Getting the Ball Rolling

I really like Nose Doctor.  He gets me.

I went to see him last week. He stuck a scope up my nose and had a look around.*  It looks better up there than it has in the past, and there are no super scary things, like pollups.  I think maybe it looked better because my appointment was first thing in the morning and I do a nasal rinse every morning when I get up.

He also poked at the bridge of my nose that I'm not super happy about.  He said my saddle-nose isn't really that bad at all.  He also mentioned that it's really hard to get a reconstructed nose to look quite right, and that's another thing I should keep in mind if/when I look into getting that fixed.

But I was there for the inside of my nose. Because it wasn't so crusty and yucky, he got a better look at what's really going on in there.  It's all stuff we kind of already knew because of the the CT scan I had way back at the beginning of this mess, but still.  There's a bunch of scarring messing things up and preventing proper drainage.  That is why my nose is messed up and why my tear duct is blocked off.

So he wants to do surgery.  By now he has consulted with my rheumatologist - to make sure I'm not going to GPA back any damage they clear up - and an Eye (but only the not-eyeball part; orbital) Doctor with whom I now have an appointment a week from Tuesday.

I brought up my biggest concern with him which is this:  My problem is scar tissue.  Going in and cutting things up usually causes scarring, so... by fixing the problem might we be making it worse?

He has the same concern, and explained what he could do to mitigate it.  But he agrees that it is a possibility.

Anyway, I feel very confident that he understands the rather complicated situation that is my face.  I feel like my nose is in very good hands.

When I go see the eye doctor, I will probably also schedule surgery.  When I made the appointment, the lady I talked to mentioned that they (being both Nose Doctor and Eye Doctor) were looking at a July date, although she didn't say which.  So that may be sooner than I really expected, which is good, I guess.  It will probably be really nice to consistently be able to breathe, which will hopefully be the result of the procedures.

*I wonder what inspires ENTs to go in to that field.  Is there anyone who, as a kid, was like "I want to look up people's noses all day! I love boogers!"  I'm sure that's not how it goes, but that thought amuses me.