Let's Have a talk about sinus surgery!

[gracious]

Since we have been talking about everything from nothing to tax cuts, I thought I could get some info about sinus surgery.:D


I have had a sinus infection which I guess is what they call chronic and I have been on every antibiotic/sinus pill known to man. My ENT says that I have probably had this thing for years and that it was being mis-treated all this time. I have an infection in the Sphenoid area as well as in the frontal sinus area. The only thing that I am allergic to other than work is mold. I have had two ct scans done 5 mos. apart with no apparent change to the infection area dispite steroids and drugs drugs....

Now I am faced with surgery, so if anyone has had sinus surgery especially relating to the Sphenoid area I would really like some feedback as to was it worth it, how did you feel? What was the recovery like. I am told that it is a min. 2 hour surgery with a min. of a week possibly 2 week time off.

Thanks guys!
:)

[Fruss Tray Ted]

And I can't be of much assistance, the only thing up my nose, err, I mean removed was adnoids many moons ago when tonsilectomies were common.

But mold is a tough creature to conquer. It can happen overnight, in hours, almost anywhere heat of sufficient degree and something fluid or even just close. In wood, in carpets, in leftover pop cans... Just about EVERYWHERE! You must have had 'a time' trying to eliminate various possible causes! Types, seasons, like yeast... ...

I developed an allergy to lobster in adulthood for a period of time but it has come full circle again and I can once again dine without closing my esophogas :eek: .

In the usual fashion, you may want a second opinion as to the water temperature before diving in... ;)

[Mark Miller]

I feel for ya,
My sinus problem was so bad that it infected my teeth and I lost 2v back molars. I have been drained twice and now use clonaise [I hope I spelled that right] every day. People who don't have the problem have no idea how serious it can be. I hope all works out for you and your recovery is quick
Mark:(

[Whyzman]

What's the procedure? And, what's stopping it from just coming right back again? Will this take care of the problem?

[gracious]

Markmiller

I have been drained twice
Drained eh? What does that mean? Do you mean they went in and sucked out the crud? Oooooh. How long did it take?


Well from what the doc says, the infection has been there and with all the antibiotics I had been on, it didn't solve the problem and it isn't going to go away. The infection is showing as still active due to its fluid consistency ycch! (you can see air bubbles) and the thing is that they don't want it going into the brain which could really create big probs.:eek: He said that it doesn't take much of an infection in the head to cause headaches...and I have had some doozies. Also I have had migraines and this can trigger them more often. So I have to be to the point of how sick I am of dealing with it. This is the 2nd ENT I have been to and he has done pretty much everything else up to this option. I wasn't allergic to anything but mold and showed a very low sensitivity to dairy and he even had me off of any dairy for 6 weeks and I thought I was gonna die! Man, you don't realize how much food has whey, or dairy calcium...in it. Made eating really hard but I did it and it didn't help at all, nothing changed. I asked him if the infection was serious enough to warrant surgury and he said yes. He will be using the endoscopic thingy, the thing they use for knee surgury and up my nose he will go...he said they use a 3D imaging system which I guess they take my last CT Scan and the puter shows my head and everything (or nothing :D ) in it and it lets him see where everything is so he knows just where to go.

I trust this doc as he is very calm and listens and I was able to ask all my dumb questions and not feel like he had to hurry up. He explained everything. He has done tons of these surguries.

So I am just trying to decide (or get the courage) to go ahead and have it done.

[Mark Miller]

Drained is just what it sounds like. They stick two tubes up your nose [it feels like it's going thru your brain] and get all the gunk out. One of the worst things I have ever had to do.
I am sure your deal will be better.
Mark

[mixer]

Hi Gracious..

I feel for you because the same happened to me.. For the past 15 years I had been dealing with a REALLY bad sinus problem. I used to wake almost every morning with a headache / m igraine; combine that with constant alergies and you have misery. Nonetheless, i did some investigation and found that I had sleep apnea. When you have this condition, you don't go into a deep sleep which can cause many problems the following day. some of the symptoms of this condition are: you stop breathing when you are asleep1, you wake yourself up with a gasp of air in the middle of the night (kinda freaky when it happens); snoring; having problems waking up and going to sleep, etc. The 2 main symptoms i had were migraines and sleeping disorders. From what I understand, one cause of sinus infections are lack of air flow circulating in your nasal cavities. if proper airflow isn't there, how can the mold be released? by having surgery done to open your air passages. So, you might want to attack the sinus infection indirectly by investigating your breathing patterns. I had 2 sleep studies where they attach all these electrodes up to you and monitor your sleep patterns; primarily they look monitor brain activity, oxygen levels, air flow levels, eye moevements, etc. The first doctor that saw my results said i was overweight; 15 pounds would not cause what i was going through and he was also a general practioner. So, i went to go see an ENT specialist and he wanted to start with medications and so forth. I myself already knew i had problem breathing and felt that medication could not correct a physical problem. So, i opted for the surgery. I removed my tonsils, that little punching bag at the back of your mouth, removed some excess flesh on the back of my tounge and straightend out my septim. when all was said and done, i went through the best 2 weeks of pain (unbearable to say the least) in my life. Right now, i breathe ALOT better than before and rarely have headaches in the morning.

hope this helps in your quest to normalness!

Rick

[gracious]

hope this helps in your quest to normalness!
Well that will never happen no matter what I do! :D

Mixer thanks for the info.
Well I don't snore and I really don't have any trouble sleeping. My headaches are sinus headaches that can trigger migraines. I have a headache right now in fact and it feels like my head has been pumped full of air, the pressure. I have been doing alot of reading about Sphenoid Sinusitus and the major problem is its location-"Sphenoid Sinus - WAY back in the head, far behind the eyes, above the throat (in back of the nasal cavity). This sinus is just forward of the brain case, making complications here quite serious."

The antibiotics just can't get back there and believe me I have been on them all, one for 3 months. I have tried every allergy medicine, no change. The only thing I can do right now is think about surgery and hope that getting rid of the guck will help. My real concern is all the nerves that surround that area!

Anyway, I am still kicking the whole thing around, I have been dealing with this so long that I am in no big hurry.