u/mocha-macaron

I’m someone where when I sneeze, I can feel it coming for around 5 seconds so I can usually make myself sneeze through my mouth with no issue and since my septoplasty, and that’s gone to plan.

That was until I was just watching The Boys finale and out of nowhere I sneezed immediately and this thing came out of my left nose. For context, my surgeon put dissolvable packing in my nose but it’s been so blocked that a saline rinse didn’t seem to touch the left side. The right side had packing coming out in huge worm like pieces that I would gentle clean with tissue when it reached the entrance of my nostrils.

I immediately panicked and my bf and I ran upstairs. We have been both worried and almost pissing ourselves laughing at this because it looks like a fucking organ.

Luckily there is no bleeding after this, and the huge phlegm that’s been moving back and forth at the back of my throat isn’t there anymore.

PLEASE someone tell me they’ve experienced this. I would say I’m a BIT worried but more than anything I’m in shock. I’m seeing my surgeon for a post op review on Friday.

I got told about 3 years ago that I had a severely deviated septum and absolutely massive turbinates. I put off surgery for years out of pure fear, even though my nose was around 90% blocked on the left side and about 40% blocked on the right.

It affected everything. Exercise was exhausting because I could barely breathe properly, my sleep was awful, my snoring was out of control (which effected my bf) and I constantly felt tired and foggy-headed regardless of how early I went to bed. To make matters worse, every single day felt like I had post nasal drip too. Whenever I swallowed, I could feel something shifting back and forth in my throat and nose. It was horrible.

I had my septoplasty and turbinate reduction last week. The first day was genuinely brutal. I felt like I had been knocked out by Mike Tyson and his fucking tiger. I actually wasn’t released from hospital because the pain was so bad. Dumb fuck over here didn’t even bring my phone charger cause I thought I would be in and out within the same day.

No amount of morphine or other medication seemed to touch it. Day two at home was still rough, but by day 4 or 5 the dissolvable packing started loosening and a lot of the gunk finally started coming out which was equal parts disgusting and incredible.

One of the weirdest things now is how strong smells are by week one. I sprayed dry shampoo on my roots the other day, something I’ve done a million times before but this time the scent hit me so hard it made me feel physically sick. Same with body wash. One of my favourites is an oud scent and now even a tiny amount feels like my nose is being attacked.

Last night I barely slept because I drank coffee too late. Normally if I don’t sleep properly, I wake up looking an absolute state, but this morning I woke up feeling weirdly fresh, even though my nose is still swollen and blocked from surgery. That alone has kind of blown my mind.

I’m still taking recovery slowly and avoiding going out because everyone seems to have the flu right now, so I’ve mostly been resting at home and enjoying the time off work while the dissolvable stitches disappear too. Those are poking out of my nose and are annoying the shit out of me. It’s taking me every bit of willpower not to dig inside my nose.

What I can’t quite grasp is how after only 7 days, I already feel such a huge difference. I don’t even really feel like I need painkillers 4 times a day anymore. I spoke to the nurses and they said my surgeon is incredibly gentle with his procedures, so maybe that’s why recovery has felt smoother after those first couple of days. Apart from day 1 and 2, I’ve had no nausea either.

Honestly, I wish I’d done it sooner.

I just accidentally just sneezed this out (12 days post surgery)

1 week post op and my god, life feels totally different