Back in January, I mentioned that Melissa and I both had deviated septums. Our Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) doctor recommended a surgical procedure called a ‘septoplasty’ to straighten everything out. In my case, he said that the procedure would likely eliminate my chronic congestion and improve my nasal airflow (which seemed constrained, especially during physical activity and when I was asleep). In Melissa’s case, which is complicated by allergies, he was less optimistic about huge improvements, but still expects a reduction in congestion and sinus infections.
So we both went in on Friday morning to have our nasal cavities all straightened out at the Reston Surgery Center. I went back first, around 9:00 a.m. I had never been ‘put under’ on general anesthetic before, so it was a very unusual experience. I remember telling them that I felt a little nauseous while they were rolling me to the operating room, and I remember seeing the ceiling of the OR itself, and then a blink of an eye later I was in the post-op recovery room groggily chatting with my mom. Everything went well; there were no complications or difficulties.
Melissa was in surgery while I was in post-op, and by the time she got back to the post-op room I was pretty conscious (albeit still drugged-up on pain killers). Her surgery also went as-expected with no complications.
We left with antibiotics and Percocet, and my mom graciously drove us home and took care of us through the first night. Without going into too much detail, there’s a bit of bleeding over the first day or so so we need to keep gauze over our noses . . . but that has pretty much cleared up at this point. We tried downgrading from the Percocet to regular Tylenol, but decided to ramp back up to the Percocet again and we’ll try downgrading again tomorrow. There was still a bit of pain and discomfort when we went off the heavy-duty stuff.
The worst of it should be over once forty-eight hours have elapsed from the surgeries—so, roughly, noon on Sunday. We’ll ease back into normal activity over the next week and should be good-as-new pretty soon (with happier noses and clearer breathing). In the mean time, please forgive me for any incoherent, drug-induced posts here or on Facebook ;-).