Day 7: I Can...Breathe?

Well, I just got home from my ENT.

It was a bit touch and go, but I made it through.

He walked into the waiting room and asked me how I was doing.

"Alright. My left nose hurts a lot."

He sympathized with my anxiety during my ordeal. He noted that the surgery was pretty rough, but let's take a look at your nose.

First things first. He cut my sutures.

3 snips. A little pinch, but not that bad.

Then he told me to relax and used one of his tools to expand my right nostril a bit. He used another tool in his left hand to kind of squirm the splint out of my nose.

It's the weirdest feeling. You know what I can compare it to?

Yep. That's right, folks.

Taking a huge dump. It's that sensation of having something full that's being released. Not really pain, but there's a definite pressure.

Left nostril time. Oh fuck, this is going to hurt. He starts pulling...

And somehow the splint was twisted up my nose a bit! No wonder it was hurting me so much! He had to kind of yank and spin it to get it out. FUCK! It's out!

I felt better right away. The pulling/tugging feeling in my inner nose was gone, replaced with a strange emptiness. The air almost burns when you take your first breath through your nostrils.

"How's that feel?"

Good Doc. Real good.

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Next, he told me everything is healing spectacularly. His surgery was done with the intent to allow me to go from no breathing through my nose to 85-90%. No complications.

No exercise for a week, use saline or petroleum jelly to keep your nose from drying out while it heals, and take it easy.

I walked out of the office smelling things again for the first time in years. Wow.