****WARNING: This blog contains pictures from after my surgery so stop now if you don't want to see them!****
Ok, So I didn't really get a nose job, but I did have surgery on my nose. For at least the past 7 years, probably longer, I have not been able to breathe out the left side of my nose. Besides being annoying it started causing major problems recently. I was getting bad headaches and felt a lot of pressure on the left side of my face near my eye. After many CT's and visits to the doctor I was finally sent to an ENT. He diagnosed me with chronic ethomidal sinusitis, chronic maxillary sinusitus and deviated nasal septum. Basically that means my nose was blocked and causing all sorts of problems!
Yesterday I had my surgery. I arrived at the hospital at 10 am and was scheduled to go into surgery around 12:30. Seth took me and Kimmie stayed home with Oma. Because this was not "major" surgery it did not require me being put fully under anesthesia! I was so nervous about that! They started an IV and around 11:45 the anesthesiologist came in and talked me through what was going to happen. He gave me a couple shots and then I said bye to Seth. At that point I was sleepy, but not asleep. They wheeled me into the Operating Room and started the surgery. They did cover my eyes so I could not see anything, but every once in a while I could see the tools he was using. I felt him give me the shot in the nose and it felt kind of like when you get numbed at the dentist. I could feel it but it wasn't painful. Even though I was pretty out of it, I was still kind of aware of what was going on. The doctor started with my right side and I was so loopy from the drugs I started getting nervous he would forget to do the left side. So, at one point I even asked if he was going to do the left side, it was a dumb question but the drugs were talking:) He assured me he was going to do both sides. I don't remember much after that. Before he put the packing in my nose he asked me to breath in and for the first time I could breathe through both nostrils! Then he packed my nose and sent me back to recovery.
Seth was quickly by my side again & assured me I looked amazing! Because of all the padding in my nose I had to breathe out my mouth, which was annoying, but I was not in any pain at this point so that was good. I was mostly sleepy. This picture was taken right after I got to my room. It was hard to smile, so that is why I look so weird, plus I am still drugged up:) After about 30 minutes in recovery the anesthesia started wearing off and they gave me some vicodin. We had to wait another 20 minutes to make sure the pain medicine was working, then they discharged me. I was pretty much out of it the whole way home. 
I went to see Kimmie right away. Oma tried preparing Kimmie for seeing me by putting tape on her nose, but that only scared her. When she saw me she was a little nervous, but she let me hold her. I held her for a minute then headed downstairs for bed. I was told to spend the rest of the day laying with my head elevated and getting plenty of rest. I could only eat really soft things because it hurt my nose to chew. I hadn't eaten since midnight the night before so Seth made me soup right away. It was so good! I stayed in bed watching Felicity Season 1 and at one point Kimmie came
and snuggled with me. She is so cute! I stayed in bed the rest of the night. Seth went out and got me mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC for dinner (which I love!) and then also got me Coldstone ice cream. It was so yummy! I also got a special delivery that afternoon. I received some beautiful yellow and white daisies and a teddy bear from Angie and Rossii. They are so sweet, thank you so much! They also sent a card that read "Hope you can finally breathe better. Now gets makin a baby!:)" It made me laugh so much! I can't say I am up for the baby makin just yet, but soon enough:) That night I slept ok. I woke up around every 20 minutes to get a sip of water. Since I could only breathe out my mouth it would get very dry, fast. I was also taking pain meds every 4 hours. Around 3 am I noticed the pain medicine wasn't working that great anymore. I tried to sleep but all I could think about was taking my packing out of my nose. I was told I could take it out early the morning after surgery. I was set to take a vicodin at 6 am and I was going to give that an hour to take effect and then take the packing out at 7. Well, at 6 I was just in too much pain. The swelling was going down, but because I had all the packing in my nose it was causing a lot of pain. So, at 6:15 am I woke Seth up and made my way to the bathroom to take it out! These next pictures are kind of gross, so don't say I didn't warn you.
The morning after surgery, getting ready to take out the packing
The start of taking out the packing. It wasn't so bad at the beginning, but then i just kept coming and I started to feel a little nauseas. It was a little painful, but mostly uncomfortable.
It seemed like it was never going to end. How did they even get all that up my nose?!?! Once I was done I had to go sit down because I thought I was going to vomit.
After taking out the packing I started feeling a lot better. I
went back to bed and was able to slept until 9:00 am this morning! I still have some drainage and I have to use a saline spray every 4 hours, but I CAN BREATHE OUT BOTH NOSTRILS!!!! It is crazy! I am still really tired today and I need to take it easy. I still haven't had anything to eat yet, it is still a little uncomfortable to chew. Mostly my nose feels really dry and scabby inside so if I do too much it starts bleeding. I am hoping to feel better by dinner and have a nice big meal! This morning Kimmie and me watched Happy Feet. It is still hard for me to hold her because sometimes she accidentally hits my face. She wants to play and 
doesn't understand why mommy can't play with her. These pictures were taken this morning after I woke up. I feel much better and by tomorrow I hope to be almost back to my normal routine. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support. I really do have the best family & friends EVER!! I love you guys!!!
Yesterday I had my surgery. I arrived at the hospital at 10 am and was scheduled to go into surgery around 12:30. Seth took me and Kimmie stayed home with Oma. Because this was not "major" surgery it did not require me being put fully under anesthesia! I was so nervous about that! They started an IV and around 11:45 the anesthesiologist came in and talked me through what was going to happen. He gave me a couple shots and then I said bye to Seth. At that point I was sleepy, but not asleep. They wheeled me into the Operating Room and started the surgery. They did cover my eyes so I could not see anything, but every once in a while I could see the tools he was using. I felt him give me the shot in the nose and it felt kind of like when you get numbed at the dentist. I could feel it but it wasn't painful. Even though I was pretty out of it, I was still kind of aware of what was going on. The doctor started with my right side and I was so loopy from the drugs I started getting nervous he would forget to do the left side. So, at one point I even asked if he was going to do the left side, it was a dumb question but the drugs were talking:) He assured me he was going to do both sides. I don't remember much after that. Before he put the packing in my nose he asked me to breath in and for the first time I could breathe through both nostrils! Then he packed my nose and sent me back to recovery.
Seth was quickly by my side again & assured me I looked amazing! Because of all the padding in my nose I had to breathe out my mouth, which was annoying, but I was not in any pain at this point so that was good. I was mostly sleepy. This picture was taken right after I got to my room. It was hard to smile, so that is why I look so weird, plus I am still drugged up:) After about 30 minutes in recovery the anesthesia started wearing off and they gave me some vicodin. We had to wait another 20 minutes to make sure the pain medicine was working, then they discharged me. I was pretty much out of it the whole way home. 
I went to see Kimmie right away. Oma tried preparing Kimmie for seeing me by putting tape on her nose, but that only scared her. When she saw me she was a little nervous, but she let me hold her. I held her for a minute then headed downstairs for bed. I was told to spend the rest of the day laying with my head elevated and getting plenty of rest. I could only eat really soft things because it hurt my nose to chew. I hadn't eaten since midnight the night before so Seth made me soup right away. It was so good! I stayed in bed watching Felicity Season 1 and at one point Kimmie came
and snuggled with me. She is so cute! I stayed in bed the rest of the night. Seth went out and got me mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC for dinner (which I love!) and then also got me Coldstone ice cream. It was so yummy! I also got a special delivery that afternoon. I received some beautiful yellow and white daisies and a teddy bear from Angie and Rossii. They are so sweet, thank you so much! They also sent a card that read "Hope you can finally breathe better. Now gets makin a baby!:)" It made me laugh so much! I can't say I am up for the baby makin just yet, but soon enough:) That night I slept ok. I woke up around every 20 minutes to get a sip of water. Since I could only breathe out my mouth it would get very dry, fast. I was also taking pain meds every 4 hours. Around 3 am I noticed the pain medicine wasn't working that great anymore. I tried to sleep but all I could think about was taking my packing out of my nose. I was told I could take it out early the morning after surgery. I was set to take a vicodin at 6 am and I was going to give that an hour to take effect and then take the packing out at 7. Well, at 6 I was just in too much pain. The swelling was going down, but because I had all the packing in my nose it was causing a lot of pain. So, at 6:15 am I woke Seth up and made my way to the bathroom to take it out! These next pictures are kind of gross, so don't say I didn't warn you.
The morning after surgery, getting ready to take out the packing
The start of taking out the packing. It wasn't so bad at the beginning, but then i just kept coming and I started to feel a little nauseas. It was a little painful, but mostly uncomfortable.
It seemed like it was never going to end. How did they even get all that up my nose?!?! Once I was done I had to go sit down because I thought I was going to vomit.After taking out the packing I started feeling a lot better. I
went back to bed and was able to slept until 9:00 am this morning! I still have some drainage and I have to use a saline spray every 4 hours, but I CAN BREATHE OUT BOTH NOSTRILS!!!! It is crazy! I am still really tired today and I need to take it easy. I still haven't had anything to eat yet, it is still a little uncomfortable to chew. Mostly my nose feels really dry and scabby inside so if I do too much it starts bleeding. I am hoping to feel better by dinner and have a nice big meal! This morning Kimmie and me watched Happy Feet. It is still hard for me to hold her because sometimes she accidentally hits my face. She wants to play and 
doesn't understand why mommy can't play with her. These pictures were taken this morning after I woke up. I feel much better and by tomorrow I hope to be almost back to my normal routine. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support. I really do have the best family & friends EVER!! I love you guys!!!
6 comments:
wow! You look great! you look so skinny! Really! Tiny! Your nose looks good too! and EW! with the nasty long thing coming out of your nose, just plain ew. I'm glad you are feeling a bit better. I can't wait to see you. Love you!
freakin nasty! it's like a magician pulling a hankie out of his hat!
Yuck! Glad to hear you are doing good but not so glad to see your nose packing ;).
Wow! I would never have imagined so much could fit up one persons' nose! Glad you can breath again!
Oh man! That picture of that nast hanging out your nose is amazing. I mean, I really feel like I am there. I have been on maternity leave from nursing now for over 2 months, and so I wasn't quite prepped and I nearly dry heaved. Thanks for sharing that special moment with the world. :)
Ouch. I feel your pain though as I had a similar surgery, twice! Mine was from a smashed nose at a Kid Rock concert. They set it crocked, reset with surgery that closed off my left nostril and did sinus damage. So surgery number 2 was full of packed goodness. You look like your healing nicely! Glad you can breath again!
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