Nose stints and bandages removed

January 22, 2015
Well yesterday was a big day I had been looking forward to, an appointment with my surgeon, haha. 

This is how I looked just as I was leaving to go to the doctor's office.

  It was beautiful everywhere you looked today.  The frost was heavy on the trees.

First the hard bandage came off the front of my nose which was a big relief.  Under it were sutures that had bled, my doctor was attempting to fix the flattened side of my nose.  And he also worked on the bridge of my nose.  He said the large amount of scar tissue there had been restricting movement.  Taking out the inner stitches on my nose hurt more than taking out the stints. I asked to see the stint, because I couldn't believe mine would be as big as the ones we saw in a friend's video, Sarah.  It was exactly the same! I don't understand how that fits inside my nose and then times it by two, wow.

  I was definitely smiling when I left the doctors office.

Some discouragement;
1.  I had to ask for more pain pills, I'm looking forward to the day I have no more pain.
2.  There is not an after picture because I still have a hard time with my "new look".  Sunken forehead complete with Harry Potter looking scar,  scars all over my nose, and my crooked smile.  People keep telling me they don't notice, but I do. 
3.  The airway in the left nostril is better, but not restored.  But I can now breathe through my nose, yippee :)

January 20, 2014
I have run out of pain pills.  It is discouraging to have pain that goes on for months and months, to have to breathe from your mouth, to just want to feel normal again.  I'm afraid I will never be "normal" again, but I do have HOPE and FAITH.

January 17, 2014
This part is boring, but I have to write every thing down.  I can't focus, or remember things since my accident in September.  I finally found the information I was seeking about boiling water for my nose rinses which I have to do twice a day:

 © 2006, 2014, Phoenix Children’s Hospital

     Procedure/Treatment/Home Care 

How to Make Sterile Water
and Sterile Saline

1. Put water that is filtered in a clean pan.

Filtered water has run through a carbon filter or a reverse osmosis machine with a 0.2 micron filter.

Some bottled water is filtered. Read the label.

2. Bring the water to a gentle boil. Put a lid on the pan.

3. Boil the water for 5 minutes.

4. Use the water right away after it has cooled down, or put it in sterilized containers.

Do not use ice to cool down the water.

How to Sterilize a Container

1. Choose a container that can be sterilized.

(You cannot use aluminum cans or paper cartons. They fall apart or melt.)

2. Put the container in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes.

or

Clean the container in a dishwasher on the full cycle (not a short wash).

How to Make Sterile Saline

To make 8 ounces of sterile saline

Mix 8 ounces of sterile water and

1/2 level teaspoon of non iodized salt

To make 16 ounces of sterile saline

Mix 16 ounces of sterile water and

1 level teaspoon of non iodized salt

Put the mixture in a sterile container, write the date on a label, and put the sterile saline in the refrigerator.

After 3 days throw out the sterile saline, sterilize the container again, and make more sterile saline.

Keep germs out of the sterile water and sterile saline.

Do not dip anything (even a syringe) into the container.

Instead, pour some into a clean paper cup and put the syringe into the saline in the cup.