Nicole M Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I'm so irritated I could spit. My huband graciously agreed to take our son in to see the ENT (again) because he appears to have a sinus infection (again). Our usual doctor was not in, so they met with another doctor whom we have never met. He prescribed augementen, which gives ds such wicked runs that the last time he was on it, for only two days, he literally was in the bathroom for 12 hours straight. Which was not only awful for him, but was rather inconvenient for the rest of us, as we only have one bathroom. Apparently my son and husband were not able to communicate this issue clearly enough to the doctor, because he said, "Just try it." This boy is almost 17, has a part time job, attends community college -- there is no stinkin' way that I am willing to have him lose several days of work and school to bathroom duty. The doctor also want to do another CT scan and then surgery, to correct the deviated septum that we already know he has. Neither my son or my husband were able to explain why another scan was necessary. This poor guy, btw, has nearly constant sinus infections, and we lose months of the year to the fatigue, low-grade fevers, etc. that accompany these infections. His diet is clean, we've had him tested. No sugar, no dairy, no eggs. (The fella practically lives on air.) Mostly I'm venting. And I know it's selfish of me, but I feel like, shoot! Do I have to do everything around here?! But if you do have experience with whatever surgery this is, please fill me in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle T Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Your septum is the tissue up inside your nasal cavity that divides your nostrils. It is not uncommon for it to be crooked (deviated) which can cause chronic nasal congestion. Generally, the turbinates (inside tissue of the back nasal passages) are slightly trimmed during this surgery, and the openings into the sinuses are enlarged. If the sinuses are really bad, then they can be cleaned out, but if they aren't too bad, best to leave them alone. I had this surgery done years ago due to chronic nasal congestion, sinus infections, headaches. It has not made much of a difference for me, but I have chronic allergies. DH had this done earlier this year. It has made a big difference for him, and he is breathing through his nose instead of his mouth for the first time. If your son has such severely infected sinuses, he might benefit from the surgery. I'm assuming the CAT scan checked the sinuses? The report would have indicated if there was swelling, congestion, thickening of the sinuses. Usually along with the deviated septum, there would also be thickening of the nasal passages. Anyway, since your DS has so much trouble, you might want to look into it further. It's an outpatient surgery. Some doctors leave packing in the nose afterwards, some don't. Recovery takes a few days to a week or so. Michelle T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted November 13, 2008 Author Share Posted November 13, 2008 Thank you, Michelle. I'll look into it further. I'm sorry your surgery didn't give you good results though. That stinks! It kinda grosses me out, the whole idea. But to know that people live through it helps. N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaS Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 :grouphug: I understand your frustration. My father had this surgery done years ago to relieve his insanely awful snoring. Once the deviated septum was fixed, he breathed so much better at night. It was outpatient and he came home with is nostrils packed for two days, I think. But, he also had some blood vessels cauterized to help with his chronic nose bleeds, so I don't know to which procedure the packing was related. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted November 13, 2008 Author Share Posted November 13, 2008 May I ask another question? It seems plain rude to prescribe something that puts a guy out of commission for days, with a flip, "Just try." This really bugs me. I know that doctors have way more training and knowledge about this than I do, but I happen to know more about the kid and his reaction than the doctor does. So what would you do? Go ahead and "just try" over the weekend? Fortunately he does not have to work. Or should I call the doc and ask for something else? There is another antibiotic that has worked for him in the past, but only if he takes it for longer than the usual amount of time. Should I see if I can talk to our regular ENT, or is that also rude? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted November 13, 2008 Author Share Posted November 13, 2008 :grouphug: I understand your frustration. My father had this surgery done years ago to relieve his insanely awful snoring. Once the deviated septum was fixed, he breathed so much better at night. It was outpatient and he came home with is nostrils packed for two days, I think. But, he also had some blood vessels cauterized to help with his chronic nose bleeds, so I don't know to which procedure the packing was related. Interesting about the snoring. My son does not snore, but he is a serious mouth breather. Thanks for the sympathy, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnetteB Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Has he had allergy testing? The northwest is rather damp and moldy. My own sinuses suffer terribly :( Salt water spray helps and peppery foods to get the nose running...icky, but better than infected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted November 13, 2008 Author Share Posted November 13, 2008 Has he had allergy testing? The northwest is rather damp and moldy. My own sinuses suffer terribly :( Salt water spray helps and peppery foods to get the nose running...icky, but better than infected. Yup. He does a neti-pot type sinus rinse, and has various nasal sprays that he uses regularly. Curiously, the one that works best, is a cayenne pepper based spray. But still, he gets the infections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I would definitely call the doctor back and see if there was another option. I wonder if perhaps he failed to understand just how unpleasant the effects were the last time your son has this medication.. Anne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Mine cured me-it was ten yrs ago and I've never had another sinus infection again. Dh still gets them but not as frequently, but he has allergies too that may aggravate (and I do not.) I would call your ENT to clarify about the Augmentin-maybe it was just a misunderstanding on his part or underreporting by your dh and ds, and if he isn't helpful, get a different ENT. No reason for that kind of indifference to suffering! I do know that with chronic sinus infections, Augmentin seems to be the best they've got, so if that gives him other problems, all the more reason to try the surgery. We had little pain with the surgery-just uncomfortable from the packing. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted November 13, 2008 Author Share Posted November 13, 2008 You kids are seriously grossing me out with this term "packing" -- what the heck does that mean? I hope it's not as disgusting as I'm imagining.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria from IN Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 May I ask another question? It seems plain rude to prescribe something that puts a guy out of commission for days, with a flip, "Just try." This really bugs me. I know that doctors have way more training and knowledge about this than I do, but I happen to know more about the kid and his reaction than the doctor does. So what would you do? Go ahead and "just try" over the weekend? Fortunately he does not have to work. Or should I call the doc and ask for something else? There is another antibiotic that has worked for him in the past, but only if he takes it for longer than the usual amount of time. Should I see if I can talk to our regular ENT, or is that also rude? "Sure, doc, we'll 'just try.' I'll pack his bags and you can spend the weekend nursing him through it." :D I had the surgery in 1993 and again in 2006. I had broken my nose when I was little and I had polyps growing at the spot where it broke. There was talk of turbinates and such, and I know tissue was removed, but I'm not sure of the particulars. I do know that the first time my nose was swelled completely shut and the second time the swelling was so bad it was squishing my eustachian tubes and certain tones would actually cause my eardrum to rattle in a most alarming fashion. The first time I did not have packing. I had a lot of tissue removed and the doctor thought it was best to just let it heal naturally. Don't go this route. 'Nuff said. The second time I had packing for five days. The doctor put me on Xanax to help me relax because I had to breathe through my mouth entirely, and the sensation of having it in your face is unique, if nothing else. After the packing was removed I went to these steam treatments at the office which felt wonderful. He also encouraged rinsing often like your son already does, and prescribed Nasonex and Astelin to control the allergies and keep the polyps from growing back. From what you were saying and the experience I had, it sounds like he could benefit from the surgery. It's a little hard at first, but it's amazing how much more energy you have--it's like being a new person!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 not for his other problem! LOL! It's dressing that they have in there for a couple days while it's healing-can't breathe through the nose that way and it's a little uncomfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle T Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 You kids are seriously grossing me out with this term "packing" -- what the heck does that mean? I hope it's not as disgusting as I'm imagining.... When I had the surgery, no packing was used. DH had packing for over a week (he was having more bleeding than the doctor liked) and DH has had great results from his surgery. DH's packing looked like a drinking straw stuffed up each nostril, completely surrounded by a LOT of gauze material. It stretched and distorted DH's nose while it was in, but once removed his nose looked fine. DH was very uncomfortable during the eight days or so of packing, as he could only breathe through his mouth, his nose was sore, and he was bleeding. I watched the doctor pull out the packing, and it was incredible that so much gauze could fit up someone's nose! But my DH was much more complicated than most, because he also had surgery on his vocal cords during the same procedure. Michelle T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted November 14, 2008 Author Share Posted November 14, 2008 not for his other problem! LOL! It's dressing that they have in there for a couple days while it's healing-can't breathe through the nose that way and it's a little uncomfortable. Whoa Nellie! I didn't think you meant packing that end! That would definitely be more disgusting than what I was imagining. The gauze up the nose is quite gross enough for me, thankyouverymuch! Blech! This is reminding me of Bill Cosby talking about how our noses are a serious design flaw, that a runny thing that spouts mucous should not be located directly above the mouth...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 the packing! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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