topic Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps? in Wellness

Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

fortune — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 03:19:51 GMT

Anyone have surgery for nasal polyps? My son probably will have to have this surgery and needs to know as much info as possible. TIA!!

Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

gillsburg — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 03:41:20 GMT

My husband had this qbout 3 years ago. He was down qbout a week or more. Lots of pain . Has had to have it done again a year ago. Still gets sinus infections around 3-4 times a year and has to get shot and steroids. Said he would never have it done again

Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

fortune — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 03:44:39 GMT

On 3/30/2014 gillsburg said: My husband had this qbout 3 years ago. He was down qbout a week or more. Lots of pain . Has had to have it done again a year ago. Still gets sinus infections around 3-4 times a year and has to get shot and steroids. Said he would never have it done again

I don't think my son has a choice. The polyps are quite large. Any advice about choosing a doctor or managing the recovery?

Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

RedTop — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 12:58:31 GMT

Fortune,

My only advice is that your son find a good ENT he is comfortable with, to do this surgery. My daughter is consulting her ENT next week about possible surgery to widen her nasal passages. She has many issues with allergies and sinusitis, and I think she needs to have something done to help resolve some of her issues and relieve her suffering. She has been seeing her physician for many years; he removed her tonsils 5 years ago when she was 30, so she is comfortable with him. Sending best wishes to your son!

Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

PhatCat — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 13:45:53 GMT

I have had that surgery twice. In the early 80's when I had it first done, it was pure torture. At that time they did a packing which when taken out was like a magic trick of pulling out the scarfs tied together, pulling and never ending. It was so painful.

When I had it again 10 years later, with medical advances it was a piece of cake in comparison. No packing, just round little gauze things stuck up your nostrils (like what the dentist puts in your mouth).

The only thing I can say that was uncomfortable the last time was I swallowed a LOT of blood but once I was able to vomit the blood, I felt fine.

I can honestly say I have not had one sinus infection since my last surgery which was in the early to mid 90's and I am sure since then, techniques have gotten better than.

Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

violann — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 13:47:13 GMT

My son had this plus a correction of one of the small bones in his sinus cavity about 5 years ago. Very smooth surgery and not perfect result, but MUCH better than before the work was done.

Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

gin49 — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 14:12:15 GMT

After many years of avoiding it, my husband had this procedure done about six years ago & is very glad that he did. He let it get to the point that he was 100 percent impacted, could not breathe through his nose at all, lost his sense of smell, sounded like he had a cold when he spoke & his snoring was atrocious. Waiting so long, also led to dental issues due to dry mouth. The procedure took about an hour & he came home the same day. He has a pretty high tolerance for pain & as I remember it, the worst part was the first 24 hours due to the nasal packing which was removed the day after the procedure. Once the nasal packing was removed, he was much more comfortable & returned to work two days after that. For awhile, he used Nasonex once a day, every day as prescribed by his ENT and has had no recurrence. If let go too long, some do not regain their sense of smell. My husband still can't smell a thing although, he breathes much clearer, sleeps much better and feels more rested. He sounds better when he speaks & also said at the time that food tasted better. When asked if he would do it again, its a resounding yes. His only regret is waiting so long to take care of it in the first place.

Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

fortune — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 22:26:34 GMT

Thank you all so much for your input! I feel so bad for him, because he can hardly breathe, has a headache most of the time, and is tired all the time. The only thing I can do to help him is to get as much info as possible. I just hope Kaiser will let him choose his own surgeon!

Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

stilltamn8r — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 23:22:30 GMT

Why? every surgery I have had at Kaiser went GREAT!

Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

Snowpuppy — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 23:26:08 GMT

On 3/31/2014 Fortune said:
Thank you all so much for your input! I feel so bad for him, because he can hardly breathe, has a headache most of the time, and is tired all the time. The only thing I can do to help him is to get as much info as possible. I just hope Kaiser will let him choose his own surgeon!

I had polyps at one time that lasted for about 2 yrs.

When I finally found a competent dr (NOT an ENT) he did an old fashioned q tip swab of my sinuses. I'd been on round after round of various antibiotics. All the antibiotics were doing was making my liver very unhappy. Not one dr, including 2 ENT's had swabbed my sinuses. It's call a culture and sensitivity.

Well, the results came back that I had a fungal infection, not a bacterial infection. My dr recommended a compound pharmacist who worked up a nasal spray (avoiding my liver) to treat the infection. OMG, within weeks I was amazingly better! $24 for a nasal spray. After nearly 18 months of antibiotics.

Sinuses are very hard to treat. Get a 2nd opinion, even a third before you put him thru this.

Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

QueenDanceALot — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 17:25:53 GMT

I had it done almost 3 years ago and would do it again in a heartbeat. Changed my life!

I haven't had so much as a sniffle since and for a few years prior to the surgery I was sick with a sinus infection several times a year.

Recovery from surgery was NOT horrible, I did NOT have pain (except the minor discomfort when the packing was removed).

I LOVE the ENT who performed the surgery. I do think that finding a good ENT is key to success.

I wish your son the best. I can SO relate to the constant headache (mine were debilitating in the last few months before surgery), the not being able to breathe (I was hooked on over the counter nasal spray just so I could get air) and the fatigue.

Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

NorskyGal — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 18:59:41 GMT

I had surgery for this 1-1/2 yrs ago. Find an ENT that you trust. I got a referral from my sis-in-law who had the same surgery.

I was having to practically stand upside down while blowing my nose to get anything out. And I was sniffing all the freaking time. (What an annoyance to people around me!)

The surgery itself is not bad. He'll get antibiotics and a pain med. Regarding the packing, I had nose tampons (ha ha!) and I won't lie--the packing was painful because of how large it was--lots of pressure. But the pain meds help greatly. When taking out the packing, be sure to spray lots of saline solution into your nostrils so that the packing doesn't stick. Then when you pull the string to take the packing out----WOW! What a relief! It was like heaven. Not painful whatsoever.

I have to say, though, that I still am sniffing a lot again; however, I can blow my nose much more easily.

Re: Anyone Have Surgery for Nasal Polyps?

fortune — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 03:23:23 GMT

On 3/31/2014 Snowpuppy said:
On 3/31/2014 Fortune said:
Thank you all so much for your input! I feel so bad for him, because he can hardly breathe, has a headache most of the time, and is tired all the time. The only thing I can do to help him is to get as much info as possible. I just hope Kaiser will let him choose his own surgeon!

I had polyps at one time that lasted for about 2 yrs.

When I finally found a competent dr (NOT an ENT) he did an old fashioned q tip swab of my sinuses. I'd been on round after round of various antibiotics. All the antibiotics were doing was making my liver very unhappy. Not one dr, including 2 ENT's had swabbed my sinuses. It's call a culture and sensitivity.

Well, the results came back that I had a fungal infection, not a bacterial infection. My dr recommended a compound pharmacist who worked up a nasal spray (avoiding my liver) to treat the infection. OMG, within weeks I was amazingly better! $24 for a nasal spray. After nearly 18 months of antibiotics.

Sinuses are very hard to treat. Get a 2nd opinion, even a third before you put him thru this.

Interesting, Snowpuppy! I'm going to suggest they culture his sinuses before they do anything else!! He's used antibiotics and steroids--neither of which helped at all!