Saturday, June 16, 2007

Up for nasal surgery

Magpapanoselift ako.

Ya-huh. Hehehe.

- - - - -

I'm up for polypectomy/endoscopic sinus surgery on June 25 to remove a nasal polyp that has been causing much discomfort lately.


According to MayoClinic.com, nasal polyps are "soft, noncancerous (benign) growths that develop on the lining of your nose or sinuses".

The surgery will remove the polyp I have in my nose, which a CT scan showed was originating from my right paranasal sinus. A simple AAAH will show you that the polyp has already extended into my nasopharynx (upper part of the throat behind the nose). Yak ba? Hehe, sorry :D

It has probably been around for quite some time, but I only actually saw it in mid-May, and it seems to be getting bigger still. It's keeping my right nostril consistently congested, and its extension into my throat makes me snore so horribly - it's embarassing and burdensome and quite scary too. People who have seen me sleep have definitely HEARD me sleep (right FB folks?) :P

The surgery will be performed through the nose using an endoscope instead of through an incision above my gums. Thank God I won't get cut up! Though they'd be sticking stuff in my nose :P

This'll be my first ever operation - my first time to be anaesthetized! This won't be my first major hospitalization, though. Just last year (July 2006), I was confined for about a week because of dengue.

So yeah, I'll be missing school again for quite some time - two weeks to be exact, similar to my leave last year. But at least this year I'm missing out on Ecology (last year it was Evolution, which I'd hate to miss again this year). I haven't told my students yet as my co-teachers and I are still fixing up the skeds. Surprise nalang sino yung mga magsusub sa akin hehehe.

I'm quite excited to be undergoing something major. I'm a bit worried, though, because based on what I've read on the net about nasal polyps, there seems to be a chance of the polyp growing back :( Besides having to go through the discomfort again, hospitalization (especially with surgery!) is VERY costly. It doesn't help that I don't have medical insurance - a necessity, yes I know, but it's a long story why I don't have one yet.

What I'm really looking forward to after all this is the capacity to breathe again freely. And to sleep soundly (soundlessly?). And not to be ngongo when I deliver my lectures in school :P

17 comments:

JAm said...

exactly one week from now eh? plenty of time to prep yourself up. good luck ma'am dacs! hope everything goes well with the surgery. ;)

- d a c s - said...

Salamat Jam! Nothing to worry about naman (except for expenses, hahaha!). Parang appendectomy lang siguro ito...sa ilong :P

Alpha Centauri said...

hehe.. good luck with the operation.. hope it doesnt hurt and there would be no discomfort or any effects afterward..

- d a c s - said...

Thanks Stephen, aka Birthday Boy!!! :)

tseri said...

ey, maybe i have this too. ano pa symptoms? and how'd you find out?

- d a c s - said...

Ey cherry! Magandang reference ito: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nasal-polyps/DS00498

Yung sa akin, physically nagmanifest siya at the back of my throat that's why the doc said I needed surgery.

Before that pa, laging barado ilong ko at ngongo ako magsalita. And I could only sleep lying on my right side, otherwise di ako makahinga.

Pa-check ka sa ENT kung tingin mo meron ka :) Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Our Nigel from our office at "realnewoffice.blogspot.com" came out of his polypectomy today. He's got three weeks off to recover. we've been told that that can grow back within 5 years. do you know if this is right?

- d a c s - said...

Ed Hunter: I was told by my doctor that if the cause of the polyp was the papillomavirus, then there's a chance the polyp would recur if not all of the original material was taken out.

Melo said...

Hi, I stumbled upon this blog when I did a Google Images search for "nasal polyps". I think I may have one, and HPV might be my reason too. Gee...I need to see a doc soon now. There's something in my nose, surely.

I wish you all the best n your recovery! Could you please give us an update?
Mostly, let me know about the procedure, in details. I'm a chicken for surgeries, docs, exams, pain...let me know if it hurt and how much it hurt.

If it's too creepy to post here, I'd love to hear from you by email. You can find it in my blog. Thank you! :)

I found a helpful article here: http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/nasal-cancer

The funny thing re. your article link is that my sense of smell has been getting better in the last few yrs. I have some phlem problems, no snoring, but something inside my nose bleeds when I touch it, it feels like it's in my sinus area, dunno.

Oh well, I'll find out eventually, I suppose.
Please let me know how it went. I'll check the following posts to see if you already posted something new.

Thanks again!

- d a c s - said...

Cris Melo: It's been a year since my surgery, and I haven't had any discomfort in my nose since. As my doc said after the op, "Ain't it wonderful to breath?" :)

I had general anesthesia so I didn't experience anything during the op. Post-op was OK, just had to deal w/ the bandage on my nose for a couple of days; it caught whatever bloody fluids were coming out from the area that was operated on.

When I got home, there wasn't any hassle anymore. And the doc also determined that the cause of my polyp was fungal and not viral, so I guess the only way it'll recur is if some fungal spores get into my nasal tract again.

I hope yours will turn out OK! :)

Melo said...

Oh darn, I always forget to look at the year in blog posts - sorry about that!

Thanks for replying :)
Glad it turned out ok for ya! General anesthesia sounds easy. After I posted here I was looking online about the olden days, when patients were tied down with ropes and had no anesthesia for this and other surgeries. Imagine that, hahaha! We are so lucky for medical advances!

Anonymous said...

How much is the operation cost you . Baka paopera din ako pag me pera na

- d a c s - said...

Anonymous: Sorry, nakalimutan ko na magkano, parents ko rin kasi nagbayad...very rough estimate would be 50-80k siguro...

Melo said...

Is that in dollars???? Holy cow. I'd hold on to my polyps, for that amount.

- d a c s - said...

Hehe. That's in Philippine Pesos...I think the rate now is ~P45:$1

Anonymous said...

I have nasal polyps. I think I have them in both sides of my nose but I know that I have them 100% in my right side. I was freaking out thinking it was some sort of cancer so I got it checked out. the doc has me on anitbiotics (for my swollen lymphnode in my neck/chin area I think) and nasal spray for the time being but Im damn sure It will require surgery removal. I have had a history of HPV having a giant wart surgically removed from my pinky just a while back and i currently have one on the tip of my thumb :( they are disgusting things lol. but as gross as it sounds I think I got the polyps, which are now messing with my sense of smell and giving me sinus headaches occasionally, from picking my nose lol. seems logical and an easy way for the virus to transfer. anyway how did your surgery go? let me know if you can it would be greatly appreciated! kevinstafford@live.ca

- d a c s - said...

Hi Kevin! Sent you an email.