...from her surgeon!
yay!!!! He seemed impressed with the amount of air I'm getting already...apparently things will keep improving up to the 3 month mark which is a huge relief. I mean I'm happy with the improvement but was hoping this was not the final result so glad it isn't.
The next step is figuring out how to manage allergies but the steroid spray will buy us as much time as we need.
I was rather optimistically figuring out how much IVF will cost after medicare capped the rebated in 2010. It's worse than I hoped but I think do-able.
I'm not setting any timeframe goals though. We still need to sort out the rest of my breathing and sleeping issues and then I want to take a full 3 months beforehand to take supplements etc...and I still have more weight to lose.
I have however lost almost 10kg which is great but I still have a long way to go.
As for my crafting mojo...turns out I kind of have been crafting this past month but I didn't consider it as such. Sounds mysterious?
I'm waiting on a package in the mail which should arrive friday and then I can reveal all!
Showing posts with label surgery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surgery. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Could it be?
That these super toxic antibiotics are actually working??
I'm feeling as vile as I expected to but the gunk in my nose is almost gone and isn't a nasty icky germy colour.
There is still gunk from constant slow bleeding that builds up but it seems to be from the antibiotics (yet another side effect).
I take my last tablet tomorrow morning so the big question is do I fill the repeat?? The surgeon didn't specify so I think he wants be to whereas last time he said it was optional.
I really don't want to since I'm sick of feeling tired and sick buuut...these abx can encourage resistant bugs if you mess about with them so I await an opinion from my sister.
It's not even been a week since I've been on them yet it feels like a month! Ergh!
I'm feeling as vile as I expected to but the gunk in my nose is almost gone and isn't a nasty icky germy colour.
There is still gunk from constant slow bleeding that builds up but it seems to be from the antibiotics (yet another side effect).
I take my last tablet tomorrow morning so the big question is do I fill the repeat?? The surgeon didn't specify so I think he wants be to whereas last time he said it was optional.
I really don't want to since I'm sick of feeling tired and sick buuut...these abx can encourage resistant bugs if you mess about with them so I await an opinion from my sister.
It's not even been a week since I've been on them yet it feels like a month! Ergh!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
And it goes on and on and on...
Rewind 15 days ago...
It was a Friday and I was just starting to reap the benefits of my op when my nose smelled funny. I thought maybe I was coming down with a cold.
next morning there was no cold but there was a fever, very sore nose and nerve pain in my teeth was back...not to mention really icky stuff coming out of my nose when I did the sinus rinses. I was feeling exhausted and feverish and just plain awful.
I waited til Monday and luckily my surgeon was in his rooms close to home. We had a chat and he also suspected post-op infection which is supposed to be "rare" especially given I had a course of antibiotics to prevent this kind of this after my surgery.
He then led me to the treatment room and did an endoscopy! I thought he'd just LOOK in my nose! As awful as the local anaesthetic spray for that is, the bill is far worse. Last time I got the camera treatment I was handed a bill for over $300.
He must have felt sorry for me since he bulk billed everything. Gave me a script for antibiotics and 1 repeat which he thought I shouldn't need but it was there just in case.
I filled the script and noticed some improvement over the next few days but not enough. I filled the repeat and no further improvement so yesterday I went back to see my surgeon.
This time he didn't stick any cameras up my nose. He snipped the stitches to help them fall out since most of the suspicious areas seemed to be around the stitches and gave me a script for what he said was the strongest nose antibiotic there is.
The main concern for both us is any infection settling onto my artificial joint and after last year's scare I'm not taking any chances!
The down side to all this is that the antibiotic is not covered by PBS and has really REALLY nasty side effects such as nerve damage, heart damage, tendon rupture, psychosis, really high or low blood sugar, increased brain pressure and overgrowth of a really nasty bacteria in the bowel.
Granted these side effects aren't all that common but we all know my track record when it comes to getting rare side effects.
Still...most of these can be reversed...most of the time and the consequences of my joint becoming infected would be far more devastating and difficult to cure so the risk is worth taking.
Just to make matters more difficult, products containing magnesium, calcium and iron need to be avoided while taking this med since it interferes with absorption.
A host of other drugs interact with it including NSAIDs.
So when I got home I got my tweezers out and pulled out as many stitches as I could (except one really stubborn one which I trimmed back) and I feel so much more comfortable.
I'm getting more tired than less so I haven't gone back to sewing yet. I'm having a lot of trouble focusing my eyes on fiddly tasks and keeping my hands steady so most of my hobbies are more of an ordeal than a pleasure at the moment!
So here's hoping in 14 days time I'll be feeling fab and able to do the next stage of my treatment. Til my nose is declared functional I can't do the sleep study...and my frame of mind isn't strong enough to deal with whatever bad news the jaw specialist has for me!
It was a Friday and I was just starting to reap the benefits of my op when my nose smelled funny. I thought maybe I was coming down with a cold.
next morning there was no cold but there was a fever, very sore nose and nerve pain in my teeth was back...not to mention really icky stuff coming out of my nose when I did the sinus rinses. I was feeling exhausted and feverish and just plain awful.
I waited til Monday and luckily my surgeon was in his rooms close to home. We had a chat and he also suspected post-op infection which is supposed to be "rare" especially given I had a course of antibiotics to prevent this kind of this after my surgery.
He then led me to the treatment room and did an endoscopy! I thought he'd just LOOK in my nose! As awful as the local anaesthetic spray for that is, the bill is far worse. Last time I got the camera treatment I was handed a bill for over $300.
He must have felt sorry for me since he bulk billed everything. Gave me a script for antibiotics and 1 repeat which he thought I shouldn't need but it was there just in case.
I filled the script and noticed some improvement over the next few days but not enough. I filled the repeat and no further improvement so yesterday I went back to see my surgeon.
This time he didn't stick any cameras up my nose. He snipped the stitches to help them fall out since most of the suspicious areas seemed to be around the stitches and gave me a script for what he said was the strongest nose antibiotic there is.
The main concern for both us is any infection settling onto my artificial joint and after last year's scare I'm not taking any chances!
The down side to all this is that the antibiotic is not covered by PBS and has really REALLY nasty side effects such as nerve damage, heart damage, tendon rupture, psychosis, really high or low blood sugar, increased brain pressure and overgrowth of a really nasty bacteria in the bowel.
Granted these side effects aren't all that common but we all know my track record when it comes to getting rare side effects.
Still...most of these can be reversed...most of the time and the consequences of my joint becoming infected would be far more devastating and difficult to cure so the risk is worth taking.
Just to make matters more difficult, products containing magnesium, calcium and iron need to be avoided while taking this med since it interferes with absorption.
A host of other drugs interact with it including NSAIDs.
So when I got home I got my tweezers out and pulled out as many stitches as I could (except one really stubborn one which I trimmed back) and I feel so much more comfortable.
I'm getting more tired than less so I haven't gone back to sewing yet. I'm having a lot of trouble focusing my eyes on fiddly tasks and keeping my hands steady so most of my hobbies are more of an ordeal than a pleasure at the moment!
So here's hoping in 14 days time I'll be feeling fab and able to do the next stage of my treatment. Til my nose is declared functional I can't do the sleep study...and my frame of mind isn't strong enough to deal with whatever bad news the jaw specialist has for me!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Day 4 and 5
Has it really been 5 days?
It's been feeling a little like Groundhog Day for me.
Not much new to report but my nose has been getting steadily more painful each day. It's not a throbbing pain but just when it's touched or when I wiggle it bunny-style.
The right nostril is improving. It's the opposite one to the incision for the septoplasty so as far as I can tell it the only healing is from 2 turbinate resections on that side.
Overnight it appears to dry up but when I get up it starts oozing again just less than before and it responds well to the decongestant spray.
The left side...still bleeding as much as ever. I rang the surgeon's rooms to ask when can I expect it to stop and my surgeon answered the phone so we had a chat. he said it;s normal and everyone is different and it'll stop when it stops.
Meanwhile I should use the decongestant spray until it does since it helps stop bleeding. Doesn't actually do any decongesting - a little on the right side maybe.
The upside to this is that I can avoid doing the nose washes til the bleeding stops and i'm really not looking forward to them. I hate the sensation of water up my nose.
The other thing that's happening is a sensation of pain, numbness and tingling around my top front teeth which some people get after this type of surgery. Naturally I'm "some people".
Thankfully I have no packing or splints. There are super duper stitches holding everything together which should dissolve in 6 weeks.
I've discovered ice-cream helps stop the bleeding...for as long as I'm eating it but it's not going to be helping my weight loss!
I've been reading people's experiences online. Aside from the obligatory horror stories, there are plenty of people who are thrilled with the result so I'm trying to focus on that.
Once I heal up a bit I still have to see the oral specialist and do the sleep study and who know what those things will show.
I've adopted the "ignore it and it will go away" attitude all my life and now it's come back to bite me on the bum with everything reaching breaking point all at once.
On the plus side I've had the urge to do some sewing but I can't see too well over the nose nappy and don't want to bleed all over my work so it'll have to wait a little longer.
It's been feeling a little like Groundhog Day for me.
Not much new to report but my nose has been getting steadily more painful each day. It's not a throbbing pain but just when it's touched or when I wiggle it bunny-style.
The right nostril is improving. It's the opposite one to the incision for the septoplasty so as far as I can tell it the only healing is from 2 turbinate resections on that side.
Overnight it appears to dry up but when I get up it starts oozing again just less than before and it responds well to the decongestant spray.
The left side...still bleeding as much as ever. I rang the surgeon's rooms to ask when can I expect it to stop and my surgeon answered the phone so we had a chat. he said it;s normal and everyone is different and it'll stop when it stops.
Meanwhile I should use the decongestant spray until it does since it helps stop bleeding. Doesn't actually do any decongesting - a little on the right side maybe.
The upside to this is that I can avoid doing the nose washes til the bleeding stops and i'm really not looking forward to them. I hate the sensation of water up my nose.
The other thing that's happening is a sensation of pain, numbness and tingling around my top front teeth which some people get after this type of surgery. Naturally I'm "some people".
Thankfully I have no packing or splints. There are super duper stitches holding everything together which should dissolve in 6 weeks.
I've discovered ice-cream helps stop the bleeding...for as long as I'm eating it but it's not going to be helping my weight loss!
I've been reading people's experiences online. Aside from the obligatory horror stories, there are plenty of people who are thrilled with the result so I'm trying to focus on that.
Once I heal up a bit I still have to see the oral specialist and do the sleep study and who know what those things will show.
I've adopted the "ignore it and it will go away" attitude all my life and now it's come back to bite me on the bum with everything reaching breaking point all at once.
On the plus side I've had the urge to do some sewing but I can't see too well over the nose nappy and don't want to bleed all over my work so it'll have to wait a little longer.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Day 2 - Reflections (LONG!)
It's Wednesday evening and I'm home and I can't believe how good I feel. I'm not in any pain from my nose. My pain is mainly referred pain which is yet to be dealt with and with the headaches related to the sinus component of the op.
Now that I'm totally lucid I have been able to reflect on everything that happened yesterday. I need to write it down if I even need a GA again. I was so confused yesterday. Everything seemed to go wrong from the minute we arrived at the hospital.
Anyway here is the whole story so either close this post or get comfy!
We arrived at the hospital just a few minutes later than we were told (got there around 6:50am) but reception was full and the receptionist was lovely and said she needed to rush us through.
Over an hour later we were still sitting in reception and were one of the last to be called in. Riiiiight!
I was shown into a 2 bed room. No private rooms left but one might become available later.
The anaesthetist showed up and was not the same guy my surgeon carefully chose for me based on my situation. I could have cried! Firstly he said he had never done ENT surgeries under a local and he's done many of them. It's totally possible. My surgeon gave me a handout saying it's possible!
Anyway besides this the anaesthetist was very nice and patient and asked me exactly which parts worried me. He did agree not to use the mask with gas and knock me out only thru the IV since I have a fear of things being held over my face.
I also think he grossly underestimated my ability to cope with pain and surgical instruments. I wish I remebered to tell him my egg pick up for IVF was done with NO anaesthetic! I had just one injection of fentanyl but I asked for that for my very sore wrist. Anyway...
Eventually the nurse went through the questionnaire with me and she was so sweet and lovely too. She even let me keep my own undies on and not use those awful gigantic mesh granny pants ones.
I think nerves got the better of me combined with dehydration from not drinking for hours and I was possesively clutching my vommy bag when at about 9:30am I was eventually collected by a rather dishy theatre nurse. I wasn't thrilled to have to walk to theatre in my shaky state but by that stage I was practically incoherent with terror.
I sat in a chair in the pre-theatre area and my surgeon turned up. Finally a familiar face! He was very nice about me being scared and then I saw he was clutching one of those small bottles with a long nozzle and that meant only one thing. SPRAY ON local anaesthetic. The same stuff I had when got the camera up my nose treatment.
This stuff is so awful...bitter and vile and when I;m already trying not to vomit it was the last straw. He must have put in about 20 sprays in each side! he sat with me and I asked him about the ear pain I had been having. he examined my jaw and said it needs fixing asap and said he'd refer me to someone.
I was gutted. I've had a problem with the left side of my jaw all my life but never mentioned it to a doc because I don't want anyone operating on my facial bones.
Then he put in what felt like another 20 sprays in each nostril and trotted off to scrub up and the anaesthetic nurse when over all the checks. I suspected she was Russian and I found out later she was.
She explained the local would make me feel like I was unable to swallow even tho I would be able to and I could already see what she meant. I didn;t like it.
We went into theatre and I hopped up on the bed. She started asking me about my last name and said she went to school with a girl with the same name and I explained it was my husbands and I'm actually first generation Ukrainian etc.
The anaesthetist turned up and started helping himself to my LEFT hand. I advised against it due to the amount of surgical scarring and he said he saw a decent vein and it was easier for him if it wasn't painful for me. I agreed and pointed out which areas to avoid if he didn't want to hit metal.
He asked who my surgeon was and said he went to med school with him and he knew he'd be a surgeon because of his meticulous knowledge of anatomy etc...at which point he tries to flex my wrist to bring the vein to the surface. Of course nothing happened because it's FUSED. Seriously, Dude...which part of fused don't you understand??? I can see why he chose anaesthetics over surgery!!
So I'm having 2 conversations between him and his nurse which was hard to maintain at once but in retrospect I think they were trying to distract me but they were all very nice.
He reminded everyone in the room not to use the mask and I was very grateful. he said I'd wake up with a soft tube in my mouth which I could pull out myself. This wasn't part of the deal!!!!
Anyways he shoots up my IV at about 10am and I started feeling woozy and I was out.
I can't say the next thing I remember was waking up because it wasn't. I was having some sort of dream then woke up. Someone grabbed the tube out of my mouth and it wasn't uncomfortable.
The first thing I demanded to know (after checking they didn't give me any blood) was how long I was out for. They said the op lasted about 35 mins but this was not what I was asking. I felt like I'd been out for a couple of hours. It was exactly like when I sleep...I'm not conscious but I have a sensation of time passing. My sister and the anaesthetist both promised me I wouldn't have concept of time.
Eventually I asked what time it was and they said around 11:45am! There was a whole hour unaccounted for and this is exactly what bothers me about being unconscious. I need to be able to account for every minute. Basically I was in recovery for over an hour before i came to. Is that normal???
After a about 30 seconds I notice my nose is pain free but my head...I have the most excruciating headache I've ever had and could barely tell them about it because my upper mouth and back of throat were so numb. I'm not sure if this is from the spray or whether I got more local when I was out.
They quickly gave me some fentanyl in my IV and from previous experience it starts working in less than a minute and increases its effect quickly. i felt nothing. they gave me more. Still nothing. I felt panicky. My head was going to explode and they said I needed to wait before I could have more.
I felt fluid in my lungs and started to cough. My oxygen mask filled with blood and the patients on the other side of the room looked somewhat concerned. They pulled off the mask and suctioned my mouth and gave me a tissue. I kept trying to cough up the blood because it was uncomfortable.
My surgeon quickly appears and they're all telling me not to cough because it's making the bleeding from my nose worse. At this point I couldn't care less. I felt fluid in my lungs and wanted it gone so I kept hacking it up into tissues.
They kept trying to force an icypole onto me. I didn't want it but apparently it helps slow the bleeding so I lost the battle. I stuck the lemonade flavoured icypole in my mouth and pulled it out again. My mouth was too numb to suck properly and the icypole was covered in blood. Do they seriously expect me to put it back in after that? Apparently so!
Eventually it softens a little and I manage to suck it but I couldn't swallow. It just flowed out of my mouth, got spat into the ever growing pile of blood stained tissues.
After a while I managed to swallow something and finished the icypole and after every bite kept asking whether someone could call Andrew. The dishy theatre nurse must have gone out and checked cos he came back and told me Andrew was waiting in the room and was told I was awake.
Meanwhile head still on the verge of exploding. I noticed the recovery room was totally empty and they ask me if I feel ready to go back to the ward! NO WAY! They give me the last of my fentanyl and start muttering about pethidine but I explained early on i didn;t like it.
I couldn't remember whether they gave it to me or not I asked for ice packs on my head and they said they wouldn't help! I think I know what will help and what wont!
I can't describe how strange I felt. My body felt heavy and slow and woozy but my mind seemed fully awake. I wasn;t very coherent but I didn't feel sleepy at all which everyone said I would.
They brought me back to the ward and my lovely nurse was there and I explained about the pain and she fetched some panadeine forte. It kind of took the edge off the pain but didn't last long. I asked for ice packs and she fetched me one no questions asked and what do you know...it made me feel better!
My headache was still pretty bad and I could tell it was on the verge of a migraine so I was stressing out. If the pain isn't controlled fast, it would be impossible to control once it was a full on migraine.
she offered pethidine and I declined and I'm not sure how or when it happened but she must have called up the anaesthetist to get a phone order for endone. Finally a drug I was sure would work and in combination with the panadeine and ice it did. The headache didn't leave completely but it was so much better.
My nose still wasn;t sore but was bleeding a lot and the bolster underneath needed frequent changing.
My sister turned up with Maxie and I was so glad to see them. I had got up and gone to the toilet and started to feel more human. Strangely, the massive cocktails of painkillers didn't make me at all sleepy.
A few hours later, Andrew took Max and my sister home.
I wanted more endone since it seemed to be the only thing helping. I was starting to feel immense pressure in my ears and my jaw and temples. My eardrums felt like bursting ans swallowing was becoming very painful.
One nurse said it was just a one-off order since it wasn't on my chart. I started getting stressed again.
I had a cup of tea and it helped a little so my nurse suggested heat packs on my temples which I thought was a good idea and she left to get them she came back with endone instead!
She didn;t want to give me heat since I was still bleeding quite a lot and turned out the endone order was written up somewhere else.
My surgeon turned up to check on my and discharge my roomate at around 6pm. He said he'd be back in the morning and I'd go home then.
I actually felt OK with that since my pain was finally under control...it was all but gone! I still didn;t want to eat but I felt well enough to have a shower. My wonderful nurse had gone home and another one came on duty. She wanted me to avoid my head and neck area in the shower!
I told her I wanted to wash my hair, clean my face, brush teeth etc and she agreed provided the water was not too hot.
The shower was wonderful! The hot water felt amazing on my sore still shoulders, temples, head, jaw etc...and the bleeding didn;t really increase much as a result.
I put on my own pyjamas and felt like a totally new person. The problem was I was totally not sleepy and I had no idea how I'd manage to sleep anyway!
Eventually around 1:30am I tried to sleep and lasted about 30 mins I woke just before my 2am obs. It seems that lying down makes the fluid pour out faster from my nose. By this time it wasn't pure blood coming out but more like bloody discharge of varying degrees of intensity and I rarely coughed up any blood.
I watched TV for a few more hours since I didn;t feel sleepy and at about 4am I fell asleep again waking in time for my 6am obs.
My room was around the corner from Hudson;s Coffee on the hospital ground floor and finally I could stomach the thought of coffee which I hadn't had in 2 days!
On the knock of 7am I bravely left my room in my pyjamas and bulky nose nappy and ordered the biggest macchiato they had.
I was more embarrassed sporting the huge nose nappy in the hospital reception than the fact I waltzed in in my pyjamas. Bumped into Dishy Theatre Nurse on the way back to my room. he remembered me and asked how I was feeling. Nice!!
The coffee finally returned the last of my humanity! I was lucid!
Then I found out the doc wasn't coming because he was on his way somewhere else and discharged me by phone. I was stressed because I needed to ask him about lots of stuff and the silly nurse I had in the morning was telling me something different to everybody else and none of it made any sense!
I took matters into my own hands and phoned the doctors main rooms. They said he was consulting today near my house! He is there once a week usually and they said they'd email the rooms and let them know I was turning up. How lovely! I felt so much better.
They gave me all my discharge meds (no endone tho) and what I suspected was a grossly inadequate supply of nose nappies.
DH picked me up and we drove to see the doc who answered all my questions and gave me the name of an oral specialist who not only deals with jaws but could help with other problems I have. Doc said I could always get a script for endone later if I really needed it but honestly I felt so good I was pretty sure I wouldn't.
My nose was really not painful unless I touched it and the pain meds I've been taking are mainly for pain I have swallowing. Very strange! I never expected the post-op pain to be from all these other sources!
I tried to sleep when we got home since I got about 2-3 hours sleep on each of the two preceeding nights. Sleep isn't fun because the nose leakage increases and my mouth is dryer than usual when I wake up.
I did feel better after a sleep and a shower...and besides the leak in my nose I really felt fantastic! Very strange!
As for the general anaesthetic...while some aspects weren't as bad as I thought the rest were...and I still feel kind of tricked into having it because I couldn't discuss the alternatives with the anaesthetist I was originally going to have.
Given the op was so quick I think I could easily have coped with staying awake and I could have dealt with the headache as soon as it came on rather than waking up with it.
The fact is that I'm not bothered by tugging and hammering sensations and the sound effects of orthopaedic surgery are about as bad as you can get so if I can cope with that, then just about everything else is a piece of cake.
As for keeping still? I kept motionless during my IVF egg pickup. I felt everything and still didn't jump around on the table.
I know this sounds very strange to most of you but it's just how I am. It's how I cope with these things.
Day 3 Thursday 9 June
I slept 5 hours in a row and got up to help Andrew get Max off to school but felt shaky with a very sore, dry throat. Painkillers and bed after they left!
Woke up again 5 hours later feeling much the same. One nostril is drying up a little and mu nose is starting to hurt a bit more to the touch but still still mild.
Throat is very sore especially on the left side where I've had more problems and more work done and where it's still bleeding. I'm running out of these nose bolsters and chemists don't have them.
I tracked down a distributor and they're really expensive! I think I'm going to have to put my sewing skills to good use and come up with a solution.
Taping gauze to my face is the most obvious but given how often I need to change these things I'll have no skin left!
My left hand is sore where the IV was. Not the insertion point but where the plastic tube went and it's too close to the top of my fake joint for comfort.
It's strange but I feel worse today than I did yesterday. Is that possible?
Now that I'm totally lucid I have been able to reflect on everything that happened yesterday. I need to write it down if I even need a GA again. I was so confused yesterday. Everything seemed to go wrong from the minute we arrived at the hospital.
Anyway here is the whole story so either close this post or get comfy!
We arrived at the hospital just a few minutes later than we were told (got there around 6:50am) but reception was full and the receptionist was lovely and said she needed to rush us through.
Over an hour later we were still sitting in reception and were one of the last to be called in. Riiiiight!
I was shown into a 2 bed room. No private rooms left but one might become available later.
The anaesthetist showed up and was not the same guy my surgeon carefully chose for me based on my situation. I could have cried! Firstly he said he had never done ENT surgeries under a local and he's done many of them. It's totally possible. My surgeon gave me a handout saying it's possible!
Anyway besides this the anaesthetist was very nice and patient and asked me exactly which parts worried me. He did agree not to use the mask with gas and knock me out only thru the IV since I have a fear of things being held over my face.
I also think he grossly underestimated my ability to cope with pain and surgical instruments. I wish I remebered to tell him my egg pick up for IVF was done with NO anaesthetic! I had just one injection of fentanyl but I asked for that for my very sore wrist. Anyway...
Eventually the nurse went through the questionnaire with me and she was so sweet and lovely too. She even let me keep my own undies on and not use those awful gigantic mesh granny pants ones.
I think nerves got the better of me combined with dehydration from not drinking for hours and I was possesively clutching my vommy bag when at about 9:30am I was eventually collected by a rather dishy theatre nurse. I wasn't thrilled to have to walk to theatre in my shaky state but by that stage I was practically incoherent with terror.
I sat in a chair in the pre-theatre area and my surgeon turned up. Finally a familiar face! He was very nice about me being scared and then I saw he was clutching one of those small bottles with a long nozzle and that meant only one thing. SPRAY ON local anaesthetic. The same stuff I had when got the camera up my nose treatment.
This stuff is so awful...bitter and vile and when I;m already trying not to vomit it was the last straw. He must have put in about 20 sprays in each side! he sat with me and I asked him about the ear pain I had been having. he examined my jaw and said it needs fixing asap and said he'd refer me to someone.
I was gutted. I've had a problem with the left side of my jaw all my life but never mentioned it to a doc because I don't want anyone operating on my facial bones.
Then he put in what felt like another 20 sprays in each nostril and trotted off to scrub up and the anaesthetic nurse when over all the checks. I suspected she was Russian and I found out later she was.
She explained the local would make me feel like I was unable to swallow even tho I would be able to and I could already see what she meant. I didn;t like it.
We went into theatre and I hopped up on the bed. She started asking me about my last name and said she went to school with a girl with the same name and I explained it was my husbands and I'm actually first generation Ukrainian etc.
The anaesthetist turned up and started helping himself to my LEFT hand. I advised against it due to the amount of surgical scarring and he said he saw a decent vein and it was easier for him if it wasn't painful for me. I agreed and pointed out which areas to avoid if he didn't want to hit metal.
He asked who my surgeon was and said he went to med school with him and he knew he'd be a surgeon because of his meticulous knowledge of anatomy etc...at which point he tries to flex my wrist to bring the vein to the surface. Of course nothing happened because it's FUSED. Seriously, Dude...which part of fused don't you understand??? I can see why he chose anaesthetics over surgery!!
So I'm having 2 conversations between him and his nurse which was hard to maintain at once but in retrospect I think they were trying to distract me but they were all very nice.
He reminded everyone in the room not to use the mask and I was very grateful. he said I'd wake up with a soft tube in my mouth which I could pull out myself. This wasn't part of the deal!!!!
Anyways he shoots up my IV at about 10am and I started feeling woozy and I was out.
I can't say the next thing I remember was waking up because it wasn't. I was having some sort of dream then woke up. Someone grabbed the tube out of my mouth and it wasn't uncomfortable.
The first thing I demanded to know (after checking they didn't give me any blood) was how long I was out for. They said the op lasted about 35 mins but this was not what I was asking. I felt like I'd been out for a couple of hours. It was exactly like when I sleep...I'm not conscious but I have a sensation of time passing. My sister and the anaesthetist both promised me I wouldn't have concept of time.
Eventually I asked what time it was and they said around 11:45am! There was a whole hour unaccounted for and this is exactly what bothers me about being unconscious. I need to be able to account for every minute. Basically I was in recovery for over an hour before i came to. Is that normal???
After a about 30 seconds I notice my nose is pain free but my head...I have the most excruciating headache I've ever had and could barely tell them about it because my upper mouth and back of throat were so numb. I'm not sure if this is from the spray or whether I got more local when I was out.
They quickly gave me some fentanyl in my IV and from previous experience it starts working in less than a minute and increases its effect quickly. i felt nothing. they gave me more. Still nothing. I felt panicky. My head was going to explode and they said I needed to wait before I could have more.
I felt fluid in my lungs and started to cough. My oxygen mask filled with blood and the patients on the other side of the room looked somewhat concerned. They pulled off the mask and suctioned my mouth and gave me a tissue. I kept trying to cough up the blood because it was uncomfortable.
My surgeon quickly appears and they're all telling me not to cough because it's making the bleeding from my nose worse. At this point I couldn't care less. I felt fluid in my lungs and wanted it gone so I kept hacking it up into tissues.
They kept trying to force an icypole onto me. I didn't want it but apparently it helps slow the bleeding so I lost the battle. I stuck the lemonade flavoured icypole in my mouth and pulled it out again. My mouth was too numb to suck properly and the icypole was covered in blood. Do they seriously expect me to put it back in after that? Apparently so!
Eventually it softens a little and I manage to suck it but I couldn't swallow. It just flowed out of my mouth, got spat into the ever growing pile of blood stained tissues.
After a while I managed to swallow something and finished the icypole and after every bite kept asking whether someone could call Andrew. The dishy theatre nurse must have gone out and checked cos he came back and told me Andrew was waiting in the room and was told I was awake.
Meanwhile head still on the verge of exploding. I noticed the recovery room was totally empty and they ask me if I feel ready to go back to the ward! NO WAY! They give me the last of my fentanyl and start muttering about pethidine but I explained early on i didn;t like it.
I couldn't remember whether they gave it to me or not I asked for ice packs on my head and they said they wouldn't help! I think I know what will help and what wont!
I can't describe how strange I felt. My body felt heavy and slow and woozy but my mind seemed fully awake. I wasn;t very coherent but I didn't feel sleepy at all which everyone said I would.
They brought me back to the ward and my lovely nurse was there and I explained about the pain and she fetched some panadeine forte. It kind of took the edge off the pain but didn't last long. I asked for ice packs and she fetched me one no questions asked and what do you know...it made me feel better!
My headache was still pretty bad and I could tell it was on the verge of a migraine so I was stressing out. If the pain isn't controlled fast, it would be impossible to control once it was a full on migraine.
she offered pethidine and I declined and I'm not sure how or when it happened but she must have called up the anaesthetist to get a phone order for endone. Finally a drug I was sure would work and in combination with the panadeine and ice it did. The headache didn't leave completely but it was so much better.
My nose still wasn;t sore but was bleeding a lot and the bolster underneath needed frequent changing.
My sister turned up with Maxie and I was so glad to see them. I had got up and gone to the toilet and started to feel more human. Strangely, the massive cocktails of painkillers didn't make me at all sleepy.
A few hours later, Andrew took Max and my sister home.
I wanted more endone since it seemed to be the only thing helping. I was starting to feel immense pressure in my ears and my jaw and temples. My eardrums felt like bursting ans swallowing was becoming very painful.
One nurse said it was just a one-off order since it wasn't on my chart. I started getting stressed again.
I had a cup of tea and it helped a little so my nurse suggested heat packs on my temples which I thought was a good idea and she left to get them she came back with endone instead!
She didn;t want to give me heat since I was still bleeding quite a lot and turned out the endone order was written up somewhere else.
My surgeon turned up to check on my and discharge my roomate at around 6pm. He said he'd be back in the morning and I'd go home then.
I actually felt OK with that since my pain was finally under control...it was all but gone! I still didn;t want to eat but I felt well enough to have a shower. My wonderful nurse had gone home and another one came on duty. She wanted me to avoid my head and neck area in the shower!
I told her I wanted to wash my hair, clean my face, brush teeth etc and she agreed provided the water was not too hot.
The shower was wonderful! The hot water felt amazing on my sore still shoulders, temples, head, jaw etc...and the bleeding didn;t really increase much as a result.
I put on my own pyjamas and felt like a totally new person. The problem was I was totally not sleepy and I had no idea how I'd manage to sleep anyway!
Eventually around 1:30am I tried to sleep and lasted about 30 mins I woke just before my 2am obs. It seems that lying down makes the fluid pour out faster from my nose. By this time it wasn't pure blood coming out but more like bloody discharge of varying degrees of intensity and I rarely coughed up any blood.
I watched TV for a few more hours since I didn;t feel sleepy and at about 4am I fell asleep again waking in time for my 6am obs.
My room was around the corner from Hudson;s Coffee on the hospital ground floor and finally I could stomach the thought of coffee which I hadn't had in 2 days!
On the knock of 7am I bravely left my room in my pyjamas and bulky nose nappy and ordered the biggest macchiato they had.
I was more embarrassed sporting the huge nose nappy in the hospital reception than the fact I waltzed in in my pyjamas. Bumped into Dishy Theatre Nurse on the way back to my room. he remembered me and asked how I was feeling. Nice!!
The coffee finally returned the last of my humanity! I was lucid!
Then I found out the doc wasn't coming because he was on his way somewhere else and discharged me by phone. I was stressed because I needed to ask him about lots of stuff and the silly nurse I had in the morning was telling me something different to everybody else and none of it made any sense!
I took matters into my own hands and phoned the doctors main rooms. They said he was consulting today near my house! He is there once a week usually and they said they'd email the rooms and let them know I was turning up. How lovely! I felt so much better.
They gave me all my discharge meds (no endone tho) and what I suspected was a grossly inadequate supply of nose nappies.
DH picked me up and we drove to see the doc who answered all my questions and gave me the name of an oral specialist who not only deals with jaws but could help with other problems I have. Doc said I could always get a script for endone later if I really needed it but honestly I felt so good I was pretty sure I wouldn't.
My nose was really not painful unless I touched it and the pain meds I've been taking are mainly for pain I have swallowing. Very strange! I never expected the post-op pain to be from all these other sources!
I tried to sleep when we got home since I got about 2-3 hours sleep on each of the two preceeding nights. Sleep isn't fun because the nose leakage increases and my mouth is dryer than usual when I wake up.
I did feel better after a sleep and a shower...and besides the leak in my nose I really felt fantastic! Very strange!
As for the general anaesthetic...while some aspects weren't as bad as I thought the rest were...and I still feel kind of tricked into having it because I couldn't discuss the alternatives with the anaesthetist I was originally going to have.
Given the op was so quick I think I could easily have coped with staying awake and I could have dealt with the headache as soon as it came on rather than waking up with it.
The fact is that I'm not bothered by tugging and hammering sensations and the sound effects of orthopaedic surgery are about as bad as you can get so if I can cope with that, then just about everything else is a piece of cake.
As for keeping still? I kept motionless during my IVF egg pickup. I felt everything and still didn't jump around on the table.
I know this sounds very strange to most of you but it's just how I am. It's how I cope with these things.
Day 3 Thursday 9 June
I slept 5 hours in a row and got up to help Andrew get Max off to school but felt shaky with a very sore, dry throat. Painkillers and bed after they left!
Woke up again 5 hours later feeling much the same. One nostril is drying up a little and mu nose is starting to hurt a bit more to the touch but still still mild.
Throat is very sore especially on the left side where I've had more problems and more work done and where it's still bleeding. I'm running out of these nose bolsters and chemists don't have them.
I tracked down a distributor and they're really expensive! I think I'm going to have to put my sewing skills to good use and come up with a solution.
Taping gauze to my face is the most obvious but given how often I need to change these things I'll have no skin left!
My left hand is sore where the IV was. Not the insertion point but where the plastic tube went and it's too close to the top of my fake joint for comfort.
It's strange but I feel worse today than I did yesterday. Is that possible?
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Sore and Sorry...
What a day!
Nothing went to plan! I'm in a shared room but I can live wit that.
The worst part is my carefully selected anaesthetist was not available and I got someone else. He was lovely too and went to med school with my hand surgeon but admitted he never did local anaesthetics for ENT surgeries.
He obviously doesn't read the hand outs they give to patients saying these things can be done with a local.
Anyway he was lovely and promised not to hold that mask thing with gas over my face but I knew I had good reason for avoiding gen anaesthetics. I felt vile when I woke up.
No pain in the nose. My surgeon squirted massive doses of anaesthetic spray up my nose before I went into theatre. That stuff is so so so awful. I'd much rather have 50 injections. It's incredibly effective but the downside it that I feel like I can't swallow so once I woke up I started to cough and my oxygen mask was filled with blood spatter.
Kind of cool in a really creepy way. They gave me tissues instead and I looked like that man on the anti-smoking commercial who coughs up blood into his hanky.
I woke up with a killer of a headache which nothing seemed to help. I asked for ice packs in recovery and they said they wouldn't help but finally the nurses gave me some on the ward. They help my head more than painkillers.
I have some lovely nurses and my sister and Max are coming to visit soon. Andrew has been a trooper through it all.
I'm still soaking through the nappy they stick under my nose reguarly but all within normal limits apparently.
I'm still not quite with it even though I came out of theatre 4 hours ago. Did I mention how icky the gen anaeasthtic makes me feel?
I'm woozy but strangely not sleepy at all. that's the weirdest part since I basically got now sleep last night. Very very strange.
Anyways will sign off now before I babble anymore nonsense.
xxxxx Alex
Nothing went to plan! I'm in a shared room but I can live wit that.
The worst part is my carefully selected anaesthetist was not available and I got someone else. He was lovely too and went to med school with my hand surgeon but admitted he never did local anaesthetics for ENT surgeries.
He obviously doesn't read the hand outs they give to patients saying these things can be done with a local.
Anyway he was lovely and promised not to hold that mask thing with gas over my face but I knew I had good reason for avoiding gen anaesthetics. I felt vile when I woke up.
No pain in the nose. My surgeon squirted massive doses of anaesthetic spray up my nose before I went into theatre. That stuff is so so so awful. I'd much rather have 50 injections. It's incredibly effective but the downside it that I feel like I can't swallow so once I woke up I started to cough and my oxygen mask was filled with blood spatter.
Kind of cool in a really creepy way. They gave me tissues instead and I looked like that man on the anti-smoking commercial who coughs up blood into his hanky.
I woke up with a killer of a headache which nothing seemed to help. I asked for ice packs in recovery and they said they wouldn't help but finally the nurses gave me some on the ward. They help my head more than painkillers.
I have some lovely nurses and my sister and Max are coming to visit soon. Andrew has been a trooper through it all.
I'm still soaking through the nappy they stick under my nose reguarly but all within normal limits apparently.
I'm still not quite with it even though I came out of theatre 4 hours ago. Did I mention how icky the gen anaeasthtic makes me feel?
I'm woozy but strangely not sleepy at all. that's the weirdest part since I basically got now sleep last night. Very very strange.
Anyways will sign off now before I babble anymore nonsense.
xxxxx Alex
Monday, June 6, 2011
13.5 hours til Nose Op!
argh!! I'm terrified! This is why I've put it off for so many years...and I'm paying the price.
My ears are so sore today and nose almost completely blocked so I know this really can't wait for even one more day.
I'm having a septoplasty, turbinate reduction and FESS on my left maxillary sinus which has something breeding in it. ewww.
Today has been frantic getting washing and cleaning done...pre-ironing Max's school shirts...emergency knee patches on an almost new pair of pyjamas (NOT HAPPY MAX!)
We're sleeping over at my sister's place tonight since her house is about halwayd between ours and the hospital and we have to BE THERE at 6:45am. YUCK!
Max will stay with her tomorrow so it's the easiest option for all of us.
Now all that's left is to convince the anaesthetist that it's really in his best interest not to put me to sleep.
Will update here once I;m out of theatre!
My ears are so sore today and nose almost completely blocked so I know this really can't wait for even one more day.
I'm having a septoplasty, turbinate reduction and FESS on my left maxillary sinus which has something breeding in it. ewww.
Today has been frantic getting washing and cleaning done...pre-ironing Max's school shirts...emergency knee patches on an almost new pair of pyjamas (NOT HAPPY MAX!)
We're sleeping over at my sister's place tonight since her house is about halwayd between ours and the hospital and we have to BE THERE at 6:45am. YUCK!
Max will stay with her tomorrow so it's the easiest option for all of us.
Now all that's left is to convince the anaesthetist that it's really in his best interest not to put me to sleep.
Will update here once I;m out of theatre!
Friday, June 3, 2011
MIA again
Sorry for the lack of activity on this blog!The last few weeks had me sick again - secondary infections from the whooping cough which I'm finally rid of!
This means it's all steam ahead for my nose surgery next week!
The hospital has WiFi so I should be online but not expecting to say longer than 1 night.
I'm terrified at the idea of people doing things to my face so we'll see how it all goes. It desperately needs to be done. It's gotten worse these past 4 months.
My main concern is how much downtime I'll have because Max needs to go to school, wear a clean uniform and have his lunch made. I know DH will manage but I hate to dump it all on him.
Hopefully I'll be quilting again soon!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Update time...
Aside from being completely mojoless I've been sick. Several times. My latest lurgy has been going on for over 2 weeks. I finally went to the doctor since I wasn't getting any better to discover I have whooping cough and the early stages of pneumonia. Charming!
I think my sinus issues made all these bugs I've been catching harder to get rid of. My surgery has been postponed for various reasons but it turned out for the best given there is no way they'd operate with me this sick.
I can only hope I'll be better in 5 weeks!
Other than that my sisters and I have gone a little mad with online shopping given the strong aussie dollar. I've started a beauty blog for them which is called Beautyholics Anonymous if you want to check it out.
It's mainly hauls right now with the odd review but we'll be doing more stuff gradually like tutorials, colour swatches etc.
Anyway once I get on top of all the housework, I plan to relocate my sewing table under the mountain of debris and get that elusive mojo back!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Lumps and bumps and stuff
I saw the GP for my follow up in regard to my parotid issue. He's put me on another 10 days of antibiotics. My parotid had improved out of sight but still a small painful lump remains.
He has ordered blood tests to rule out some auto-immune disorders but I really thing it's a waste of time. The fertility specialist ordered much more comprehensive auto-immune and genetic tests only a year ago and they all came back clear so I can't see things changing in such a short space of time.
I also changed the date of my surgery. It fits in much better with our schedule but the downside it's 2 weeks later than before (now on 19th April). The other good thing is that the anaesthetist that the ENT originally chose for me is working on this date and while I don't know how much he works with regional anaesthesia, I've been told by many people he's REALLY nice and willing to be flexible.
Now that things have settled into a routine I hope to start sewing again.
He has ordered blood tests to rule out some auto-immune disorders but I really thing it's a waste of time. The fertility specialist ordered much more comprehensive auto-immune and genetic tests only a year ago and they all came back clear so I can't see things changing in such a short space of time.
I also changed the date of my surgery. It fits in much better with our schedule but the downside it's 2 weeks later than before (now on 19th April). The other good thing is that the anaesthetist that the ENT originally chose for me is working on this date and while I don't know how much he works with regional anaesthesia, I've been told by many people he's REALLY nice and willing to be flexible.
Now that things have settled into a routine I hope to start sewing again.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
A plan and a tentative date...
Well I saw Mr ENT this afternoon and I was somewhat surprised that I was absolutely correct in my CT analysis. Hmmm...Radiologists get paid heaps of money for what I did. Makes me even more cross with the report on my previous scan. How can someone mix up the index and middle finger??? Anyway...I digress...
The doc was really nice about my GA phobia and found a couple of anaesthetists who are REALLY nice. The one I'm getting (if the date we picked goes ahead) actually has a special interest in regional anaesthetic as opposed to general. I can't ask for much more than that.
Finding a suitable date is such a pain. In theory I could be sliced and diced in less than a week but with DS starting back at school it's more practical to wait until just before the next school holidays.
I'm booked in on Wednesday 6 April which is in the last week of school. It's a morning op so we have to BE THERE at 7am. DH is going to love me *lol*
So...as far as the gory bits go - he doesn't use packing (yay!) OR splints which surprised me. Instead he uses "lots and lots" of industrial strength sutures which come out after 6 weeks. I'm not sure I prefer that alternative!
DH wants me to have a sleep study BEFORE as well as after the op. Doc and I both think it's pointless but he said he'd arrange one to keep DH quiet.
So I'm down for a septoplasty along with a FESS to trim down 3/4 of the offending turbinates and suck out the ball of goo from my sinus. The 4th turb that I was worried about can be left well alone so no risk of getting poked in the brain by accident.
As gruesome as it all sounds and as fed up as I am of surgery, I'm really looking forward to breathing better. The Doc is very optimistic and confident that I'll notice a big difference.
Not much craftiness to report. It's toooo hot to even look at a quilt much less make one! We don't have air con so I'm uncomfortable to say the least. We spend little time at home!!!
Other than that we got DS some new uniforms for school and monday is the big day (again). I really should be used to it by now but I'm not!!
The doc was really nice about my GA phobia and found a couple of anaesthetists who are REALLY nice. The one I'm getting (if the date we picked goes ahead) actually has a special interest in regional anaesthetic as opposed to general. I can't ask for much more than that.
Finding a suitable date is such a pain. In theory I could be sliced and diced in less than a week but with DS starting back at school it's more practical to wait until just before the next school holidays.
I'm booked in on Wednesday 6 April which is in the last week of school. It's a morning op so we have to BE THERE at 7am. DH is going to love me *lol*
So...as far as the gory bits go - he doesn't use packing (yay!) OR splints which surprised me. Instead he uses "lots and lots" of industrial strength sutures which come out after 6 weeks. I'm not sure I prefer that alternative!
DH wants me to have a sleep study BEFORE as well as after the op. Doc and I both think it's pointless but he said he'd arrange one to keep DH quiet.
So I'm down for a septoplasty along with a FESS to trim down 3/4 of the offending turbinates and suck out the ball of goo from my sinus. The 4th turb that I was worried about can be left well alone so no risk of getting poked in the brain by accident.
As gruesome as it all sounds and as fed up as I am of surgery, I'm really looking forward to breathing better. The Doc is very optimistic and confident that I'll notice a big difference.
Not much craftiness to report. It's toooo hot to even look at a quilt much less make one! We don't have air con so I'm uncomfortable to say the least. We spend little time at home!!!
Other than that we got DS some new uniforms for school and monday is the big day (again). I really should be used to it by now but I'm not!!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
CT Scan - nothing crafty in this post!
Yesterday's scan was as uneventful as I expected. I'm an old hand at these though not usually on my head!
As you can tell from the time stamp on this post, I'm losing sleep over this whole issue - but that's nothing new!
I insisted on taking the films with me. I don't see the ENT for another week so I need something to torture myself with until then!
My sister who had just come back from a 2 week spell in Hawaii (she has such a hard life ;-P *lol*) was at work on her day off so I couldn't get a free second opinion (or first opinion in this case) on my scans.
This meant I'd have to to the best I could on my own. How hard can it be? Afterall, I've always got Dr Google, right? And the radiologist who reported my last CT couldn't tell my index finger from the middle one. At least I can do that much!
The first thing that struck me was how hideous the human face looks on a sinus CT. I look like a demented alien...an ugly one at that! This is before I even started looking for deformities in my nose!
Well...let me tell you it doesn't take an expert to see my nose is a complete mess! My findings are as follows:
*Septum is really badly deviated towards the left side - in several places! The lowest place is so bad it explains why the ENT couldn't get his camera into my left nostril more than a few cm. I thought he was just being slack when he pulled it out and started on the next side at that point.
*Inferior Turbinates (thanks Dr Google!) which are the lowest ones are huge. There is air around them but very little.
*Middle Turbinates are a mixed bag. The right is filled with air which really didn't look good until Dr Google informed me it's called a Concha Bullosa and really isn't that big a deal. The left turb looks...kind of normal! At least it did on initial inspection but later I noticed an air bubble higher up. A little too close to brains and eyes for my liking. :-/
*My left maxillary (cheek) sinus has a big grey blob in it. It's in the same spot in all the different views so it's not just a smudge on the scan. It's not air or bone so it means it's either tissue or snot or something like that. Back to Dr Google I go to see what it could be since I couldn't sleep. The first few entries that came up were somewhat unnerving but further reading it looks like it's a polyp. Seriously gross!
Now my only concern is to make sure I get a nice anaesthetist who will be prepared to work with local anaesthetics/nerve blocks alone. If he asks very nicely I might allow him to give me a tiny bit of happy juice provided it doesn't make me fall asleep. There is no way anyone is going to be messing with my face unsupervised!!!!
From a pain perspective, what I've read seems positive. Bone pain is the worst and I've survived 4 of those surgeries so this one shouldn't be too awful...except that there is bone involvement in the deviated septum. Yuckity yuck!
I am really REALLY not comfortable with the idea of people doing things to my face...but if it means I'll stop being tired...and how much more crafting time will that give me?
And if I'm not too dopey I can hand sew in hospital. That's the down side with wrist ops. There's no crafting to be done during the boring hospital stay with one arm out of action!
The ENT is keen to do the surgery asap - hopefully within a week of seeing him next. YIKES!
As you can tell from the time stamp on this post, I'm losing sleep over this whole issue - but that's nothing new!
I insisted on taking the films with me. I don't see the ENT for another week so I need something to torture myself with until then!
My sister who had just come back from a 2 week spell in Hawaii (she has such a hard life ;-P *lol*) was at work on her day off so I couldn't get a free second opinion (or first opinion in this case) on my scans.
This meant I'd have to to the best I could on my own. How hard can it be? Afterall, I've always got Dr Google, right? And the radiologist who reported my last CT couldn't tell my index finger from the middle one. At least I can do that much!
The first thing that struck me was how hideous the human face looks on a sinus CT. I look like a demented alien...an ugly one at that! This is before I even started looking for deformities in my nose!
Well...let me tell you it doesn't take an expert to see my nose is a complete mess! My findings are as follows:
*Septum is really badly deviated towards the left side - in several places! The lowest place is so bad it explains why the ENT couldn't get his camera into my left nostril more than a few cm. I thought he was just being slack when he pulled it out and started on the next side at that point.
*Inferior Turbinates (thanks Dr Google!) which are the lowest ones are huge. There is air around them but very little.
*Middle Turbinates are a mixed bag. The right is filled with air which really didn't look good until Dr Google informed me it's called a Concha Bullosa and really isn't that big a deal. The left turb looks...kind of normal! At least it did on initial inspection but later I noticed an air bubble higher up. A little too close to brains and eyes for my liking. :-/
*My left maxillary (cheek) sinus has a big grey blob in it. It's in the same spot in all the different views so it's not just a smudge on the scan. It's not air or bone so it means it's either tissue or snot or something like that. Back to Dr Google I go to see what it could be since I couldn't sleep. The first few entries that came up were somewhat unnerving but further reading it looks like it's a polyp. Seriously gross!
Now my only concern is to make sure I get a nice anaesthetist who will be prepared to work with local anaesthetics/nerve blocks alone. If he asks very nicely I might allow him to give me a tiny bit of happy juice provided it doesn't make me fall asleep. There is no way anyone is going to be messing with my face unsupervised!!!!
From a pain perspective, what I've read seems positive. Bone pain is the worst and I've survived 4 of those surgeries so this one shouldn't be too awful...except that there is bone involvement in the deviated septum. Yuckity yuck!
I am really REALLY not comfortable with the idea of people doing things to my face...but if it means I'll stop being tired...and how much more crafting time will that give me?
And if I'm not too dopey I can hand sew in hospital. That's the down side with wrist ops. There's no crafting to be done during the boring hospital stay with one arm out of action!
The ENT is keen to do the surgery asap - hopefully within a week of seeing him next. YIKES!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
If I don't laugh I'll cry...
But it's yet another surgery for me!
Thankfully not my wrist again but my nose.
I've been battling airborne allergies for at least 10 years (at least then when I was diagnosed) and until recently a steroid spray meant I got some air through my nose, BUT over the years I got more and more tired and exhausted and sleepy during the day.
About 4 years ago I finally saw a doctor about it because it definitely wasn't related to being a new mum by that stage. Blood tests showed nothing and I was told it was because I was chasing a toddler etc. A few more theories were put forward since then and all ruled out until a few weeks ago when DH informed me I have sleep apnoea.
There is a family history and the most common side effect people complain about? Daytime tiredness, sleepiness, downright exhaustion, lack of concentration, headaches...the list goes on and it fits all my symptoms exactly...even ones I would never have associated with it!!!!
I'm really annoyed no-one thought about it sooner. Aside from being potentially dangerous, I've been feeling sooo rotten for years by now.
I saw the ENT again yesterday. 18 months ago when my ears started hurting he warned me I'd need my nose fixed and I happily kept using my spray and hoped never to see him again *lol*
Well spray no longer working and me not breathing meant it's crunch time.
He scoped my nose and throat with his little camera. Definitely have a deviated septum (quite badly) and turbinates need reducing but to what degree and whether anything else needs doing will be determined by the CT scan I have this afternoon.
He's not going to start slashing soft tissue out of my throat for which I'm extremely grateful! It can lead to problems of its own aside from being really REALLY painful!!
I will need a sleep study done after my nose has healed up and since my throat tissue isn't too big, we're both hoping the nose job fixes the sleep apnoea.
So it's another hurdle before we do more IVFing but worth it since I'm too exhausted to do any baby wrangling in my current state.
As petrified as I am of people messing with my face, the thought of being alert and able to do...stuff is quite exciting!
Thankfully not my wrist again but my nose.
I've been battling airborne allergies for at least 10 years (at least then when I was diagnosed) and until recently a steroid spray meant I got some air through my nose, BUT over the years I got more and more tired and exhausted and sleepy during the day.
About 4 years ago I finally saw a doctor about it because it definitely wasn't related to being a new mum by that stage. Blood tests showed nothing and I was told it was because I was chasing a toddler etc. A few more theories were put forward since then and all ruled out until a few weeks ago when DH informed me I have sleep apnoea.
There is a family history and the most common side effect people complain about? Daytime tiredness, sleepiness, downright exhaustion, lack of concentration, headaches...the list goes on and it fits all my symptoms exactly...even ones I would never have associated with it!!!!
I'm really annoyed no-one thought about it sooner. Aside from being potentially dangerous, I've been feeling sooo rotten for years by now.
I saw the ENT again yesterday. 18 months ago when my ears started hurting he warned me I'd need my nose fixed and I happily kept using my spray and hoped never to see him again *lol*
Well spray no longer working and me not breathing meant it's crunch time.
He scoped my nose and throat with his little camera. Definitely have a deviated septum (quite badly) and turbinates need reducing but to what degree and whether anything else needs doing will be determined by the CT scan I have this afternoon.
He's not going to start slashing soft tissue out of my throat for which I'm extremely grateful! It can lead to problems of its own aside from being really REALLY painful!!
I will need a sleep study done after my nose has healed up and since my throat tissue isn't too big, we're both hoping the nose job fixes the sleep apnoea.
So it's another hurdle before we do more IVFing but worth it since I'm too exhausted to do any baby wrangling in my current state.
As petrified as I am of people messing with my face, the thought of being alert and able to do...stuff is quite exciting!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
New Stitchery
I didn't do any of them. They were done by my old pal Mr B.
The one on the top is the newest.
The one on the top is the newest.
It's lovely and neat. Very unlike my op in March. The hugest scar is from that. He used an old incision (from 11 years ago) and that's why it didn't heal properly. You can kind of see the older, white scarring under and around the redder one, but the latest one is perfect! It's lighter after 7 weeks than the previous one is after 7 months!!
Anyway I'm still to be careful and treat it like before. I even got specific instructions not to have any falls or accidents. Methinks he knows me far too well!!!
I pointed out that it's easier said then done given how unco I am, and he advised me to try to fall on my face with my arm held behind me. *lol* he really is a lovely man though!
The best bit is...it doesn't hurt! Well not really. My muscles are all still very stiff and sore especially my elbow which hasn't been bent in 7 weeks and that'll take a good few days to improve.
Rotation is lovely and smooth and it doesn't pop out of its socket anymore. Still a little sore when I push it to the full extent but it's post-op soreness not something's-broken-again soreness.
I go back in a month so let's hope I don't stuff it up in the meantime!
We stopped for a coffee after we were done and I sampled Hudson's Quad Shot with 400mg of caffeine loaded goodness! Awesome! (just don't order one if you have heart problems etc!)
Oh and one of my Book Depository orders arrives yesterday:
Great book! Now I'm waiting on the other one!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Not quite as planned...
Last night I didn't end up going to Gisborne Quilters. My left underarm is really sore. I have no idea why! The anaesthetist did mention something about arm block anaesthetics having temporary or permanent complications. Maybe it's to do with that but after 3 weeks? Anyway I'll give it a few days. It's just annoying more than anything.
Then this morning I got an email from Hawthorne Threads saying the fabric I thought I just managed to get enough of is VERY short. I had to change my order a little but no big deal. I got a few extra pieces just to be SURE I can get the fabrics to all play together nicely ;-P
I highly recommend Hawthorne Threads. Wonderful friendly service and great prices too compared to other online stores. I can't wait til my fabics arrive!!
I have also decided to participate in Bonnie Hunter's newest Mystery Quilt! Her mysteries lend themselves to stashbusting and scrappiness which I need if I'm going to avoid buying more fabric.
It needs 4 colours and a neutral/background. I've picked the background which is white with some basic daisy print in various colours. I'll pick the 4 colours from this print and use it to tie them all together. I'll work out to be semi-scrappy in that the background will be the same but the rest scrappy.
She will post fabric requirements and yardages on 1 November so my only concern is that I have enough of my background fabric. There is a good chance I wont and it will mean I have to change my fabric choices.
Meanwhile I really should start my DaChintzy Mystery. I haven't been peeking at the clues posted on About.com so I should get up-to-date in no time. I haven't been brave enough to try machine piecing with my plaster yet but tomorrow is FNSI and I plan to try then! :-O
Then this morning I got an email from Hawthorne Threads saying the fabric I thought I just managed to get enough of is VERY short. I had to change my order a little but no big deal. I got a few extra pieces just to be SURE I can get the fabrics to all play together nicely ;-P
I highly recommend Hawthorne Threads. Wonderful friendly service and great prices too compared to other online stores. I can't wait til my fabics arrive!!
I have also decided to participate in Bonnie Hunter's newest Mystery Quilt! Her mysteries lend themselves to stashbusting and scrappiness which I need if I'm going to avoid buying more fabric.
It needs 4 colours and a neutral/background. I've picked the background which is white with some basic daisy print in various colours. I'll pick the 4 colours from this print and use it to tie them all together. I'll work out to be semi-scrappy in that the background will be the same but the rest scrappy.
She will post fabric requirements and yardages on 1 November so my only concern is that I have enough of my background fabric. There is a good chance I wont and it will mean I have to change my fabric choices.
Meanwhile I really should start my DaChintzy Mystery. I haven't been peeking at the clues posted on About.com so I should get up-to-date in no time. I haven't been brave enough to try machine piecing with my plaster yet but tomorrow is FNSI and I plan to try then! :-O
Friday, September 24, 2010
Bleurgh...
This morning i woke up with the worst nausea.
Even the meds i've been getting in hospital haven't controlled it. They can only give me as much as the dr has written up even tho higher doses are safe.
I got ready to go home anyway but it was a good hour after the official discharge time before i was able to go.
Cultures still aren't in so it's likely they will be negative but i still have to continue oral antibiotics until we get the official report.
Just to top things off we got rear ended on the way home while standing at a red light and they didn't even stop.
We took down the plates and stopped at the police station on the way home.
Hopefully the police can track down the driver.
I still feel awful despite the antinausea meds i took home. The pain is much better than i thought but the pain meds make me more sick as do the oral antibiotics.
I get my stitches out on thursday and a full plaster put on which will be more comfortable than the plaster splint and bandages.
It is wonderful to be home though!
Even the meds i've been getting in hospital haven't controlled it. They can only give me as much as the dr has written up even tho higher doses are safe.
I got ready to go home anyway but it was a good hour after the official discharge time before i was able to go.
Cultures still aren't in so it's likely they will be negative but i still have to continue oral antibiotics until we get the official report.
Just to top things off we got rear ended on the way home while standing at a red light and they didn't even stop.
We took down the plates and stopped at the police station on the way home.
Hopefully the police can track down the driver.
I still feel awful despite the antinausea meds i took home. The pain is much better than i thought but the pain meds make me more sick as do the oral antibiotics.
I get my stitches out on thursday and a full plaster put on which will be more comfortable than the plaster splint and bandages.
It is wonderful to be home though!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Day 3
Day 3 has come to a close and I'm still in hospital.
This morning I agreed to stop the PCA and see how I go on oral meds with the idea of going home tomorrow. I was apprehensive but it's been fine. I'm still having the antibiotics thru the IV which makes me feel less sick.
I admit I don't much like the way endone makes me feel so I might just try a single one tonight.
Doc said there was still no news from the lab but we should get it today and he'll come see me once he gets the results.
Still no results!
I suspect they'll come back negative so I've been sending bits and pieces of stuff home with DH every night to lug less around tomorrow. The only thing to stop me leaving will be a positive culture but I imagine if anything was up with that we would have heard by now.
Just want to say thank you to everyone and without lots of blogs to read my hospital stay would have been much more boring!!!
This morning I agreed to stop the PCA and see how I go on oral meds with the idea of going home tomorrow. I was apprehensive but it's been fine. I'm still having the antibiotics thru the IV which makes me feel less sick.
I admit I don't much like the way endone makes me feel so I might just try a single one tonight.
Doc said there was still no news from the lab but we should get it today and he'll come see me once he gets the results.
Still no results!
I suspect they'll come back negative so I've been sending bits and pieces of stuff home with DH every night to lug less around tomorrow. The only thing to stop me leaving will be a positive culture but I imagine if anything was up with that we would have heard by now.
Just want to say thank you to everyone and without lots of blogs to read my hospital stay would have been much more boring!!!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Day 2 Adventures
The doctor finally turned up 2 hours later than usual.
He said he also found a flap of cartilage stuck beween the ball and socket of the joint that was the cause of the clunking and popping out of its socket.
He was surprised I had been getting oral antibiotics. I told the nurses he said IV ones but they listened to the anaesthetist who wrote up oral. grrrr! Anyway Mr B sorted it out and I'm back on IV again.
Apparently some of the cultures could be ready by today but I have a feeling they will all come back negative.
Just to make things more exciting, my IV line blocked off so I had to wait fot the IV nurse to come put in a new one. She had terrible trouble getting a vein but found one in the end. She could only get half the cannula in as it wouldn't budge any further so she just taped it all up tightly.
The main thing is I'm reconnected to my lovely PCA! I was getting worried for a while!
Theonly drawback is because it's all plugged into tthe power point, I need to buzz for a nurse to come unplug me if I need to go to the loo and back again when I'm done.
Now the question is whether I go home tomorrow morning or not. Depends on lab results and my willingness (or lackof) to part ways with the PCA.
Dh could probably take friday off work but if I came home tomorrow I'd either be kidwrangling or home alone while the boys go to work. Neither option is good so I'll see about staying another night when the boys come visit since they should be here soon!
In the meantime the big syringe in the PCA is looking almost empty so I hope they recharge it for me!!!
I've really enjoyed looking at everyone's block swaps and the latest AP & Q
is excellent! Lots of nice quilts to make! Not that I need any more ideas for a while!
OK so amuse me - if you've seen the newest edition of the mag, please leave me a comment and tell me which quilt is your favourite or which one you want to make.
I'm loving the cover quilt (Waiting for Russell) by Sandra Dart and also A Summer Place by Frances Leate
He said he also found a flap of cartilage stuck beween the ball and socket of the joint that was the cause of the clunking and popping out of its socket.
He was surprised I had been getting oral antibiotics. I told the nurses he said IV ones but they listened to the anaesthetist who wrote up oral. grrrr! Anyway Mr B sorted it out and I'm back on IV again.
Apparently some of the cultures could be ready by today but I have a feeling they will all come back negative.
Just to make things more exciting, my IV line blocked off so I had to wait fot the IV nurse to come put in a new one. She had terrible trouble getting a vein but found one in the end. She could only get half the cannula in as it wouldn't budge any further so she just taped it all up tightly.
The main thing is I'm reconnected to my lovely PCA! I was getting worried for a while!
Theonly drawback is because it's all plugged into tthe power point, I need to buzz for a nurse to come unplug me if I need to go to the loo and back again when I'm done.
Now the question is whether I go home tomorrow morning or not. Depends on lab results and my willingness (or lackof) to part ways with the PCA.
Dh could probably take friday off work but if I came home tomorrow I'd either be kidwrangling or home alone while the boys go to work. Neither option is good so I'll see about staying another night when the boys come visit since they should be here soon!
In the meantime the big syringe in the PCA is looking almost empty so I hope they recharge it for me!!!
I've really enjoyed looking at everyone's block swaps and the latest AP & Q
is excellent! Lots of nice quilts to make! Not that I need any more ideas for a while!
OK so amuse me - if you've seen the newest edition of the mag, please leave me a comment and tell me which quilt is your favourite or which one you want to make.
I'm loving the cover quilt (Waiting for Russell) by Sandra Dart and also A Summer Place by Frances Leate
My New BFF
The down side to all this is that pain very quickly followed. By midnight I'd taken the various oral meds and wanted my PCA that the anaesthetist promised me. The only thing left was panadol osteo and no-way was that going to do anything.
The nurse gave it to me and said I could have more endone in an hour or two!!! Apparentlt the PCA was a last resort and I was to try the oral endone again first.
She left and I cried. An hour or two later I was greeted by a couple of nurses coming in with my PCA!!!!!!!!!!
Such a wonderful sight! And I didn't have to beg for it! It look a while to get set up especially since a drip was ordered with it. Now I have fentanyl continuously flowing into me and I can have a boost at the press of a button!
It's wonderful and I don't react to it as much as morphine or pethidine.
The doc will be doing his rounds in an hour or so and he better not send me home. They will have to pry the button from my cold dead hands first!!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
This is why...
nemesis ...I am so insistent on a good nerve block!
It means that not only can I be awake during the surgery but keeping all other drugs to a minimum makes me feel better in general.
My block was put in a 10:30 this morning. It's now almost 6pm and I feel absolutely nothing! My arm is so numb I can barely move it and I have absolutely no movement in my fingers!
I needed painkillers for a headache rather than anything else!
Once DH returns with DS and shows me how to use the webcam on this thing I can post pics.
Thank you all for your love and support over the past few months weeks and days. It means so much to me!
oooh I am rather clever! While looking for the webcam I discovered this thing has bluetooth so I was able to transfer some pics from my mobile!
Flowers from mum and dad
Check out the pervious post for a pic of my "pearl" as they seem to call the head of the implant.
It means that not only can I be awake during the surgery but keeping all other drugs to a minimum makes me feel better in general.
My block was put in a 10:30 this morning. It's now almost 6pm and I feel absolutely nothing! My arm is so numb I can barely move it and I have absolutely no movement in my fingers!
I needed painkillers for a headache rather than anything else!
Once DH returns with DS and shows me how to use the webcam on this thing I can post pics.
Thank you all for your love and support over the past few months weeks and days. It means so much to me!
oooh I am rather clever! While looking for the webcam I discovered this thing has bluetooth so I was able to transfer some pics from my mobile!
Flowers from mum and dad
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