2101 My Sinus Surgery Journey – Part 2, The Surgery

Good evening one and all, how is everyone? Well, if you have been following me over the past couple of weeks you may know that I have had surgery. To be more specific, I had sinus surgery.

Just to put it out there straight away, it was a little harder than I anticipated.

Today, I am going to tell you about the night before, how I prepped, what I took to the hospital and right up to the surgery. Luckily, I am not the person who gets nervous about things like this. I have had a variety of procedures and health-related stuff, so it just doesn’t bother me. I did expect to be nervous on the day but apart from not being tired the night before I didn’t feel nervous at all.

As I may have mentioned before, I didn’t get a lot of prep time. I was told I would get 2- or 3-weeks’ notice. But I got 10 days, 4 of those days I was working, and 3 of those days I was babysitting my 9-month-old nephew, so I only had a couple of days that I could fully dedicate to preparing myself.

I was told that I would be in hospital for at least one night so I knew I wanted to take a few little things to keep me entertained if I was not just asleep or feeling sorry for myself the whole time. But I also knew I didn’t want to just be sitting staring at a screen the whole time, as it was sinus surgery, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be wearing my glasses much, or have a bad headache and want to sleep the whole time.

Things I packed for the hospital:

• Spare undergarments (duh)

• 2 pairs of fluffy socks

• 2 pairs of PJs

• Summer Dressing Gown

• Slippers

• Activity Book

• Tablet (Android)

• iPod

• Phone

• Chargers

• Headphones

• Few snacky items – couple chocolate bars and a packet of crisps

• Boiled sweets

• Throat sweets

• Soft Mints

• A couple pens

• Small notebook

• Toothbrush

• Toothpaste

• Flannel

• Soap

• A couple of plastic bags to keep anything wet separate

• A Torch

• A travel pack of tissues

• Pack of wipes

Okay, so I overpacked. I barely needed any of the items I took. Stay tuned for the next post to see what I would take again if I would take anything I didn’t have and what I would leave behind.

Moving on, so I was told that the day before I shouldn’t use anybody’s wash, bubble bath, face creams etc (I am not sure why). But… with this in mind and knowing it was meant to be quite warm and there was the possibility of me being a little on the sweaty side. I decided I would have a bath 2 days before and 1 day before so I could have the relaxing bath I wanted and then do as I was told.

Other things I did to prepare for the surgery were:

Put some fresh sheets on my bed, who doesn’t love fresh sheets. I was a little worried I might get blood on them, but it was a risk I was prepared to take for now.

I packed everything that I didn’t need and put anything on the charge that I wanted to take with me.

I tidied up as much as possible, so it was easier to maintain when I was home from the hospital.

I made sure to have things in the house that were just microwave meals, quick and easy to cook when I was ready to eat

Made sure I had enough cat food for my cats while I was recovering

I set up a group text on my phone so that I could text everyone to let them know when I was going into surgery and when I was awake after my surgery in one swift text. Otherwise, I thought I would forget people to tell.

And there were probably a few other little bits that I did that I can’t think of. But this is most of the crazy I got up to the night before.

Day of Surgery, Monday 23rd May 2022

Was I nervous yet? NOPE. I was shocked I thought as I got closer, I would start to feel nervous. Unfortunately, I had to be at the hospital at 7 am (EARLY, too early if you ask me).

I did exactly what I was told, I got up, I got dressed, I grabbed the bag and off I went to the hospital. It was a 20–25-minute journey. Luckily, there were no hold-ups. I got straight there and was even early.

I checked in with the nurses at the desk (as expected) and I was asked to take a seat and that the porter would be here shortly to take me to the ward.

A lovely, very smartly dressed gentleman turned up maybe 5 minutes later and took me up to my private room on the ward. It was quite big, I had a TV, my own bathroom, and a view of the car park ha.

First, the nurse came into my room to go through a few details, she asked me a few questions, measured my ankles for stockings, went through my medications, and showed me how things worked (TV), the bed, too my oxygen and blood pressure etc. She also showed me my lovely gown, stockings and of course the LOVELY disposable undies. I don’t get the point in these.

A little later the anaesthetist came to check a few details, make sure I was happy with what would happen, to tell me about the breathing tube. She explained that although she would give me some medicine to prevent me from feeling/being sick there is no guarantee.

Shortly after the anaesthetist, my surgeon came in. Got me to sign the consent for the surgery (because they won’t do it unless you sign).

And then it was my turn. So, I quickly test my group, set my phone and my glasses down, grabbed my slippers and off I went with the nurse to have my surgery.

Right then… I shall leave you there. If you have any questions let me know in the comments below or feel free to contact me using my contact form page.

I will say… the surgery went well; I am well on my way to recovery with only a few minor setbacks so far.