I have not posted in forever....so sorry to anyone that still checks this out! Part of the reason that I have not posted is due to the fact that nothing really exciting or eventful has happened in every day life. I do realize that I need to post pics/info about Christmas, trip to St. Geoge, and Easter (those will be forthcoming). I will do better at blogging!

Okay, the real event of late is that I had surgery one week ago today. Many of you know that I have had chronic sinus and ear infections my whole life. In November, I got a really bad sinus infection...my ear drum ended up rupturing and I missed like a week of school. Trav and I decided that I needed to go and seen an ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) Dr. to see if there was a more permanent solution to the problem, instead of just downing antibiotics everytime. Dr. Beus recommended seeing Dr. VanLeewuen (?). The first visit to him, he did a nose scope (weird experience) and prescribed more antibiotics, nasal rinses 2x a day, nasal spray 1x a day, and allergy pills. He wanted to get everything cleared up and rule out the easiest solutions first. A month later, I went back to visit. At this point, they did a CT scan and a hearing test. The hearing test concluded that I have some hearing loss; still in normal range. Dr. VanL...believes this is due to the hardening of the inner or middle ear bones and may eventually warrant surgery/treatment; for now I need to get hearing checked annually. The CT scan revealed 2 issues: I am missing a sinus and the other is too small; these are the sinuses located in your forehead/above your nose. What sinus was there, looked healthy and so Dr. VanL... did not want to do anything with them. My frontal sinuses have very small openings from which they drain. This is causing all the problems because when my sinuses swell up for ANY REASON at all, they close off, nothing drains, and stuff gets infected. It was determined the best course of action was to do surgery. I opted to wait until Spring Break because it is a two week recovery.

Fast forward to the present...Last week, I had outpatient surgery at the Davis Surgical Center. The surgery is the least invasive surgery that the Dr. does. Basically, they go in clean and roto-rootermy sinuses. Then, instead of using gauze for packing, my sinuses are packed with gel.

Surgery went well, minus one complication. I threw up, right as I went under and they were ready to start. Needless to say, I got some fluid in my lungs. When they checked my lungs, everything was clear. However, this knocked my oxygen levels for a loop. I had a hard time waking up and then needed to wear an a mask to help boost my oxygen levels. I graduated to the little nose calendulas, but I couldn't put them in my nose because they dried my nose out. So, I wore them in my mouth and sucked in air that way. As long as I was using those for oxgygen, my levels were great (96-98). If I took them off, my levels dipped to 89. So, I got sent home on a minimum level of oxygen. I went in for surgery around 2:00 and finally got home around 8:00.

Dr. VanL..called to check on me that evening. He wanted me to use the oxygen thru the weekend and get rechecked on Monday. As of Monday, I only need to use the oxygen at night until next week. They will recheck it again when I go in for my post-op appointment with Dr. VanL....

As part of all this....no REALLY HOT showers/tubs (which I love), no bending over, and no blowing my nose. If I have to sneeze, I have to sneeze with my mouth open. I need to use my nasal rinse 3-4 times a day. In spite of all this, I have had minimal pain....been able to manage with regular tylenol. There was no bruising and no swelling!

Thanks to everyone for all of the visits, treats, phone calls, meals, etc.

This was my home away from home the first few nights. I had to sleep with my head elevated, basically sitting up!

This is me the day/night we got home from surgery!

This is the morning of surgery before we left home!