After years of battling chronic sinusitis and spending a couple of weeks every year on antibiotics (yech!) I bit the bullet and had sinus surgery yesterday. What a party! It’s outpatient surgery and takes about an hour, depending on what you need done. I had a deviated septum, a concha bullosa, and enlarged inferior turbinates (and my nose looked so normal!). So in they went and repaired it all. My sinus passages have been enlarged, straightened and cleaned out. Before the procedure a resident came in and told me about the possible side effects – blindness and brain damage – ack!! After I stopped hyperventilating, she went on to explain that they have to tell people that as the sinuses are close to the optic nerve and the brain. Lucky for me all the work was going on down low, from the halfway point of my nose down. I have some packing in my nose, and am sporting a lovely mini-surgical mask with a gauze pad to catch any residual drainage. I really, really, really want to blow my nose but can’t until I see the doc next Wed. I’m sleeping on the couch for a couple of nights as I don’t want to accidentally roll over on my very tender schnoz and am supposed to keep my head elevated for a couple of days. Will this cure my chronic sinusitis and relieve my ear pressure, sinus congestion and headaches? Here’s hoping! The good news is today, no sinus headache!! The bad news is I look like a dork. More info here on the procedure. They were very careful to make clear that this is NOT an opportunity for a nose job – apparently a lot of folks try to scam a nose job out of corrective sinus surgery. Frankly, this was plenty. In fact, if I had ever considered a nose job, this would make me rethink it. It hurts to have people stick stuff up your nose!