Then vs. Now

Someone suggested I put these together so I did.
This is from Summer of 1995.
This is Summer 2007
These are December '07



Can you tell which photos alcohol played a major role in?

Complications

Ok so yesterday I went back to the doctor for my post-op appointment. I am still in a ton of pain, still not able to sleep, still getting blood in my nose and mouth, and still unable to breath!!! She said that the surgery went very well but that it was by far the worst surgery of the 3 she did that day. She said she could not believe who full of polyps my sinuses were not to mention the tremendous inflammation in there. And that this was all normal considering the condition of my sinuses and the depth of the surgery.
At this visit she put a small tube in my nose and up into my sinuses to suck out the packing and the scabs, gunk, etc. Let me tell you that was not fun. I can close my eyes now and still feel it. It literally felt like she was sucking my brains out through my nose. And of course it hurt, and I bled more, so that is always fun. She is fully confident that when all is healed, I will be infinitely better, but it is going to take time due to how bad I was. She has taken me off work for yet another week, I was supposed to be released to go back on the 2nd, and now am off til the 9th. This is good, because I still feel like crap. And my nose still hurts like hell. She has now put me on stronger pain killers (percocet instead of vicoden) that will hopefully help me if nothing more than to sleep.
It was the first time I got out of the house since my surgery, and it was tough because I am constantly having to spit or blow out bloody mucus. Not to mention how much it hurts to do so or even touch anywhere near my nose. And the drugs make me all wonky so I can't drive myself. Even my upper teeth are still soar. I asked about my smell coming back and the doctor said that it would be the very last thing to return possibly 2-3 months, but she was very confident that it would.
Jill has been off work for the last week taking care of my sorry butt, but will have to go back tomorrow, so that sucks! She really has been a life saver, taking care of me, cooking for me, driving for me, etc. Hopefully this will all pass very soon. And I can go back to an even better than before status.

Weezer!

They are back and as good as ever!

Surgery sucks!

There are some before and after pictures if you click on the photo. CAUTION IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH BLOOD DO NOT CLICK THE PICTURE.

So I had my surgery yesterday at around 3pm. Woke up at about 6pm and felt like holy hell. They tell me that the surgery went well, but that doesn't make me feel any better in the meantime. I am pretty drugged up at the moment on vicodin and will be for the next week. The best part is the constant drainage of blood into my mouth and nose. Let me tell you filling up cups with blood is not my idea of a good time. And because of the pain and blood I can't really sleep. I am kind of in between most of the time having to spit every few minutes so as not to choke. Nice huh? Anyway every you don't realize how connected you mouth nose and ears are. My ears hurt, my throat hurts, and my nose feels like I got hit with a baseball bat not to mention my sinus and even my temples hurt.

SURGERY!!!

So as you probably already know, my nose sucks! For as long as I can remember I haven't been able to breathe right. And I always believed and was told by Astoria doctors, that was my first mistake, that it was due to my allergies. I even saw a ear nose throat specialist in Astoria a couple of years ago, and he told me nothing was wrong other than my cartilage looked a little thick, believing this was my second mistake. Well over the last few years it has gotten worse, to the point where now I have completely lost my sense of smell. I get several sinus infections a year, and I am constantly congested, I don't sleep well, etc. So I decided to see a specialist, and after a CAT scan it turns out I have a deviated septum along with bad polups built up in my sinuses.

"A deviated septum is an abnormal condition in which the top of the cartilaginous ridge leans to the left or the right, causing obstruction of the affected nasal passage. The condition can result in poor drainage of the sinuses. Patients can also complain of difficulty breathing easily, or of sleeping disorders such as snoring or sleep apnea."


"A polyp is an abnormal growth of tissue (tumor) projecting from a mucous membrane"

I have tried everything to avoid surgery, but nothing has worked and now it is time to go under the knife. So tomorrow I go in for surgery at St. Vincents. I am a little nervous because I have heard some horror stories about sinus surgery. Basically they are have to break it to fix it, then scrape all the polyps out of the inside of the sinus cavities. Just getting hit in the nose hurts like hell, but at this point it really can't get any worse. I can't wait to be able to breathe again let alone smell and taste my food! The up side I guess is time off from work, I go back June 2nd. Anyway wish me luck.

My Tattoo

I finally did it, after wanting to get one for like 15 years, I finally went through with it. It is of course Nine Inch Nails, a logo I had on a T-shirt from a tour during the early 90's. Love it, it turned out great.