oh nose! - Friday 24 October

[ciphergoth]

I told lots of people this in person but I haven't posted it here yet: I have an appointment on Friday 24th October to get my nose fixed.

This isn't cosmetic, contrary to a very lovely recent email - it's a nasal polypectomy. Compared to many things this is a very minor health complaint, but it's bugging me now and I'm looking forward to the results of the surgery. I was born with unilateral choanal atresia which was fixed with a series of operations from birth to age 3 or so, but my nose has never worked all that well, and I think it's got worse over the years. It took me a while to get a proper diagnosis of what was wrong with it not least because it wasn't quite bothering me enough to want to look into what the options were, but I finally got sick of it in December and got a referral to an ENT specialist from my GP. The ENT person looked up my nose and said "goodness me, what enormous polyps you have up there!", and booked me for a CT scan.

I still don't have the data from the scan to show you, I'm afraid, but Jess came with me to the hospital when I went to discuss the results and the consultant showed the scans to me. I hadn't quite realised what I've been putting up with all these years 'till I saw that scan! It's black where there's air, white where there's bone, and gray for flesh or brains. A normal nose would show gray, then white, then a invisibly thin line of gray where the bone is protected by skin, then black for the airway. My nose is gray, then white, then gray, with a small circle of black in the middle which is what's left of my airway. What do you all do with all that space up there? Once it's all cleared out there will practically be room for a small party actually inside my nose!

So I'm booked in for surgery with Mr Hinton at 1200 on Friday 24 October. I should be under general anaesthetic for an hour or less, during which they will suck at bits of the polyps with a sucky thing and snip them off. I'll then wait in recovery for a few hours (on my own sadly) before Jess takes me home in a taxi, and I'll be taking about a week of work to recover, for some of which I'll have a thingy attached to my head to protect my nose. It'll be uncomfortable for a while, but it's going to be so worth it. I thought to post this now because I'm not having a great nose day right at the moment, and I cannot wait to find out what it's like not to have to put up with this.

Comments

[barakta]

I hope it all goes well and that it is not too uncomfortable afterwards. Clear noses for the win!

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Hope this goes well for you. I'm sure you will be greatly relieved when it's all over, and a week off work seems reasonable in the circumstances.

Hurrah for being able to breathe properly. Crossing fingers now.

[palmer1984.livejournal.com]

Hope all goes well! :D

[ellbie.livejournal.com]

I hope it all goes smoothly and recovery is quick and easy, and that the end result is just what you hope for.

[wildbadger.livejournal.com]

Hope all goes well, and lots of luck!

[ludy]

hope it all goes very well.
I know from my different respiratory stuff how much being able to breathe properly makes the world seem like a nicer place with your brain and body able to do do their stuff more efficiently.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

Best o' luck -- especially for the aftermath!

[evil-c.livejournal.com]

Congrats on getting things moving to getting it sorted! I hope it all goes well and they dont put it off.

[zotz]

Sounds worthwhile. Hopefully the gold nose won't be needed, although it's a good idea for a fancy dress costume. Not necessarily inside your nose.

[angeoverhere.livejournal.com]

Best of luck for the op from all of us over here! Hope you heal quickly and well.

[biog.livejournal.com]

I bet you're looking forward to breathing deeply through your nose after the op. Good luck for it.

Oh, and I hope you get a sensitive nurse attending you, one of my friends nearly lost her nursing job about eight years ago (she's still a nurse today thankfully) when she worked on the sex-change ward (St.Thomas's I think) and said to one of the patients "I bet you can't wait to get home to try the new equipment out". The patient complained. Friend did actually mean it in the nicest possible way and has gone through that very same op. since then. I sent her a get well card that read "bet you can't wait to get home to try the new equipment out". :)

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

I half-composed a comment stuffed full of feeble and tangentially-related jokes/puns, but thought better of it in favour of a simple "all the best". And not just because I couldn't get a "no nose (obstructions) is good nose" joke that wasn't absurdly contrived.

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

I'm not really worried about the operation, but I'll breathe a little easier once it's over...

[slightlyfoxed.livejournal.com]

(I can't work out how they can maneuver around inside your nose, but I suppose they'll cross that bridge when they come to it.)

Very good luck, and hope it leads to at least a decade of enjoyable, decent head-ventilation.

[trishpiglet.livejournal.com]

So pleased this can be sorted out!
Wishing you luck and looking forward to a nose party, if you decide to have one
xxx

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

Sounds like progress - best wishes for the surgery. I had a friend with something similar and surgery was life changing for him. Let's hope it's the same for you. xx

[gothbabe.livejournal.com]

Best wishes and yay to better health! : )

[hieroglyphe.livejournal.com]

Good luck and all that!

[evil-girlie666.livejournal.com]

Hope all goes well with your op and recovery. It will be well worth it I am sure. *Hugs*

[keirf.livejournal.com]

I had the same operation about four times in my late teens. The last time under local anesthesia (go for general if you can).

Just out of interest, did you ever take the antihistamine terfenadine (triludan was the brand name in the UK) back in the past before it was removed from the market due to cardiotoxic risks?

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

How come you had it four times in such a short period? I'm hoping that the polyps will take on the order of a decade to regrow, not less than a year. It's under general, thanks for the recommendation :-) And no, I don't think I ever took that one AFAIK - why?

[keirf.livejournal.com]

I was put on terfenadine in my mid teens to help with my asthma and allergies. A few years later I had polyps. Every time I had them removed they doubled my dose of terfenadine (they also biopsied the growths each time after the second re-occurence because they started to wonder if they were malignant). After the fourth go I decided to stop taking the medicine, and they've not been back since. I've not seen any research linking terfenadine to polyps, but when I hear of someone else going for the op I always ask. No correlation so far.

[sibelian.livejournal.com]

hope it all goes swimmingly, which I'm guessing it will as it sounds reeeelatively straightforward.

I bet, personally, that the improvement will be amazing!

[jhg.livejournal.com]

Good luck

[skibbley.livejournal.com]

Hope all heals quickly and you enjoy having more nose room.