Awww the nose! When things are good with it, they are very, very good, but when they are bad, they’re awful!!! Isn’t there a nursery rhyme that goes a little like that? –actually, I just looked- it is from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I didn’t realize that, I just know my mom used to say that to the grandkids!
I have had severe sinus issues for the past 15+ years. When my kids were little, I started having sinus issues and feeling terrible and tired all the time. One day I even blew a strange object out of my nose. It looked a lot like a navy bean. At that point, I knew something had to be done!!
After finding an ENT in San Antonio and learning that I was suffering from polyps, I decided to have surgery to remove them. That was about 15 years ago. I tried to keep up with treatment afterward, but motherhood and life got in the way and took the priority in my life. My nose was put on the back burner. I would occasionally go in and get a good dose of steroids and go on with my life. I loved my ENT in San Antonio!!
However, recently, my quality of life was dramatically affected by my sinus problems. Constant stuffiness, no smells, no taste in my food, and the worst was that I could see a polyp up in my sinus cavity when I looked in my make up mirror. I knew I had to do something.
Last summer I started doing some online research about polyps. I ordered an ebook off of Amazon about them. I learned about a polypvac and looked it up online. From the website, I thought I could just find a Dr who had one, go to his office and get him to vacuum away my polyps!!
I am the patient who always goes to the Dr. with my own diagnosis courtesy of Google.– I know, I’m sure that doctors just love me!! Since there were no doctors in the entire state of New Mexico that had the Polypvac, I looked to Texas, but my ENT there did not use the Polypvac. I found another doctor in San Antonio, and I went to him with the expectation that he would vacuum them away and my life would go on as planned! But I was wrong. Not only did he not want to use the Polypvac on me, I had the strangest experience with him! It all had to do with a wedding I was in town for, and I will save it for another blog post under the title- Yes Weird Things Always Happen To Me!!
I found myself at square one in my polyp saga. I started researching ENTs in New Mexico. I kept returning to the Southwestern Ear, Nose, and Throat clinic in Santa Fe. I was glad to find a place that looked promising where I wouldn’t have to drive to Albuquerque. I started looking at doctors in the practice and kept returning to Dr. Matthew Hinsley. Most of the blog posts on the front page of the website were written by him, I liked his credentials, and his age appeared to me to be old enough to have a great amount of experience, but not so old that he would be retiring any time soon. I made an appointment telling myself that if I didn’t feel comfortable with him, I would find someone else.
Luckily, I felt very comfortable with him. He has a very calming demeanor and what he told me was so much like my original ENT in San Antonio whom I trusted so much! I agreed to the surgery and things got underway to have it.
X-rays, additional visits, and phone calls were all it took to get scheduled for surgery. The office staff at Southwestern were great as well as the people I dealt with at St Vincent’s Hospital where I had the surgery.
Surgery was Thursday, January 19th. Check in was easy and the nurse who prepped me for surgery was great. Before I knew it I was in recovery with Dr. T by my side. I woke up with a tissue taped under my nose and quite a bit of blood draining from it. I spent the weekend resting and sleeping propped up, but nothing out of the ordinary occurred. I took my prescription pain meds the first night just in hopes it would help me sleep. I wasn’t in pain, but didn’t sleep well so I never took it again. Dr. T took great care of me. I kept emotions at bay. When I had the surgery before, it was R who took me and took care of me. I don’t ever let myself “go there” and compare Dr T or R with things. My life is just so different now and sometimes emotions just come. Living life after loss is full of those ambush moments when memories flood in. I focused once again on how lucky I am to have Dr T in my life!! He was wonderful and helped me all weekend.
The next step was my follow up visit. I was dreading it because I knew he would remove whatever packing or stents were up in there. It was not pleasant, but not terrible either, and it only lasted a few seconds. After that visit I felt like I was on the road to recovery. I could smell, blow my nose, taste my food– life was good.
I felt really good one week out when I went for my follow up. I wanted to share what I wore to my appointment because I’ve always wondered what to wear this white vest with and I paired it with this beige sweater- which I ended up loving the look!! So easy and looked great with gold jewelry! Everything of course is from The Loft!
I have made a promise to myself that I WILL keep up with my nose this time to keep these dreadful polyps at bay. Dr. Hinsley has a plan for me and I intend to follow it to a T!!
I’m ready to get back to running as I’ll have no excuse about it now. I have to do it! So thankful to Dr. Hinsley and the staff at Southwestern ENT in Santa Fe!! I highly recommend them if you find yourself in need of a good ENT in New Mexico!
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