Howdy. Well, yesterday I went and had the packing taken out of my sinuses.. ugh, what an experience! For the past 3 days I've had gauze taped to my nose to catch the blood and snot thats been dripping down. So we get there, sign in, wait a bit, and of course, just when I find a good article in a magazine to read, its my turn. So we go down, the nurse has me hop up on the table, asks how I've been doing, blah blah blah, she leaves. Sit and wait for Dr. Merwin, he comes in fairly quickly. I tell him I've been dizzy since the surgery, he says its pretty normal, because of the swelling and drugs, so I stay calm. He takes off the bandage and sets to work... Now, I've had these strings hanging down my nose, a la tampons, the ends tied together at the umm... ends. He gets his little scissors and cuts them apart, and takes a little dish thingy and has me hold it under my chin, so I don't drip all over. Then he takes these little plier-like things and reaches in there, and yanks someting out of each side. Now, I can't see exactly what he's doing, because its so up close and I'd have to be cross-eyed to do it, and being dizzy somewhat, thats not really an option, but Monica has this look on her face like she's both mesmerized and grossed out at the same time... it was kinda funny. Then the doc says "Ok, this is the part that might hurt a little." And I was like "Oh??" You know, he just yanked something out of my nose, I figured he was about done. Apparantly, all he pulled out were the breathing tubes, which were held in by the packing, which is still up my nose... so he reaches up in there again with his mini speculum and pliers, and starts pulling... I swear he was trying to pull a rabbit out of my nose, and I would not have been surprised if he did. I close my eyes because its really uncomfortable, and he finally pulls it out, along with a great big glob of mucous/blod/yuckness. I know this because I can feel it dripping down my face. I open my eyes and look at Monca and she's there all grossed out/fascinated/horrified. Anyways, he goes and does the other side. Its very strange to feel something moving inside your head that you have no control over. It comes out, all gooey and shit, same as the other. He gets some gauze wipes me off a bit, then gets this spray bottle thing and tells me to sniff the stuff.. saline solution, I think. So he's spraying and I'm sniffing, and then he comse at me with this mini-vacuum, and starts sucking out the loose stuff in my nose. Strange feeling, I tell ya. Meanwhile, I've got white-knuckled deathgrip on the table I'm on for fear of falling, so Monica comes up and holds my arm, the comes and stands behind me, lets me lean on her a bit. Finally, he's done spraying and sucking, and gives my face a final once-over with some gauze. He asks me if I can breathe... I inhale... it was a beautiful thing, I tell you. I have never been that clear before, EVER. It feels funny, like my face is hollow. He tells me how much crap in there he had to clean up, trimming back certain parts, and eliminating others that were ridden with infection. Chronic Sinusitis, he called it. So I ask him about sleeping, and wearing the bandage, and he says I can sleep how ever I want now, and don't need to wear the bandages anymore, except for a small one on the way home, in case I drip a little from the spraying. So... now I wait a few days, get some special nasal spray, and then take that 3 times an hour and blow all the rest of the crap out. Oh, and I'm off for 2 weeks for healing. I go back the.. 16th, I believe.