A little disapointed but hopeful

Today I had my second followup appointment with the ENT. I was expecting that he would say things looked great (well except my throat-it still looks like a bomb went off in there) and that I could resume normal activity. To me normal activity would include driving. Instead I am still on restriction till Monday. That would not sound too bad except we start school on Monday so I will be home bound anyway. We would have started some school this week but we were waiting on text books. I suspected that he might not release me to drive yet but I was hopeful. You really do not realize how much freedom you have until it is gone. At first I didn't care but the last few days I have been going stir crazy. I have tried to go out a few times with a friend but all ended badly and abruptly. I guess my body just wasn't as ready as my mental state. The last two days I have been weaning down on my (narcotic) meds during the day and trying to survive on over the counter. The pain has been worse because of this and I have been sleeping more. When I do sleep I don't even hear the phone ring. Kayla has been so helpful with everything.

The rest of the appointment was a little disappointing. He did remove the stitches in my nose which feels so much better. Unfortunately the place where he took out the bone spur has scar tissue buildup. There is also a flap of skin that is trying to grow back. He broke up some of the tissue and suctioned it out but I have to go back in two weeks and have it checked. He believes that he will have do a procedure in the office over the next month or so to open it back up. He also said that now that he can see in there that he may have to reduce my trubinates. He has reassured me that he can do these two procedures under local anesthesia in his office. I just saw more pain and more recovery. He said that my throat was healing as expected. I pointed out that one side was larger than the other and he said that it was where the tonsils were positioned. It looks and feels a little strange but then it is not done healing either. He said that I was still having so much pain because there was still a lot of scabbing. He felt like it would be better by the first of next week. This is also the time I have to be very careful because there are still scabs and some are actually quite large there is still a chance of bleeding. He did refill my "good" pain meds for night time use. I just can't make it with out them yet. The ear pain is worse than the throat pain. I will be so happy when the ear pain is gone. I also have begun to cough and sneeze. Both are bad...sneezing is worse. I went one day without allergy meds and we went to fill them tonight. This is not the time for an allergy flair up.

I really like my doctor. He is very kind and really cares about what I am going through. He has been very cautious and thorough. He did say that we have gained so much ground. So even though I was a little disappointed that we are not at the end of this we are hopeful that we are on the right track. I just want this surgery to make a difference in how I feel. We also did not realize how dangerous sleep apnea was until we started with this doctor. It is known as the silent killer and we want to do what we can to prevent unnecessary medical conditions.

One more very positive thing... total weight loss at almost two weeks post op is 17 pounds. I have to say I would not recommend this as a weight loss program to anyone but if you have to have this surgery then you deserve all the loss you get. Monday he said that I can start power walking. This just might be possible with two open airways.