Pre-op Day.
The doctor told me NOT to watch Septoplasty operations on YouTube so last night, of course, I did. Today I am wishing I had listened to him.
Doc said the operation would be simple: 20 minutes tops. They go in and grab the septum, plunk it back in the little holder, and it springs back up. Yes, that is how he described it to me. He said they no longer pack it, which is what caused so much bruising and swelling in the past. Now the operation is simple, a little swelling, but an initial 50% more breathing capacity.
I guess the first question would be, "how come a yoga teacher didn't know that she had only 90-95 % breathing in her left nostril?"
This would be a good question, too. Well, the truth is that I always knew there was a problem, I just figured I had to live with it. This is my usual M.O.: having to just live with things. This year, however, I turned over a new leaf and decided to get things checked out and potentially fixed that I have been just "living with" my whole life. So a little visit to my primary doctor indicated that in addition to my crooked nose (which my parents debate whether I always had or somewhere in life it went crooked by accident or otherwise), that the septum appeared to deviate in the opposite direct that my external nose did. Hmm, curious and curiouser!
The ear, nose and throat specialist confirmed this, and another tidbit: when I fly (which is at least twice a year), I usually lose hearing in my right ear after a painful decent. Specialist said, "of course, fluid is filling into the opposite sinus and into your ear canal. You can never pressurize." To which I said, "Good thing I DID NOT go scuba diving in Hawaii!"
So, tomorrow is the day of the surgery. It came up rather quickly because I want to just get it done and see what it is like to breathe like a normal person does. I have no idea what that means. But I have taken much of the past couple of weeks to really be present with my breathing - especially when I am NOT doing yoga. I say that because when I am doing yoga, it seems to be fine. In fact, before I did yoga, I had chronic sinus infections and was sick more often than not. Since I started doing yoga, I get the yearly cold - always in the sinuses. So obviously yoga has been helping push air (or prana, if you want to be all yogic), through the nadis (ok, more yoga talk, invisible energy lines) and thus giving me the feel of more vitality. Well, thank Goddess for yoga, but the true excitement lies ahead.
I expect to be swollen, bleeding and unhappy for a couple of days. But, if the doc is on the up and up and keeping it real, then I should be healed up in no time. Once that happens, I cannot wait to feel my breath.
Every night I get congested in my left nostril. I wake up congested and it takes me a while to work out the fluid. I've never been able to work a neti pot - and guess why? Darn deviated septum! I am anxious to wake up clear. I told the dentist today when he asked me why I wasn't wearing my bite guard (let me name the reasons...) that I think once I am able to breathe normally, I won't be biting down at night either. He concurred. I should have been a doctor!
So here is my pre-op picture for today:
Good thing I had a teeth cleaning today, huh?
So the doc says that the surgery will not significantly change the outward appearance of my nose, but some other intel says that it could change it slightly. Who knows. I suppose that I will be finding out very shortly though.
So, tomorrow morning I will awake at 5 am, to shower, and head to the hospital. Tomorrow night I hope to post about my experience if I am feeling up to it. Maybe I will share a picture too. Why not!
As I sit here breathing, I can feel that left nostril struggling to push air through, and I could kick myself for waiting until I was 46 to have it looked into. When I was about 30 an Indian doctor had told me (without looking into my nose) that I did not have a deviated septum, I had allergies and he gave me Allegra. It never worked and I never believed him, but felt defeated. So at least 15 years later I finally listened to myself and am taking care of it. At this moment I am excited, nervous, and after watching those YouTube videos, quite nauseous.
So here's to good luck, speedy recovery, a lifetime of breathing free, easy descents on vacations, and no jaw clenching at night!
To Be Continued...
The doctor told me NOT to watch Septoplasty operations on YouTube so last night, of course, I did. Today I am wishing I had listened to him.
Doc said the operation would be simple: 20 minutes tops. They go in and grab the septum, plunk it back in the little holder, and it springs back up. Yes, that is how he described it to me. He said they no longer pack it, which is what caused so much bruising and swelling in the past. Now the operation is simple, a little swelling, but an initial 50% more breathing capacity.
I guess the first question would be, "how come a yoga teacher didn't know that she had only 90-95 % breathing in her left nostril?"
This would be a good question, too. Well, the truth is that I always knew there was a problem, I just figured I had to live with it. This is my usual M.O.: having to just live with things. This year, however, I turned over a new leaf and decided to get things checked out and potentially fixed that I have been just "living with" my whole life. So a little visit to my primary doctor indicated that in addition to my crooked nose (which my parents debate whether I always had or somewhere in life it went crooked by accident or otherwise), that the septum appeared to deviate in the opposite direct that my external nose did. Hmm, curious and curiouser!
The ear, nose and throat specialist confirmed this, and another tidbit: when I fly (which is at least twice a year), I usually lose hearing in my right ear after a painful decent. Specialist said, "of course, fluid is filling into the opposite sinus and into your ear canal. You can never pressurize." To which I said, "Good thing I DID NOT go scuba diving in Hawaii!"
So, tomorrow is the day of the surgery. It came up rather quickly because I want to just get it done and see what it is like to breathe like a normal person does. I have no idea what that means. But I have taken much of the past couple of weeks to really be present with my breathing - especially when I am NOT doing yoga. I say that because when I am doing yoga, it seems to be fine. In fact, before I did yoga, I had chronic sinus infections and was sick more often than not. Since I started doing yoga, I get the yearly cold - always in the sinuses. So obviously yoga has been helping push air (or prana, if you want to be all yogic), through the nadis (ok, more yoga talk, invisible energy lines) and thus giving me the feel of more vitality. Well, thank Goddess for yoga, but the true excitement lies ahead.
I expect to be swollen, bleeding and unhappy for a couple of days. But, if the doc is on the up and up and keeping it real, then I should be healed up in no time. Once that happens, I cannot wait to feel my breath.
Every night I get congested in my left nostril. I wake up congested and it takes me a while to work out the fluid. I've never been able to work a neti pot - and guess why? Darn deviated septum! I am anxious to wake up clear. I told the dentist today when he asked me why I wasn't wearing my bite guard (let me name the reasons...) that I think once I am able to breathe normally, I won't be biting down at night either. He concurred. I should have been a doctor!
So here is my pre-op picture for today:
So the doc says that the surgery will not significantly change the outward appearance of my nose, but some other intel says that it could change it slightly. Who knows. I suppose that I will be finding out very shortly though.
So, tomorrow morning I will awake at 5 am, to shower, and head to the hospital. Tomorrow night I hope to post about my experience if I am feeling up to it. Maybe I will share a picture too. Why not!
As I sit here breathing, I can feel that left nostril struggling to push air through, and I could kick myself for waiting until I was 46 to have it looked into. When I was about 30 an Indian doctor had told me (without looking into my nose) that I did not have a deviated septum, I had allergies and he gave me Allegra. It never worked and I never believed him, but felt defeated. So at least 15 years later I finally listened to myself and am taking care of it. At this moment I am excited, nervous, and after watching those YouTube videos, quite nauseous.
So here's to good luck, speedy recovery, a lifetime of breathing free, easy descents on vacations, and no jaw clenching at night!
To Be Continued...
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