The Right Stuff

For years I've had a problem breathing out of both my nostrils at the same time. I've tried spray after spray and nothing ever worked. In the past few years I started to get frequent sinus headaches on the right side of my head that would render me immobile. I could never figure out why I only got the headache on the one side of my head and no matter what I tried to do to prevent them they would come out of nowhere, usually when I first woke up in the morning. After mentioning this to a few co-workers one of them said that he had the same thing happen to him. He stated that he was about to go in for sinus/nasal surgery and that I should talk to his ENT if the surgery worked for him. After said surgery the co-worker said that it was the best thing he ever did. He had no more headaches and could breathe out of both his nostrils. That was all it took for me to make an appointment with his ENT.

After an examination the ENT diagnosed me as having a deviated septum and a Turbinate dysfunction.  He advised that I could continue with sprays to relive some of the symptoms or that I could have surgery to straighten the septum and to shrink the size of the Turbinate. For obvious reasons I elected to have the surgery.

Leading up to the big day I wasn't nervous, I just wanted it over with. Years and years of not being able to fully breath were taking their toll on me and I just wanted a fresh start in that regard. The morning of surgery I had to be at the Surgery Center at 6am. I was told I would go into surgery at around 730am and it would last about 30-45 minutes with about 1-2 hours in recovery. After being taken into a room and put into a gown and a cap I was given a name tag and an IV for the anesthesia that I would receive. This was my first patient tag and IV and although I hate needles I was excited. Aside from a few winces I didn't have any trouble getting the IV in and was then left to relax in the room with Adam.

The last thing I remember is being wheeled into the O.R. and the Doctor asking for something. The next thing I know, I'm sitting back in the recovery room with Adam at my side. Apparently I was making comments about the hot nurse who kept walking by...something like "HEEEEY HOT NURSE." I vaguely remember this. After about an hour I was alert enough to go home and start the healing process. Stay tuned for part two...