Has anyone had sinus surgery?
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion Archive: Archive January 2005:
Has anyone had sinus surgery?
My husband is scheduled for sinus surgery on Tuesday morning.
I heard the day of the surgery (after the surgery is done) and the day after is quite miserable. They will pack his upper nose with gauze which will stay in place for 24 hours then they will remove it. I think I would go into a panic if I couldn't breathe through my nose.
Has anyone been through this before?
My dad had this done about ten years ago. I was still living at home and he was pretty miserable for the first couple of days. He looked awful, too. Black eyes, swollen face, gauze-packed nostrils. But it helped alot and he said it was worth it.
I know an elder person who had it, and my uncle (who is *also* an elder person LOL) had it, and they both did fine. Packing, black eyes, etc. but it relieved their constant sinus infections.
I didn't even think of black eyes. I am most worried about the packing. I can't imagine having my nose blocked off for 24 hours.
Sinus problems and hay fever run in my DH's family. He and my DD have both had the surgery TWICE.
DH kept getting sinus infections. He was in the military at the time of his first surgery. Even though I had health insurance through MY job that covered him, the Army said that he was "government property", and he would have to have it done at a military hospital. The doctor was a butcher! Poor DH! He was so miserable. I went with him the next day to have the packing removed. They looked like (sorry to be gross) little bloody tampons being pulled out of each nostril. He still couldn't breathe through his nose because there was so much swelling.
The doctor put him out of work for two weeks. He went back for his post op check up, and the doctor took this horrible looking instrument that looked like a grapefruit knife, and put it up his nose (no painkillers) and started poking around his tender nostrils. DH said that he could hear bones crunching in his face. He said he thought he'd pass out, the pain was so bad.
He eventually got a LITTLE better, but was dissappointed that he couldn't breathe better. After he retired from the military, he saw a civilian ear, nose and throat doctor. An excellent one. He operated on DH, and this time with no torture. No post op instruments up the nose, etc. DH felt good almost right away, and recovered a lot more quickly the second time. It has been six years, and he can breathe fine.
In DD's case, she had her first surgery as a teenager, by a civilian doctor. When I saw her in the recovery room, she had this big helmet on that looked like a space helmet. There was a hose attached, piping in cold air. She was SO uncomfortable. Like DH, she didn't really notice much improvement. Seven years later, she had it done again by the same doctor that did DH the second time. When I saw her directly after, she only had a little bandage under her nose. No ice, no cold air, no black eyes. She felt good during her recuperation, and breathes fine now. This doctor is terrific! He is from India. He is very skilled.
So, to answer your question, I think a lot depends on the doctor. By now, your DH must have had his surgery. How is he doing?
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