Blow

About fifteen years ago a blow to the nose began a process that I hope will end soon. Damage was evident at the time in the black eye I sported for several days. When that wound healed, it was all over...or so I thought. A few months later, I suffered a sinus infection followed by another the same year. Previously my bouts with sinusitis triggered by allergies were alternate year events. I had laughingly referred to them as West Texas-itis when we lived along the Texas coast. Laryngitis, sniffles, headaches and sometimes a round of green discharge from the nose. The greeness generally prompted a visit to the doc for a round of antibiotics. No big deal every two or three years. The last four or five years I've been hosting a nasal circus. Ring one is constant drainage, usually green. Ring two brings laryngitis and often the ensuing sore throat. In ring three the allergic flare ups that lead to migraine like headaches. The movement from one ring to another reached its crescendo last month and I finally succumbed to the recommendation that I have a specialist review my nasal passages.

Surgical intervention was a forgone conclusion...and I dreaded it mightily. Oh yes, I can remember the black eyes and miserable strings hanging out of other noses and had no disire to partake of the experience. My doctor assured me that new technology made it a little easier on the patient (oh wait..that's me!), but my thoughts prior to the surgery were seriously bleak. I hoped that I might just not awake if the misery lived up to my imagination.

It's been six days since the infamous surgical event and I still live and breathe in Dogpatch. Ol' Abner has cooked all the meals and waited on me as though I am an invalid. Amazing, the things one cannot do without bending over. Removal of the packing two days after was not nearly as traumatic as I predicted. In fact, it was over just as I worked up a big hunk of dread. It was out and the doctor was calmly holding my wrist to check my pulse. Saline solution sprays into the nasal cavities several times daily keep me breathing easily and I have really had very little pain. One more trip to the surgeon's office is scheduled for removal of the splints still holding my newly straightened nose intact. Maybe I'll be released after that. I won't really feel over this til I can blow my nose.