Hey guys, I wanted to get some feedback from those of you who have had sinus surgery. I'm having mine done in a couple of weeks and know that I will be admitted onto the CF floor after surgery for about a week. My biggest concern is the 4 or 5 days of packing in my nose and being forced to breathe through my mouth. I feel like this might be the most challenging part of the surgery. Especially when it comes time for aerosols. For those of you who have had it can you give me some feedback on what helped you though this? I like to be prepared for anything just in case. Thanks!
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Sinus Surgery Recovery
- Thread starter kenna2
- Start date
Hi Kenna!
Sorry to hear about needing sinus surgery, but you'll feel so much better when it's all said and done.
I've had about a bajillion sinus surgeries (okay, maybe 6 or 7), and while the old ones (80s and 90s) were pretty awful all the way around, nowadays they are they're not bad. You've got it about right, the worst part is probably all the mouth breathing due to the packing/blood etc. The last couple I've had I needed minimal packing, and the packs are becoming smaller and smaller. After the blood and nastiness cleared out I was able to breath some through my nose before the packing came out. As far as the aerosol treatments go I never had any problems doing those afterward. Pain with the last few has been minimal and controlled with ibuprofen.
Sorry for being brief as I'm on my phone. Major technical problems at my place with both our laptop and now iPad deciding to quit. Gah! Please do let me know if you any other questions I might be able to answer and best of luck to you!!
Take care,
Autumn
Sorry to hear about needing sinus surgery, but you'll feel so much better when it's all said and done.
I've had about a bajillion sinus surgeries (okay, maybe 6 or 7), and while the old ones (80s and 90s) were pretty awful all the way around, nowadays they are they're not bad. You've got it about right, the worst part is probably all the mouth breathing due to the packing/blood etc. The last couple I've had I needed minimal packing, and the packs are becoming smaller and smaller. After the blood and nastiness cleared out I was able to breath some through my nose before the packing came out. As far as the aerosol treatments go I never had any problems doing those afterward. Pain with the last few has been minimal and controlled with ibuprofen.
Sorry for being brief as I'm on my phone. Major technical problems at my place with both our laptop and now iPad deciding to quit. Gah! Please do let me know if you any other questions I might be able to answer and best of luck to you!!
Take care,
Autumn
Hi Kenna. My 11 year old has had numerous (three?) sinus surgeries so far. I think. I've lost count. The first one was inpatient and they admitted him for a few days before to get plenty of antibiotics in his system for protection. I was nervous about it and of course stayed with him nonstop, but was pleasantly surprised by the ease to which he took to the packing, which was really minimal compared to what I expected. Frankly, he hadn't understood how to open his mouth when he sneezed, so he blew out a batch of it the first time his nose tickled. He bled somewhat, but it wasn't bad at all and they didn't replace it. He was discharged in just a couple of days, although they had anticipated up to a week.
I will tell you that there are many different methods used to revise the sinuses and your surgery could fall anywhere on the spectrum. Generally though, I found that my little guy wasn't really bothered by mouth breathing, since he had polyps before the surgery that were blocking his sinuses anyway. He was kinda used to an uncomfortable way of breathing already.
The best part of course was his reaction after the surgery and recovery. He noticed how differently things smelled, that he could chew with his mouth closed, and that he felt as though he could breathe so much more deeply. His polyps do tend to grow back yearly or so, and they have tried different techniques to extend the time between surgeries. If you're interested, there was a time I posted a great deal of detail regarding various methods. Just search, and I will try to post a link or two. But he has never been afraid to do another sinus surgery - which speaks volumes. I think you will be very glad you had it done. The first time is the scariest because it's unknown. But you're in good company - sinus surgery is very much standard fare for many many CFers. Good Luck and enjoy your clear sinuses when it's done!
I will tell you that there are many different methods used to revise the sinuses and your surgery could fall anywhere on the spectrum. Generally though, I found that my little guy wasn't really bothered by mouth breathing, since he had polyps before the surgery that were blocking his sinuses anyway. He was kinda used to an uncomfortable way of breathing already.
The best part of course was his reaction after the surgery and recovery. He noticed how differently things smelled, that he could chew with his mouth closed, and that he felt as though he could breathe so much more deeply. His polyps do tend to grow back yearly or so, and they have tried different techniques to extend the time between surgeries. If you're interested, there was a time I posted a great deal of detail regarding various methods. Just search, and I will try to post a link or two. But he has never been afraid to do another sinus surgery - which speaks volumes. I think you will be very glad you had it done. The first time is the scariest because it's unknown. But you're in good company - sinus surgery is very much standard fare for many many CFers. Good Luck and enjoy your clear sinuses when it's done!
Here's one of the links. . . . http://forums.cysticfibrosis.com/sh...pel-Implant-for-Nasal-Polyps?highlight=Propel