! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, THERE WILL BE PICTURES CONTAINING BLOOD !

Background

I went to a clinic via BPJS Kesehatan (Government medical services) because my nose kept outputting clear snot. At first they gave me rhinos cold medicine, but it only made my nose dry. The clear snot kept gushing out despite my nose feeling like a desert. They refered me to a hospital so that I can consult with a Otolaryngologist (ENT doctor). At first, the doctor gave me some medicine and a sodium chloride solution to do nasal irrigations. Despite the fact that I routinely wash my nose and take vitamin C daily, my clear snot still kept flowing out of my nostrils. My ENT doctor eventually recommended septoplasty, which confused me because apparently I have a deviated septum (my nose bone is crooked to the left, cutting out airflow). I’m not sure how it will help with my clear snot problem, but I decide to do it due to a few factors:

  • I do have problems with airflow, my left nostril barely gets any air, and my exhales are loud
  • Doing it now (January 2024) is good because my workplace’s future tasks are not clear yet
  • Septoplasty costs a lot of money, and since I am a miser, I wanted to do the operation to “save money” (the operation was free because of BPJS Kesehatan)

I have read that they will stuff a “tampon” (nasal packing) to my nose after the operation, and that recovery will take around a week. What I haven’t read at this point are the fact that:

  • My nose will swell after the operation for 2 weeks at best, 6 months at worst
  • There will be a LOT of bleeding, to the point that changing gauze every hour is a normal occurence
  • Mouth sleeping will cause my throat to be always dry, which means that eating and drinking will be painful
  • I underestimated living life without a blocked nose, because it means that I can only drink 1 gulp or eat 1 spoonful before needing to breathe again

If only my ENT doctor, or my relative who is a doctor, or my other relative that underwent a turbinate reduction surgery told me the above points, I would not have agreed to this!

January 6 (Lab tests)

I needed to do a thorax ct scan, and a blood test before the operation. The tests were scheduled at the 6th of January. The lab test queue was fast, I went there on 8 AM and finished my tests on 10 AM.

January 8 (inpatient registration)

I queued for inpatient registration on 11 AM. By 3 PM, I was told that there are no rooms in the building, so I wasn told to go to another building. I waited until 5 PM to get a room. This is the last day that I enjoyed my pre-septoplasty life…

January 9 (D-Day)

I was woken up on 2 AM for breakfast, because I need to fast for 6 hours. They also setup my IV line, because the anesthesia will be administered through my veins instead of gas. IV

The surgery was done on 10 AM, and I regained consciousness around 12 PM. I was told to breathe through my mouth upon waking up, but that was easier said than done. I felt like choking very badly, and my mouth kept producing a lot of saliva. The saliva also mixed with blood, because the blood on my nose was trickling to my throat, and went back to my mouth. after op

My life was now hell. I can’t sleep, because my throat is so dry. I have to sleep with my head at a 45 degree angle, so that my blood will flow to the gauze instead of my throat. I can’t drink unless a straw is provided. I can only eat soft things. My gauze was not changed until midnight. help

I only slept for 2 hours, 2 AM - 4 AM. This definitely won’t wreck my body!

January 10 (Packing removal, return home)

I have to suffer until 1 PM, because my ENT doctor has a shift in another hospital on 9 - 11 AM. My nasal packings were removed, but I can’t breathe through my nose because they are so swollen. After the packkings were removed, the blood on my nose flowed a lot. My blood spit is also still present. Below is a picture of my spit bag. spit bag

After the packings were removed, I was told that I can go home, and I need to meet my ENT doctor again on the 18th. I got a souvenir, the removed bone from my nose! bone

I only slept at half hour intervals, for every half hour, I need to spit out blood or replace my gauze.

January 11 (Recovery hell)

My throat is still dry, my spit still contains blood, my body is so weak

I only slept for 4 hours, 12 - 2 AM, 3 - 5 AM. I woke up on 2 AM feeling like I choked my gauze. Apparently my gauze technique was wrong, because I taped it like a gag (fully covering my nostrils), while it was supposed to be more like a mustache. Below is an image of the gauze in my nose. gauze

January 12 (Massive headache)

I took paracetamol routinely, but for some reason the pain today was very great.

The frequency of my gauze replacements declined very sharply compared to yesterday, which is a good thing.

I slept on 10 - 12 PM, and then 2 - 5 AM because I couldn’t sleep. It might be because I slept on the afternoon, or it might also be because of the pain on my tooth and nose.

January 13 (Nasal irrigation)

I decided to write this blog on this date, because my energy levels are quite good. The ENT doctor told me that I can do nasal irrigation starting from today. After doing it for the first time, I felt that my nose is more blocked/bloated. I was not allowed to blow my nose, so some of the water felt like it was stuck. The snot production was high today, or it might be the sodium chloride solution mixing with my yellow snot.

January 15 (First day of work)

I decided to go to work because my body feels somewhat fine. My throat still hurts from swallowing any food and drink, and my nose hurts from wearing a medical face mask (any touch to my nose hurts).

January 18 (First scheduled appointment)

Finally, I had a scheduled appointment with my ENT doctor. She looked inside my nose using an endoscope, and decided to clean up my nose using a vacuum, as well as nasal tongs for the solid dried up blood. She also inserted some cotton that was dipped in medicine into my nose. It was inserted to my nose, but my mouth/throat can feel the bitterness. 15 minutes later, the cotton was removed and she gave me some meds. I had some nosebleed, but my doctor told me it was normal, so I had to suck it up and use tissue to wipe off the blood that comes out of my nose.

January 30 (Second scheduled appointment)

I met up with my ENT doctor again. My nose is feeling way better, but according to the nasal endoscopy, there were still some wounds inside my nose. Nasal tongs were used to remove some dried blood from my nose (the extraction hurts), and then my nose got vacuumed. After the tongs were used, my nose feels bruised again, and some blood came out as well. Again, this was supposed to be normal, and the bleeding stopped in less than an hour. My nose still feels hurt to touch, but this only lasted a few days.

Next scheduled appointment was on the 13th of February, but on that date, the registration desk told me that the quota for the ENT doctor is already full, so I had to come back next time. There was a lot of stuff going on at work, so I decided to go on next Thursday (February 22).

February 22 (Final scheduled appointment)

One more nasal endoscopy later, and my doctor declared that the insides of my nose is fully healed. She gave me a letter so that I can schedule an appointment if needed, but honestly I don’t want to use my annual leave for a doctor’s appointment unless it is really a must.

Conclusion

I still blow my nose a lot, but no liquid came out. Not much mucus comes out, but my nose still feels irritated a lot. This is probably caused by allergies, or maybe I have nonallergic rhinitis. Either way, one half of my problem was solved (overproduction of mucus), but the other half is still not (still blowing a lot, feeling congested/irritated).

My advice? Don’t do a nose surgery unless you REALLY need it. The first week is a hell that I do not want to experience again.