.  I mean, what if I found myself stranded on an island with no breathing strips??

So I had a septoplasty and am now 2 weeks post-op.  The first week post-op was miserable beyond belief.  First, there was awful congestion that made it hard to swallow and impossible to smell or taste. I had splints inserted in my nose so this added to the congestion. I sort of expected this misery, but I did not expect how incredibly tired I would be.  Also had to wear contraption that kept gauze attached to nose, which is clever, but bothersome.  However, there was no pain or bruising (never touched the pain meds or any meds for that matter), and I was able to take care of myself-I didn't need around-the-clock care.  My husband worked from home the first week.  We live close to family, so my mom/her babysitter watched my daughters a couple of mornings.   Also, between my mom and a few friends, we were made several meals (Thank you, so much!!).  This was a huge help because I was in NO position to cook or clean for a good 10 days post-op.  I honestly expected to be up and going after a few days; boy, was I wrong.

The splints had to be kept in for 10 days.  The surgeon said my nose was quite badly injured (my brother's fault ;)) and required some interesting surgical strategies.  It was a normal-length surgery, but the recovery with the splints needed to be extended beyond the normal removal time of around 5 days post-op to 10 days.  The septum has a memory, and will attempt to go back to its crooked shape.  So the splints keep it stabilized.

Getting the splints out did hurt a bit, but no big deal.  Felt a great relief of decongestion afterward.  Breathing good, but at that point, I had come down with a massively awful sore throat from postnasal drainage and mouth-breathing, so was still in a bad mood and couldn't enjoy my free nose.  After the doctor, I went home, took a nap, and was amazed.  I had slept with my mouth closed and with NO breathing strip!!  First time in several years! Also, my sore throat was completely healed by then too.
I am now 2 weeks post-op, and I am getting a little better every day.  There is still a lot of swelling, and I am not allowed to blow my nose.  There is still a bit of drainage, just a little bit, but it creates some congestion because, well, I cannot blow my nose and there's not a real open nasal passageway to make its way down.  I do a nasal rinse as often as I need to.  Yesterday, I had to do it three times, but today, I was good with just two.  So you can see I am getting better.  My energy has not completely returned, but I am doing good.  I am not at a level of comfort that I would like.  My right nostril is significantly worse off than my left, which concerns me a little.  Shouldn't they at least feel the same at this point?  But I am assuming it just means there is more swelling on one side than the other.  The surgeon said my nose looks great now.  In general, I still have open nasal passageways when I sleep, which is cool.  But they usually clog back up after about 4-5 hours after doing a nasal rinse (which I do right before bed).  I also took some Sudafed to see if that would help, but I can't say I have noticed any significant help from those pills.   

After I do a nasal rinse, when I am feeling really great, I say, "Give it time.  In a couple months, you should feel this good all the time with no nasal rinse."  I am told I should be feeling comfortable at about 4 weeks post-op.  I should feel really, really good at about 3 months post-op, and I will be 100% recovered at 12 months post-op.  But everyone heals differently, and in my case, recovery could be a little longer since surgery was more interesting.  Even if you have no nose problems, I would strongly recommend nasal rinses.  You just feel so much cleaner and fresher, getting those nostrils and sinuses rid of pollution and allergens.  Do it, it's great stuff.  I use the NeilMed. 

My attitude about it is pretty good.  I mean, I feel like I am recovering from a cold, so you still have the congestion.  But at the same time, my nose is technically functioning better now than ever before, in that when I lay down, there is no difference than when I am standing up; my breathing is still the same.  Just gotta get the swelling down and drainage to stop, and I'm golden.  If I'm not, well, hey I tried.

There's always breathing strips. LOL!!

And just to remind you, this was my brother's fault.