Day 6: I Sneezed Today... Ow and Ew

I have been lucky enough not to sneeze, until today. It's painful and you get very concerned that it might harm your nose. Sneeze with your mouth open but of course, there is nose involvement. It ached for awhile after but I don't think there will be lasting damage!

After about a half hour I begin to have a smell... a gross sort of rotten smell. I couldn't place it until it reminded me of the Coroner's Office. I have been a volunteer/intern for our local office for 2 years. Great, the sneeze dislodged some tissue or blood that's been sitting around, and now I smell the morgue all the time. Thank God I'm used to that smell but I don't like that it's emanating from the inside of my nose! If you haven't been around the dead much it has this sickly-sweet, harsh smell. Ugh. I hope it goes away soon.

Sleep was hard last night. My nose feels best when I'm lying on my back but I'm typically a side sleeper and my back hates it. It must have taken at least 2 hours to fall asleep. Oh the sleeping problems.

Swelling and bruising is still decreasing! My nose still looks huge and a little lopsided. This is as big as my smile gets; the swelling keeps me from doing my full smile!

Day 5: Doing Good

My sleeping schedule is getting back to normal. I went to bed at 10:30p and woke up at 10:30a. 12 hours of sleep seems like a lot but I feel good today. I can feel air movement through the air passages even though I know there's splints in them. I'll take it easy again today but I think I'm getting out of the house today for a quick adventure. Pick up lunch maybe? I know I need more saline spray. Weird looks or not, I don't care.

Neat thing is I was able to taste a flavor for the first time since Monday! Garlic. I can only faintly taste it but at least it's something!!

My swelling is going down visibly with my jaw and and cheeks. I can actually start to smile again. I smile with teeth not lips only. It's coming! Also the black and blue from my eyes are fading even more.

Looking at this photo my nose looks a little different in sizes but you have to remember my left side was my problem side. It probably has more inflammation and swelling due more work on that side... at least that's what I'm telling myself. Seems like a valid hypothesis.

Don't think I don't wear my nose guard or drip thingy! I just take it off and take a photo so we can see what the healing process looks like. This is how I look the other 99.9% time when I'm not taking a photo for the blog. Also I have to take off my gauze mustache for eating or it gets gross.

Update on Leaving the House:

I went out to pick up some food to-go and get more saline spray. I got so many weird looks and sideways glances! Also I got fatigued easily. My nose started to throb and my eyes were still sensitive to the light and they started dripping again. A 30 minute excursion wore me out! It was nice to get out but I'm staying in for the next few days until I have to get these splints taken out and the bruising/swelling goes down more. 

Post-Op Day 4... My Nose Gaurd Fell Off! Panic??

I got some blessed sleep this morning after some panic. I can't freaking believe it. I took a Vicodin about midnight and settled down to go to sleep. I woke up at 2p in a deep sweat. I tend to sweat a lot when I've been sleeping lately. It took me an hour to finally get back to sleep. 3a to 5a. I woke up feeling something hard next to me. What was it? My hard nose guard on my nose had fallen off while I was sleeping!! Whatttt???

Waking up with this in your hand will A) wake you up completely and B) send you into a panic. I went to the bathroom to see how my nose looked. I didn't know what to do! So I called the emergency hospital call line at 5:30a and talked to the ENT doctor on call. I felt SO bad calling so early on a Saturday but I was really freaked out.

She told me it was okay that it had fallen off since it'd been a few days but she'd let my doctor know. Maybe I'd get into clinic a day or two early but not to worry. She told me to be especially careful about knocking my nose. Okay I can do that.

Okay so what do I look like without that hard plastic thingy?

Wow. That's a of swelling but less than yesterday. Also less black and blue eyes. I decided that I'd stop sleeping at an angle and lay down like normal after I'd calmed down enough. I laid in my bed for the first time since Monday night and fell asleep at 7a and just woke up not too long ago at 1p! OMG so much sleep. I feel amazing!! 

Today feels like a real turning point. I don't feel the need to take pain pills nor lay down all the time. I did a few little chores around the house without getting chills and I could open my mouth wide enough to eat food. Still can't taste it though :(

UPDATE ON NOSE GUARD: JUST TAPE IT BACK ON

My doctor is really cool. He get's back to me quickly and gives me solutions. He told me just to tape the nose guard back on with tape. I thought that might be what I needed to do but I'm not going to do anything to my nose without my doctor telling me. Alrighty... I washed it with soap and water, dried it, and used a bit of tape to put it back on.

Thoughts on Recovery After Septoplasty

Here are my thoughts on recovery:

Soft food is a good idea but it doesn't have to be gross. Why soft food? My jaw and teeth are sensitive. Besides, I can't open my mouth that wide. I've been eating meat sandwiches cut into tiny blocks, fish, mac and cheese, and soft noodles from Chinese food take out. It really doesn't matter what you eat though because you CANNOT taste anything. It's been what, over 100 hours since my surgery and I still can't taste food.

Buying Ensure was a great idea for when my stomach got sour and sick from drainage on Wednesday morning. It's the only thing I could keep down to take a pain pill to go to sleep. Throwing up was painful but not as painful as you would have thought.

Taking a shower without getting your nose wet is crazy hard. Especially with long hair like mine. I had to tape a quart sized bag to my face and wash my hair gently. It felt great to get clean.

Use the sterile saline spray all the time. They say use it as often as you can, I say dooooo-it! I do it about once every hour or two and change my dressing as well. I think that's why my nose is looking so good but the rest of my face isn't.

When the doctor says non-petroleum based jelly to keep your nose moist he means KY jelly. (Seems weird but I used it up to 6 months post surgery!) 

To keep swelling at a minimum, keep icing your nose/cheeks with a bag of peas. It's not a lot of weight and it contours to your face. Also, don't eat a lot of salt. Salt increases edema. There should be swelling for 2-4 weeks (which I had).

Watching movies is a fine idea to pass time but don't get ones that have lots of bright lights or noise. Nothing will make you more upset than finally, accidentally, falling asleep just to be woken up by gun shot sounds or yelling. Sleep is a precious, desperate thing you need. I still haven't slept more than 20 hours in the past 4 days.

When they say "sleep sitting up" they mean sitting at an angle of about 30 to 45 degrees. You want to elevate your nose above your heart to help with drainage and reduce swelling. Not to mention the throbbing hurts worse when laying down and I'd do just about anything to stop that throbbing.

Throat soothing medication like that spray antithetic (Chloraseptic) is pretty necessary the first few days. The breathing tube scuffed up my throat pretty bad and the constant mouth breathing only irritated it more.

Even if you feel not too bad the first night, it's the second night that's out to get you. That's when all the good drugs they gave you at the hospital have finally worn off, you're sleep deprived, and you don't want to sit up anymore. I would have cried I was so aggravated and tired but it hurts to cry, so I didn't.

Don't whack your nose. It's at least twice as big and even the touch of a blanket will send pain shooting through your face. It sounds like common sense but after night 2 nothing makes sense anymore.

Drink as much fluids as possible! It helps keep your nose moist and a moist nose = no itching!

Make sure after the first day to clean your "nest". Sitting in the same elevated condition for hours, nay days on end can get really old. Clean bedding and clothes can make all the difference on whether or not your go stir crazy.

You WILL NEED to take at least a week off work. This is truly a hard procedure on your body; exhaustion and fatigue happen very easily. (I went to back to work exactly a week later and was surprised at how exhausted I was.)