Breathe...breathe in the air...

I (54m) am 27 days post-op from a septoplasty and inferior turbinate submucous resection. I know there are plenty of posts with recommendations; I’ve only recently found this board, and since I’ve already had the surgery, I’ve only been reading the new ones. As my experience mirrors that of several other folks who have had the procedure this week, my recap will be brief, followed by some tips that I hope will be helpful.

The only significant trauma to my nose that I remember came as a preteen, when I took a basketball flush to the face; it neither broke nor bled. I went to my ENT in 2009 for persistent headaches and occasional nosebleeds. The MRI showed what was, in his words, a “wickedly deviated” septum. There was no urgency behind getting it fixed, so I let it go.

By last fall, I had grown weary of overall poor sleep and the feeling that I was never breathing well through my nose. My septum was still a train wreck, so we scheduled the surgery for mid-January.

Everything went very well. The entire staff at the surgical center was amazing, and I was home five hours later. The only pain I had was a sore throat from the intubation; I took Vicodin for the first couple of days in case of any breakthrough pain but really could have gotten by on just Tylenol. I was also given amoxicillin. I went through a lot of saline nasal spray and my allotment of Afrin (wait 24 hours, then one spray per nostril every eight hours for a maximum of three days). As my discharge paperwork predicted, the internal swelling was the worst on the second and third days post-op.

The splints came out on the sixth day, along with a bunch of goop and possibly some brain matter. That first deep breath after he finished cleaning me out was just divine. I wish I had listened to my wife and had this done sooner, but life has been throwing us a lot of curves over the last few years. This feels amazing, so I’m just happy and thankful that I went ahead with it.

1. If you have a mustache, confirm with your doctor whether they may end up having to trim it during the surgery. I asked during my pre-op visit, and my doc said he wouldn’t know until they got in there. I have (well, had) a pretty thick beard and mustache; I went to my barber two days before the surgery and had him thin out the mustache and tighten up the beard.

2. I spent the first few nights sleeping on a reclining sofa; using a travel neck pillow was very comfortable, and helped to keep my head in place.

3. If narcotics and/or anesthesia tend to constipate you, have some gentle laxatives or stool softeners available.

4. Force fluids the day before the surgery; divide your body weight in half, and drink at least that many ounces. They also had me drink eight ounces of either water or apple juice two hours before my call time; this unfortunately didn’t make it easy for them to find a good vein for my IV.

5. Have plenty of soft, gentle food on hand, especially for your first few post-op meals. I managed to make do with apple sauce, pudding, and mashed potatoes. Also Boost or Ensure or whatever you fancy.

6. Ask for an extra drip pad; you’ll likely be changing your gauze out frequently, and the elastic will weaken.

7. Supply list: 3”x3” gauze, Q-tips, hydrogen peroxide, the softest tissues you can find, cough drops, dry mouth lozenges, Ocean or a similar saline nasal spray, reusable cooling face masks, lip balm, Tylenol (confirm with your doctor), Ayr saline nasal gel, fresh batteries in your remotes, and some good books.

To those folks currently recovering, heal well! If you're considering the procedure and have any questions, I'm happy to help.