Month: June 2009

I think this about satisfies the update interval on the sinus surgery recovery.

FROM A READER:

Sean,

I loved your blog on your sinus surgery experience. I went through the same procedure 8 days ago and your level of detail in it really helped me understand what to expect beforehand.

On your blog (D-Day + 2: Friday) you noted that you had noticed increased resonance in your voice. I am going through the same thing now and mine is quite noticeable especially over the phone. I had a pretty normal voice before so having it sound as it does now concerns me quite a bit.

My question is, did your voice go back to normal or is the increased resonance still there.

I appreciate your response.

MY RESPONSE:

thomas,

thanks for reading.  i did it for you.  meaning, i wished that level of detail was out there for me beforehand.  i couldnt not blog it.  i even tried to get a videographer client of mine in the room to shoot it.  he was willing to sign whatever waivers, cause he too had the same surgery.  but hospitals bristle at the notion of video cameras within their op rooms.

ok, the voice.  its totally different.  not in a dramatic way.  i mean, i dont sound like a muppet.  but i dont sound the same.  i too notice it more on the phone, because all phones amp your voice into your earpiece.  i get it more on my “N” or “M” sounds.  like: “a bag of m & m’s”.  my friends and co-workers alike are polite & they hold-back in their candor, but they all agree that yea, something is different about the way i talk.  that: i sound normal, just different.

whats weird is that from the perspective of my physiology; the architecture of my new sinus cavities, i totally understand why.  but i am only just now, 2+ months on, getting used to it.

my doctor isnt evasive, but he’s also pragmatic, insisting that its not fair for him to either provide an answer after only 2 months, or for me to be getting settled-into the fact that this is forever.  i love him for this: he reminds me that the healing process for this may be closer to 10 months than 2.  i dont know what you had done, but i had my entire ethmoids reconstructed.  the pathology report reads bone + cartilage removed as well as tissue/polyps.  so i’m prepared to wait for shit to settle down.

but keep in mind: for me anyway, if the change in the tenor (if thats the right word) is the downside to this, then i’ll gladly accept it.  for i can smell again.  i havent felt this healthy since college.  i’m biking my commute 16+ miles a day, i get up when i wake up, and mentally, i am clear as a bell.  the success of the surgery has positive cascade effects i have yet to realize.