So yesterday I went to the ENT and found out that I am going to need surgery. It is not sinus surgery though. It is septoplasty with a reduction of the inferior turbinates. Septoplasty is straightening of the septum. And the inferior turbinates are the sinuses under the cheekbone area that produce mucus. Mine make too much mucus and are inflamed. So reducing them will make more room in there and also will leave less turbinates to produce mucus. So he really thinks that this surgery is going to help me a lot. It will not make my allergies better, but it will make my symptoms seem less severe. As it is now, when I am exposed to allergens, the sinuses swell and since there is so little room for error right now, I feel even a little swelling. After the surgery, I will be exposed to the allergen, and my sinuses will swell some, and I may not even notice because I will have extra breathing room in there. Anyways, I'm of course nervous about having surgery, but I've been dealing with sinus issues for about 4 or 5 years now and if this surgery will make it better, then I am excited. I'm hoping that this surgery will be my "silver bullet" and I won't have to deal with all these sinus issues any more.

The doc says I can exercise up until the surgery, but obviously there will be some serious healing time afterwards. About 2 weeks for most of the swelling to go down and 6 weeks before I am completely healed. So my triathlon season is over for this year. I'm going to need some extra support to stay motivated without that set goal. Thankfully, exercise and good diet have become very much a habit for me, but I'm very goal oriented (that's why I started doing triathlons in the first place...) Hopefully, I'll be able to continue just for the sake of my health.

Thanks for reading. I'm so glad for the support I have from this community! You guys are awesome!!

WOW!! That really sounds like a WHOLE lot of FUN!! J/K... Good Luck and definately keep us posted!

Rachael, sorry that you have to go thru this. But, it is good to know that it is going to be a 'silver bullet' to you.

When you can't exercise, keep trainoing. It will help you and us to stay focus.

And, you can try to sign up as volunteer to those triathlons events. The triathlons spirit can always stay with you when you are helping the other athletes.

Rachael, sorry to hear about what you have been going through for the past couple of years. You have done so well this year and im sure you are proud of yourself! Now its time to heal I really wish this surgery will make you feel better!

Rachael,

Sorry to here you need surgery but think how much better you'll be very soon after and thats down to the hard work you've already done, you'll soon be back to your best

Sorry to hear about the surgery but hopefully it will help with the problems you have been having.
Good luck with the surgery and take care of yourself.

Thanks for all the encouraging notes everyone! I am feeling pretty good about the whole thing. I'm kind of entertaining the idea of maybe doing another sprint tri at the end of the season if I recover quickly from surgery, but I'm just going to have to play it by ear.

My surgery is tomorrow. I have to be at the hospital at 5 am and should be going into surgery about 7. We should be out of the hospital before lunch. Please say a little prayer for me if you think of it. Thanks!

The surgery went fine this morning. I was back home by 9:30. Pain isn't too bad. I've been sleeping a lot.

I'm just reading this thread now, Rachael and I'm glad it went off without a hitch and that you're back in your nest recouping.

I know that you'll make the most of this healing time by eating right, not too much and keeping your mind focused sharply on your victories to come, not to mention how much more air your nose'll be able to enjoy while blasting through those finish lines!

Take care, ma belle.

M.

Hope you recover quickly!

Thanks Minu and Inna The pain is manageable and if it ever gets too bad, I have my trusty pain pills. My mom is here taking care of me since hubby has very limited sick days at his job. I will hopefully be able to go back to work on Monday.



That is the hope! I can't wait for the swelling to go down and to be able to see if it turned out that way. Keep your fingers crossed!

I wish you a speedy recovery. If you get hungry just take a pain pill and pass out, jk...

You will be back on your feet in no time!

Haha! It's been a lot of what can I eat lately. Especially day of/day after. I'm hoping by Monday I'll be totally back on track.

Glad to hear it went OK. Sinuses can be a real bother (plenty of first-hand experience) -- I hope this helps to fix it for you, and you'll be better than ever.

Thanks Phil

I'm back at work today. Getting the diet back on track. It's hard to eat well when most of your self control is going to not blowing your nose. Haha.

I am glad to hear everything went okay Rachael, sorry I just got to this thread now. Hope you can run that tri at the end of the year.

Rachael,i havent been around here in a while..Glad your surgery went well! Hope you feel better now and can perform your daily activities with less of a burden I hope this changes everything

Thanks, Ara. The tri is in just 4 1/2 weeks. I have my post-op doctor's appointment tomorrow so I'm going to see how that goes before I get my hopes up. He strictly banned me from workouts for a week (minimum) so we'll see if the ban gets lifted tomorrow.

Sher, thanks! Yeah, hopefully it will make a huge difference. It would be so great to not have to deal with constant sinus infections any more.

Okay, so doc says that I have the okay to return to a normal work out routine, and most importantly - I can blow my nose again!!! Haha. He said everything looks good and he sucked some boogers/scabs/stitches out of my nose. It was kinda weird, but not too painful really.

I'm still feeling the affects of the anesthesia/people cutting open my face, so my energy level is far from normal. The past 2 days I've gotten home from work and collapsed. Today I feel like collapsing, but I just am tired of sleeping all the time. Anyways, I will probably wait until I get back to feeling like myself before I start hitting the exercise hard again. I'd love to go for a walk, but it's freakin' 100+ degrees F here! Any ideas on light work outs that don't require going into the incredible hotness?