Nose/Throat Surgery suggestions

[646guy]

I just had some intense nose and throat surgery done yesterday and was hoping that someone on here has gone through the same thing (or at least one part of it) and can give me some advice: I have mild sleep apnea and I had my tonsils removed, my uvula removed (UPPP) and my septum fixed.

They did not pack my nose with cotton and the saline solution isn't helping clear up the dried blood and stuff up there which means I have to breathe through my mouth and my throat is still quite raw. On top of that swallowing is a problem too. The pain meds have dulled the pain but not gotten rid of it (which I was told would be the case)...

Has anyone else gone through this and what did you do to make it a bit more bearable?

[Shay]

Well, I haven't gone through that, but almost three years of living with a guy prone to nosebleeds, and two kids who are seemingly 75% booger, have taught me the correct care for the dry nose:

Try a humidifier, tabletop fountain, etc to get some water in the air- it will help with the itchiness and soothe your skin a lot.

Or for more current relief, put a pot of water on the stove and breathe over steaming water. Put a towel over your head and (carefully!) 'tent' it to get all the humid goodness you can. Throw something nice-smelling in the pot if you want- we usually toss a handful of salt and a pinh of lavender in there- the salt makes it saline steam, the lavender just smells nice and encourages breathing through the nose.

The dry air of most wintertime homes isn't helping much, I imagine. And at the risk of sounding gross, the humidity will soften the crusted blood and um... other stuff, giving you some relief from what my daughter calls 'nose sharpies.'

Good luck with more specific advice, and with your apnea clearing up!

[Moosehead]

Drambuie! Not up the nose...should make things bearable.

[pdcorlis]

Sorry to hear about your going under the knife - I hope you recover quickly!

It might be a good idea to call your doctor - I'm sure they will be interested in any post-operative problems you experience.

[Livingston]

Shay gives excellent advise. That and drink more.....water not booze. The booze will dry you out.

[646guy]

Shay gives excellent advise. That and drink more.....water not booze. The booze will dry you out.

If I drink any more water or apple juice (the other approved liquid) I'm gonna drown....

[clancelt]

Well, I just went through the nose surgery thing last year. They cut and pulled all kinds of stuff up there. The leftovers from a not so tame youth I guess. The part that freaked me out was they removed my septum, put it on a flat chunk of marble, and beat it flat with a hammer. Then they shoved it back up in there, tacked it up and splinted it.

I, like you, was hating life. I found that a nice bioling pot of water with a towel over my head softened up some of that junk in your airways and let me cough it out. It also eased the pain a bit.

Just my 2 cents.

[646guy]

Well, I just went through the nose surgery thing last year. They cut and pulled all kinds of stuff up there. The leftovers from a not so tame youth I guess. The part that freaked me out was they removed my septum, put it on a flat chunk of marble, and beat it flat with a hammer. Then they shoved it back up in there, tacked it up and splinted it.

I, like you, was hating life. I found that a nice bioling pot of water with a towel over my head softened up some of that junk in your airways and let me cough it out. It also eased the pain a bit.

Just my 2 cents.

The sad part is since I had the tonsilectomy and uvula-ectomy as well they don't want me to cough at all....dont' really have as much pain there as I do in my throat from where it's inflamed from the procedure and feels like I have a constant case of strep throat...I'm tempted to go out and buy some cough drops to see if that works but I dunno about sucking on anything (get your minds out of the gutter) like that or even trying to get it to dissolve...I wonder if it will just aggravate it.......

[Hamish]

Sorry 646, I've not experienced anything like what you are currently suffering so I'm unable to offer advice, but I do offer my sympathy and Best Wishes for a speedy recovery. I'm rather surprised that they attended to so much at the one sitting. Thinking of you.

I'm going in on Tuesday to have six internal biopsy samples taken, which scares me a bit, but I gather I should be over that in a few days. Waiting for the results will probably be worse!

[cormacmacguardhe]

No experience with this sort of surgery, but I agree that talking to your M.D. would be a good idea.


Hamish: Hope that the news you get from this biopsy is good news.