Sinus Surgery.....Again

I had sinus surgery in April of this year and will be going in again tomorrow for a second surgery. For the past 8 to 10 years or so, I have gotten between 5 to 7 sinus infections between October and March. Basically. I was having one after the other during those 6 months. Needless to say, I was pretty much miserable half the year, every year for years. Since my surgery I've continued to have problems.  I've had constant sinus pressure and I developed a hole in my septum from a staph infection I got after the first surgery. The good news though is that I made it through October without a sinus infection. I think the first surgery fixed that problem because it has been years since I didn't have a sinus infection in October and 4to 7 more in the following 5 months.  Due to the continued sinus pressure I've been having, my ENT is going back in and opening the sinuses in my nose and head wider. Then, I will have the whole in my septum repaired by another physician, a craniofacial surgeon.  This procedure isn't medically necessary, perse, at this point. However, it may become so at some point in the future and I'd be crazy not to go ahead and do it for a couple of reasons. For one, I will already be under anesthesia for the procedure I do need and for two, I've met my out of pocket maximum for the year so both procedures will be done at no cost to me. I'm somewhat nervous about the hole repair as they cut your skin at the center, base of your nose and peel it back. They also take skin from, I think, behind my ear to use to patch the hole. Then, I will have internal and external splints in and on my nose.  The external splint will be there for about a week. The internal splints will remain for approximately a month. Hole repairs aren't always successful but this surgeon has yet to have one fail. I'm mainly nervous about the pain I might have and the annoying splints. I didn't have an external splint the first go round, but I had the internal ones and they are annoying!  I know I've made the right decision to undergo both of the procedures, I just wish I didn't have to!  But onward I go......


~Amy