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Surgery is done, I'm back!
Dec. 8th, 2004 11:15 amI've seen many of the get-well wishes posted to BlueEowyn's journal, and I wanted to say thanks to everyone for their warm thoughts!
For those who didn't know I was going under the knife, it was a relatively minor out-patient surgery (really a one-night stay, but less than 24 hours, so "out-patient") so I could breathe better at night. Details are below. For now, I'm a bit tired, in a little pain, but I'm back at work, and moving forward! Basically, the insides of my nostrils are bigger, and I've already noticed much more airflow, and a greater sense of smell. My goodness, the litter box is stinky! And soap smells much sharper than I ever thought before. I wonder how this will change the taste of food...
As for my surgery, here are the details.
As most of you know, I suffer from a condition called sleep apnea.
With most people, the airway from the mouth to the lungs collapses during
deep sleep, and the person breathes through their nose instead. In my case,
not enough air could get through the nose, so I would choke/gasp about once
every minute or two. I was asleep enough not to notice this, but I never
got good healthy deep sleep. Apparently the problem is very scary to
onlookers. Ask Eowyn sometime. Without proper sleep, I was exhausted and
mentally fuzzy all day long, no matter how much sleep I got.
Several months ago, I started a treatment of three different medicines to
clear up my sinuses, and started using a "CPAP" machine at night to force air
through my nose. When it works, it works wonderfully. But some nights, the
nose is simply too congested for any air to pass.
So last Thursday, I went under the knife. The doctor straightened my nose's
deviated septum and removed some excess tissue, increasing the effective
size of my nostrils. The sutures and cotton packing were removed from the
nose Monday (with about as much discomfort as having a tooth drilled sans
novacaine). But the results were immediately noticeable! I could feel the
larger amount of air pouring through my nose. I'll continue having a little
clotting and seepage for a few days, and at least one more trip to the doc, but this
is all very promising!
For those who didn't know I was going under the knife, it was a relatively minor out-patient surgery (really a one-night stay, but less than 24 hours, so "out-patient") so I could breathe better at night. Details are below. For now, I'm a bit tired, in a little pain, but I'm back at work, and moving forward! Basically, the insides of my nostrils are bigger, and I've already noticed much more airflow, and a greater sense of smell. My goodness, the litter box is stinky! And soap smells much sharper than I ever thought before. I wonder how this will change the taste of food...
As for my surgery, here are the details.
As most of you know, I suffer from a condition called sleep apnea.
With most people, the airway from the mouth to the lungs collapses during
deep sleep, and the person breathes through their nose instead. In my case,
not enough air could get through the nose, so I would choke/gasp about once
every minute or two. I was asleep enough not to notice this, but I never
got good healthy deep sleep. Apparently the problem is very scary to
onlookers. Ask Eowyn sometime. Without proper sleep, I was exhausted and
mentally fuzzy all day long, no matter how much sleep I got.
Several months ago, I started a treatment of three different medicines to
clear up my sinuses, and started using a "CPAP" machine at night to force air
through my nose. When it works, it works wonderfully. But some nights, the
nose is simply too congested for any air to pass.
So last Thursday, I went under the knife. The doctor straightened my nose's
deviated septum and removed some excess tissue, increasing the effective
size of my nostrils. The sutures and cotton packing were removed from the
nose Monday (with about as much discomfort as having a tooth drilled sans
novacaine). But the results were immediately noticeable! I could feel the
larger amount of air pouring through my nose. I'll continue having a little
clotting and seepage for a few days, and at least one more trip to the doc, but this
is all very promising!
