Septoplasty Recovery – Days 9 and 10

Finally.  Two whole days without a drip pad!  It is a sweetness I thought I’d never know again.  lol  It definitely feels good!

Monday began with almost a complete cessation of the bleeding.  If I recall correctly, I hadn’t slept with a drip pad, either, so I was quite pleased.  Tahd had accidentally woken me up when he left for work.  Apparently when you have a 12 day vacation from work, your wife – who you normally kiss each morning while she sleeps – will have become deconditioned enough to awake in terror, convinced someone is preparing to assault her.  Go figure.  Anyway, in spite of this wake-up call, I felt relatively rested and ready for the day.  It was a good feeling.

It continued throughout the day, too.  We laid pretty low, but I felt okay.  My breathing was extremely congested – especially out of the left nostril – but I was able to manage with tissues as long as I didn’t walk around too quickly.  Doing too much still leaves me feeling quite breathless.

I felt well enough, even, to go to the grocery store!  It took me a long time and I felt like the store was huge – really, it was a bit too much walking.  By the end I was absolutely wiped and my nose was bleeding a little more, so I guess it was a bit too much.  Tahd carried the groceries in from the car while I crashed on the couch.

When I crashed, I opened my computer and checked my emails.  Unfortunately I received an email last night saying my acupuncturist had unexpectedly died on December 31.  I am heartbroken about it!  She truly was the only person I felt was helping me, and she was helping me on several levels – physical and emotional for sure.  She diagnosed me with something that is extremely uncommon in Chinese medicine, and once she began treatments for those issues I started noticing rapid changes.  For the first time in approximately 4 years – and for two months running now – I have had no spotting before my periods.  This is miraculous!  I’m devastated that she’s gone and am not sure what I want to do now.

Anyway, all that to say I started crying.  I couldn’t help myself.  It definitely contributed to the congestion and complicated the nose blowing situation.  I can tell today.  My left nostril is bleeding more.  I’m trying to be as ginger as possible with it.  It’s not bleeding enough to need a drip pad, but definitely enough to make me want to keep tissues handy because I look like a soul when it’s running.

Random asides… the area between the bottom of my nose and my upper lip has been swollen, as have the gums by my upper front two teeth.  That subsided for most of yesterday but came back while I was in the grocery store.  It lessened today, but it’s still swollen.

My face/nose feel tight. It is a little awkward to smile broadly.  I feel like it doesn’t look right.  However, from about Wednesday through Friday last week it even felt awkward to talk due to this (and the upper lip thing) and it doesn’t feel that way now.  So I think it’s getting better.

I slept fully reclined last night.  I don’t know if this was a little too much pressure on my nose and that is contributing to the additional bleeding?  I might try propping myself up again tonight and seeing how that goes.

There is a VERY sore spot and the bottom of my left nostril.  I think that’s where some stitches are.  Oh MY, it hurts!

I woke up this morning breathing through both nostrils.  Granted, I had taken some Afrin last night before bed.  The crying did me in and I felt I had no other choice.

So that’s where things stand now.  I doubt I’ll update on the septoplasty stuff again until after I get my splints out.  Which is on Thursday.  In 2 days.  Less than 48 hours away.  No more sucky blue splints.  But I’m not excited.  Not at all!