Posts by ruggedbadger9

I really don't want this to come across as some sort of blatant advertisement, but you should honestly take a look at http://www.habitchange.com/restart-habits—it’s a series of webinars packed with practical exercises designed to help you jumpstart your momentum and either build entirely new habits or fine-tune the ones you already have.

There are several webinar recordings available on there (I'd suggest starting with the first one), so dive in and see if the approach actually resonates with you. 🙂

Grace Williams19 said:I'm working right now, so I don't think I could step away from my job for about two weeks... and since my contract ends on January 1st, I’m not planning on renewing it because I want to take a month or two off specifically to deal with stuff like this. Basically, I’d be looking at having surgery sometime in January or February.
Is it maybe too early to go in for a consultation right now?? Like, to get everything scheduled and set?

By the way, how is the hospital atmosphere? Is it pretty crowded in the rooms and stuff? Because I'm actually planning on going to Bedeković instead!

You should definitely start getting your affairs in order now, because once you have all those logistics squared away, you might find yourself ready for surgery during the very months you're aiming for.

The rooms are decent. Usually three people per room.

Grace Williams19 said:Finally, someone who actually spent time in a hospital rather than just some private clinic! 🙂

I was wondering if you could walk me through your experience a bit—how did you end up at the hospital? Did your primary care doctor give you a referral to an ENT specialist or how does that work??
- Roughly how long are you stuck in the hospital? 😲
- You had general anesthesia, right?
- And this is a huge one for me—how long was the wait from that very first specialist appointment until you actually went in for surgery? Like, from point number one?

Thanks so much! 🙂

Hey hey!

So, I got a referral to a specialist from my regular doctor. I went in to see the specialist at the hospital, we had a consultation, and then we just settled on the surgery. Basically, he told me it was necessary, and I was just like, "Okay, let's do it."

As for the stay, I was in the hospital for at least five days following the surgery, maybe give or take a day or two. It depends, obviously—if you're traveling from out of town or if there are any unexpected complications and things like that. In reality, you should probably plan for about seven days total. You get admitted on day one, you have the procedure on day two, you spend five days dealing with the packing/tampons, and then you're discharged on day seven.

Regarding the wait times, I had my initial appointment with the specialist on April 28th, and I didn't actually go in for the surgery until September 10th. Apparently, I could have gone as early as June, but he didn't recommend it because of the summer heat coming up. From what I can gather, you're looking at a minimum of about 30 days between seeing the specialist and being at the hospital, though that all depends on the waiting lists and which doctor you end up seeing.

Before the surgery, you just complete whatever lab work or tests they prescribe, and once you show up at the hospital with those results and your referral, you're good to go. 🙂
Oh, right... as for the anesthesia, yeah, it was the full deal... I don't remember a single thing.
🙂

Ashley Young34 said:I’ve actually made my decision to go with Ostojić, and with him, they pull the packing out almost immediately—like, within 24 hours. I’m just trying to tell myself I can handle being stuck with a stuffed-up nose for that short of a window.😁
Laura Booth6, I am crossing my fingers for you and praying you end up with a absolutely beautiful nose!😉

Zachary Nguyen29, honestly, I have my doubts about whether 24 hours is really enough time to keep the packing in. If it truly is just a single day, then it sounds like an incredibly straightforward procedure.

But hey, did any of you know there are surgeons right here in the States who perform septum repairs without using packing at all? My case ended up being way too complicated for that kind of approach, and just the thought of having packing shoved up there used to make my skin crawl. But you know, now that I've actually been through it... you grow to love them.🙂

Laura Booth6 said:ruggedbadger9—man, you look seriously swollen! You’ve got all that inflammation and that purplish tint going on... which hospital are you at right now? How much longer are they keeping you there? And how on earth could you have seen your nose already? Do you also get that weird sensation where you can actually taste food in your nose when you eat?

I'm currently staying at the Sisters of Mercy hospital. Looking at the chart posted by my bed, it looks like I'll be here until Tuesday.
As for seeing my nose, I caught a glimpse of it from underneath just now while I was swapping out the gauze pads under my nostrils.
Regarding the food issue, I haven't really dealt with that part yet.

However, that stinging sensation you mentioned? I definitely felt that last night. To be honest, I decided to skip my pain medication for a bit, and around 2:00 AM, I started feeling incredibly agitated and restless. So, if I can offer some advice, just take something for the pain (we're using Advil here) and it will make things so much easier to handle.

On another note, my roommate just had his nasal packing removed about two hours ago. He told me it felt like someone was literally pulling two aliens out of his brain! He had some nosebleeds for a little while afterward, but he seems fine now. He even said his sense of smell is already coming back.

Hey everyone, I wanted to share my personal experiences from the hospital... I'm actually posting live updates over at www.operacija-nosa.com. Definitely take a look if you have a moment; I'm hoping my journey might be helpful to someone else going through this.