If anyone here is about to have sinus surgery, here's how it went for me.
Well . . . I had my first (yes, there were TWO) sinus surgery on May 3rd 2006, but it DID NOT go without a hitch. The ENT guy had taken a biopsy, and it turned out benign. But, it turns out that on the first surgery, the Doc discovered that the growth was an "Inverted Papilloma" (that's sort of like a wart, caused by one of the many Herpes viruses that are in everybodies system - they cause cold sores too). Anyway, an Inverted Papilloma is a benign growth BUT it can turn cancerous and has a nasty habit of coming back if not all of it is removed (like warts). Consequently, I of course wanted it all out.
Now there are two procedures that surgeons use to gain access to the sinuses. Both are DISGUSTING. One is called a "lateral rhinotomy" and an incision is made along the side of the nose and then the nose is . . . get this . . . peeled over to one side exposing the sinus cavity on the other. The surgeon then performs what needs to be done and the nose is then put back and the incision sutured, leaving a small scar along the length of the nose. The other DISGUSTING procedure is called "midfacial degloving". An incision is made inside the upper lip, on one side, where the tissue meets the gum line (this is called a "sublabial incision"). Then the lip is peeled upward over the face, exposing the sinus cavity.
The advantage of a lateral rhinotomy is that it exposes the sinus cavity completely. The disadvantage is that it leaves a scar. Midfacial degloving exposes most but not all of the sinus cavity, but it DOESN'T leave a scar.
The surgeons (in both surgeries) chose to do the midfacial degloving procedure. I told them that I didn't care about any scarring from a lateral rhinotomy - I was already ugly - so pick the procedure that offered the best chance of getting the entire growth. Apparently the midfacial degloving procedure was the one.
I was in the recovery room after the first surgery, groggily coming out of the anesthetic, when the Doc came in and said "We have to do this again". Geezzzzz!!! That's about all I heard and understood - I'm sure he said more but it didn't register. All that registered was him saying that there would have to be another surgery.
I discovered later that day, when I had my wits about me and could understand more, that he had found this damned "Inverted Papilloma" and it was heavily rooted in the bone around my eye (orbit). He had removed about 90% of the growth but left the remainder because he didn't want to mess around with the bone near my eye. He didn't have the equipment for that kind of surgery (turned out that it had to be done with "Image Guidance" - a CT Scan performed for that very purpose), and the hospital wasn't equipped for it either. And, I'm glad he was so conservative about it. Anyway, he referred me to a "specialist's specialist" at a hospital up in Las Vegas, about 90 minutes from where I live.
The recovery from the first surgery was a little over a week and it was more bothersome and uncomfortable than painful. And, for the first time in about 8 or 9 years, I could breathe freely through my left nostril and didn't need to drink the water I had learned to put on the bedstand because I'd wake up every few hours with a dry mouth from "mouth" breathing in my sleep. So, all-in-all, I was glad for that outcome.
It was bothersome though. For one thing, I had two threads that came out of my left nostril, and the ends were taped to my cheek. The other ends of course were attached to the gauze packing that the surgeon had placed in my sinus cavity. The threads tickled my nose, but I was afraid to move them any because I didn't want to disturb the packing. So I just had to tolerate the "tickle torture".
Plus, I couldn't blow my nose for about a week (just like when I had the sinus biopsy). So for the first week after the surgery I sniffled a lot.
I was worried that when I went to the Doc for the post-op exam, about a week after the surgery, he was going to yank on those threads coming out of my nostril, and the gauze packing would stick to the clotted blood and be very painful coming out. But I was pleasantly surprised because apparently the gauze they use for that kind of packing is lubricated and it slid right out without any pain. It was a weird feeling though.
Finally, on the first surgery, since it was done locally at a hospital only 20 minutes away from where I live, I got to come home the same day and didn't have to stay in the hospital overnight.
About a month after the first surgery, I went up to the Vegas hospital for the . . . SECOND . . . sinus surgery. They did that special CT Scan for the "Image Guidance" part right before the surgery, and then I was some FOUR hours on the operating table. Since it was a 90 minute drive home, the surgeon decided that it would be better for me to stay in the hospital overnight.
The surgeon was good, very good, and got it all out without any of the risks he had said the surgery would present: double vision and/or a sunken eye socket. So, that part was good.
But, several things were not so good, not the least of which is the constant ache, which was still with me more than three weeks after the surgery (more on that in a bit).
The first thing that aggravated me was that the surgeon was late. Now I certainly was not surprised, and in fact am accustomed to sitting in a Doc's office waiting a half hour or so beyond my appointment time, that he was late for the surgery. But after more than 45 minutes waiting in a pre-op prep room, I was getting anxious and upset, more than I was already. The operation was scheduled for 11AM and he didn't arrive 'till after Noon. The operating room nurse said that the surgery he had done before mine took longer than he expected, so . . . I guess he had a good "excuse", nevertheless I was still aggravated. But considering that he probably didn't even have time to grab a bite of lunch, PLUS he did get all of the tumor out without any complications, I guess I can't really be pissed at him - maybe I should just have been mad at the situation. Not sure that I had enough wits about me to direct my anger anywhere, but I do remember that it was an added stress that I didn't need at the time.
The next thing that aggravated me happened in the recovery room. When I started to come out of the anesthesia, I had this very strong urge to go pee. So I told the nurse that I had to get up and go to the bathroom. She said, "No you don't, that's just because you have a catheter." That didn't register in my groggy mind, so I repeated myself about ten times in a period of about a minute. And she repeated herself. I "complained" quite a bit over the next hour or so, and must've finally pissed her off - because, where they usually have an orderly or nurse wheel you up to your hospital room after the recovery room, she flagged down a maintenance guy and said, "Will you get this guy out of here . . . "
When I got up to my room, I finally recognized that I had a catheter in me. I asked the nurse to take the thing out and she said she would check the Doctor's orders. She came back and said that the Doc ordered that it remain in until the next morning, so she couldn't take it out.
Now I've never had a catheter before, and boy is that bothersome. You have this constant urge to go, but of course it's false. I did however sit on the toilet throughout the night, even though it really wasn't necessary. And one time the catheter got caught under the seat and when I got up it came part way out - OUCH!!!!! I didn't sleep at all that night. Another aggravation . . .
This time however I DID NOT have those bothersome threads coming out of my nostril. The Vegas guy put in "dissolvable" packing. But when it gets small enough, you feel a "mineral oil jelly-bean" slide down your throat - Yuchhhh!
Another aggravation: the breathing tube that the anesthetist inserted during the surgery - apparently since it was in so long - made a sore on my lip. That sore burned whenever I ate something with salt in it, and even toothpaste burned. It scabbed over and then broke open again. One time I was flossing, and as I was pulling the floss through my teeth it cut open the sore - ouch!!! I'm a fanatic about dental hygiene, and I rinse with a waterpick with hydrogen peroxide in the water. That H2O2 got on the sore - OUCH again!!! Needless to say, I stopped brushing my teeth religiously 'till the sore healed up.
Oh . . . and one more aggravation. As many of you may know, you have to fast (no food OR water) for a minimum of 8 hours before surgery - they don't want any stomach contents coming up and choking you while you're under anesthesia.
So I had my "last" meal and water at about 3AM Wednesday morning, since the surgery was scheduled for 11AM. But they didn't bring me anything to eat in my hospital room Wednesday night. I was discharged Thursday morning at about 11AM, and the first place my wife and I headed was a Denny's restaurant near the hospital. I should have known that "Grand Slam Grease" is not something you should have after going without eating for over 24 hours, and stressing out over surgery in between. Bad decision. And the 90 minute drive home didn't make it any better. We didn't have to pull over for me to barf, but it was very unpleasant the whole way home.
Whoops - forgot another aggravation. For the first three nights after the surgery, I had to keep my head elevated (so I wouldn't start bleeding), so I had to try and sleep sitting up in my Lazy-Boy. Having not gotten any sleep that first night because of the catheter, and not sleeping for more than a half-hour at a time in my Lazy-Boy for the next two nights, and with an upset stomach on top of it all, those first three days were really bad.
Two more things before I forget.
I asked the Doc here locally why the Doc up in Vegas had a catheter inserted. He guessed that since the surgery took some 4 hours, the catheter was probably inserted to prevent me from peeing on the operating table. I can understand that, but it still doesn't explain why it had to stay in 'till the next day. I never did find out why it had to stay in overnight.
Now about the constant ache I experiensed for some three weeks after the second sinus surgery. It wasn't a severe pain like something that I would go to the ER for. But it was that 24 hour dull ache that took so much out of me - it was constant.
Post Script: I think instead of capital punishment, and also to get terrorists to reveal their plots, the authorities should use catheters and sinus surgery . . . and maybe root canals too.
Well . . . I had my first (yes, there were TWO) sinus surgery on May 3rd 2006, but it DID NOT go without a hitch. The ENT guy had taken a biopsy, and it turned out benign. But, it turns out that on the first surgery, the Doc discovered that the growth was an "Inverted Papilloma" (that's sort of like a wart, caused by one of the many Herpes viruses that are in everybodies system - they cause cold sores too). Anyway, an Inverted Papilloma is a benign growth BUT it can turn cancerous and has a nasty habit of coming back if not all of it is removed (like warts). Consequently, I of course wanted it all out.
Now there are two procedures that surgeons use to gain access to the sinuses. Both are DISGUSTING. One is called a "lateral rhinotomy" and an incision is made along the side of the nose and then the nose is . . . get this . . . peeled over to one side exposing the sinus cavity on the other. The surgeon then performs what needs to be done and the nose is then put back and the incision sutured, leaving a small scar along the length of the nose. The other DISGUSTING procedure is called "midfacial degloving". An incision is made inside the upper lip, on one side, where the tissue meets the gum line (this is called a "sublabial incision"). Then the lip is peeled upward over the face, exposing the sinus cavity.
The advantage of a lateral rhinotomy is that it exposes the sinus cavity completely. The disadvantage is that it leaves a scar. Midfacial degloving exposes most but not all of the sinus cavity, but it DOESN'T leave a scar.
The surgeons (in both surgeries) chose to do the midfacial degloving procedure. I told them that I didn't care about any scarring from a lateral rhinotomy - I was already ugly - so pick the procedure that offered the best chance of getting the entire growth. Apparently the midfacial degloving procedure was the one.
I was in the recovery room after the first surgery, groggily coming out of the anesthetic, when the Doc came in and said "We have to do this again". Geezzzzz!!! That's about all I heard and understood - I'm sure he said more but it didn't register. All that registered was him saying that there would have to be another surgery.
I discovered later that day, when I had my wits about me and could understand more, that he had found this damned "Inverted Papilloma" and it was heavily rooted in the bone around my eye (orbit). He had removed about 90% of the growth but left the remainder because he didn't want to mess around with the bone near my eye. He didn't have the equipment for that kind of surgery (turned out that it had to be done with "Image Guidance" - a CT Scan performed for that very purpose), and the hospital wasn't equipped for it either. And, I'm glad he was so conservative about it. Anyway, he referred me to a "specialist's specialist" at a hospital up in Las Vegas, about 90 minutes from where I live.
The recovery from the first surgery was a little over a week and it was more bothersome and uncomfortable than painful. And, for the first time in about 8 or 9 years, I could breathe freely through my left nostril and didn't need to drink the water I had learned to put on the bedstand because I'd wake up every few hours with a dry mouth from "mouth" breathing in my sleep. So, all-in-all, I was glad for that outcome.
It was bothersome though. For one thing, I had two threads that came out of my left nostril, and the ends were taped to my cheek. The other ends of course were attached to the gauze packing that the surgeon had placed in my sinus cavity. The threads tickled my nose, but I was afraid to move them any because I didn't want to disturb the packing. So I just had to tolerate the "tickle torture".
Plus, I couldn't blow my nose for about a week (just like when I had the sinus biopsy). So for the first week after the surgery I sniffled a lot.
I was worried that when I went to the Doc for the post-op exam, about a week after the surgery, he was going to yank on those threads coming out of my nostril, and the gauze packing would stick to the clotted blood and be very painful coming out. But I was pleasantly surprised because apparently the gauze they use for that kind of packing is lubricated and it slid right out without any pain. It was a weird feeling though.
Finally, on the first surgery, since it was done locally at a hospital only 20 minutes away from where I live, I got to come home the same day and didn't have to stay in the hospital overnight.
About a month after the first surgery, I went up to the Vegas hospital for the . . . SECOND . . . sinus surgery. They did that special CT Scan for the "Image Guidance" part right before the surgery, and then I was some FOUR hours on the operating table. Since it was a 90 minute drive home, the surgeon decided that it would be better for me to stay in the hospital overnight.
The surgeon was good, very good, and got it all out without any of the risks he had said the surgery would present: double vision and/or a sunken eye socket. So, that part was good.
But, several things were not so good, not the least of which is the constant ache, which was still with me more than three weeks after the surgery (more on that in a bit).
The first thing that aggravated me was that the surgeon was late. Now I certainly was not surprised, and in fact am accustomed to sitting in a Doc's office waiting a half hour or so beyond my appointment time, that he was late for the surgery. But after more than 45 minutes waiting in a pre-op prep room, I was getting anxious and upset, more than I was already. The operation was scheduled for 11AM and he didn't arrive 'till after Noon. The operating room nurse said that the surgery he had done before mine took longer than he expected, so . . . I guess he had a good "excuse", nevertheless I was still aggravated. But considering that he probably didn't even have time to grab a bite of lunch, PLUS he did get all of the tumor out without any complications, I guess I can't really be pissed at him - maybe I should just have been mad at the situation. Not sure that I had enough wits about me to direct my anger anywhere, but I do remember that it was an added stress that I didn't need at the time.
The next thing that aggravated me happened in the recovery room. When I started to come out of the anesthesia, I had this very strong urge to go pee. So I told the nurse that I had to get up and go to the bathroom. She said, "No you don't, that's just because you have a catheter." That didn't register in my groggy mind, so I repeated myself about ten times in a period of about a minute. And she repeated herself. I "complained" quite a bit over the next hour or so, and must've finally pissed her off - because, where they usually have an orderly or nurse wheel you up to your hospital room after the recovery room, she flagged down a maintenance guy and said, "Will you get this guy out of here . . . "
When I got up to my room, I finally recognized that I had a catheter in me. I asked the nurse to take the thing out and she said she would check the Doctor's orders. She came back and said that the Doc ordered that it remain in until the next morning, so she couldn't take it out.
Now I've never had a catheter before, and boy is that bothersome. You have this constant urge to go, but of course it's false. I did however sit on the toilet throughout the night, even though it really wasn't necessary. And one time the catheter got caught under the seat and when I got up it came part way out - OUCH!!!!! I didn't sleep at all that night. Another aggravation . . .
This time however I DID NOT have those bothersome threads coming out of my nostril. The Vegas guy put in "dissolvable" packing. But when it gets small enough, you feel a "mineral oil jelly-bean" slide down your throat - Yuchhhh!
Another aggravation: the breathing tube that the anesthetist inserted during the surgery - apparently since it was in so long - made a sore on my lip. That sore burned whenever I ate something with salt in it, and even toothpaste burned. It scabbed over and then broke open again. One time I was flossing, and as I was pulling the floss through my teeth it cut open the sore - ouch!!! I'm a fanatic about dental hygiene, and I rinse with a waterpick with hydrogen peroxide in the water. That H2O2 got on the sore - OUCH again!!! Needless to say, I stopped brushing my teeth religiously 'till the sore healed up.
Oh . . . and one more aggravation. As many of you may know, you have to fast (no food OR water) for a minimum of 8 hours before surgery - they don't want any stomach contents coming up and choking you while you're under anesthesia.
So I had my "last" meal and water at about 3AM Wednesday morning, since the surgery was scheduled for 11AM. But they didn't bring me anything to eat in my hospital room Wednesday night. I was discharged Thursday morning at about 11AM, and the first place my wife and I headed was a Denny's restaurant near the hospital. I should have known that "Grand Slam Grease" is not something you should have after going without eating for over 24 hours, and stressing out over surgery in between. Bad decision. And the 90 minute drive home didn't make it any better. We didn't have to pull over for me to barf, but it was very unpleasant the whole way home.
Whoops - forgot another aggravation. For the first three nights after the surgery, I had to keep my head elevated (so I wouldn't start bleeding), so I had to try and sleep sitting up in my Lazy-Boy. Having not gotten any sleep that first night because of the catheter, and not sleeping for more than a half-hour at a time in my Lazy-Boy for the next two nights, and with an upset stomach on top of it all, those first three days were really bad.
Two more things before I forget.
I asked the Doc here locally why the Doc up in Vegas had a catheter inserted. He guessed that since the surgery took some 4 hours, the catheter was probably inserted to prevent me from peeing on the operating table. I can understand that, but it still doesn't explain why it had to stay in 'till the next day. I never did find out why it had to stay in overnight.
Now about the constant ache I experiensed for some three weeks after the second sinus surgery. It wasn't a severe pain like something that I would go to the ER for. But it was that 24 hour dull ache that took so much out of me - it was constant.
Post Script: I think instead of capital punishment, and also to get terrorists to reveal their plots, the authorities should use catheters and sinus surgery . . . and maybe root canals too.
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Bob,
Have you had any recurrence? I am days away from having my upper sinus IP operation and could use some more feedback. The Dr will be cutting down the side of my nose as well as going up my nose.....how long is the recovery?
Patrick Kinney
Have you had any recurrence? I am days away from having my upper sinus IP operation and could use some more feedback. The Dr will be cutting down the side of my nose as well as going up my nose.....how long is the recovery?
Patrick Kinney
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