Yesterday was my 6th visit to Dr. Tabor, and he’s really growing on me. For those who are new to the “show,” I had the same ENT for nearly a decade before he retired, and he passed me on to his other CF-knowledgeable doctor in the same office. After my first surgery in 6 years followed by a continuation of my headaches and a bad CT scan, my CF doctors referred me to Dr. Tabor for a second opinion and treatment at the same hospital as clinic: Tampa General Hospital in the USF Health building.
He’s got a really high-tech endoscope system that puts the scope images onto a 17″ HD monitor and has the ability and willingness to record office cleanings and surgery in full HD for his geeky patients with a strong stomach. We had a mis-communication as I was about to go under for my 10th sinus surgery of my long and storied CF career so I will have to wait until my next time to get my hands on what happens when I’m asleep. I missed my septoplasty, but my next surgery will include drilling, which I think will be much more compelling footage… at least for me. Here is some fascinating, graphic video of the last cleaning I had before my January surgery. Thanks to my dad for editing it with my new iMovie ’11 when he was here in December. (Please do not hit play if you don’t want to see nose hairs, slimy mucous membranes, or boogers. Please do hit play if you are awesome.)
So, as I mentioned back in January, that was the easiest sinus surgery I’ve ever had. It was quite a bit of work according to the list of tasks he had on the authorization sheet, but I barely bled at all – so minimally, I’d say that I bled more in my first 5 minutes of being awake after surgery in October than I did the entire recovery and healing time in January. The primary reasons I needed the surgery were to straighten my septum (since my previous ENT didn’t do that and we still couldn’t access my left side in-office), completely remove several structures that you see in the video if you’re brave enough, and to eliminate my pounding headaches.
Unfortunately, my headaches never really let up. I had a couple the week of surgery – I’d expect that after being traumatized inside my head. I had more the next week – I blamed the barometer dropping with weather fronts. After that, they just never truly went away and it’s affecting my mood and my ability to concentrate.
The new gameplan
At clinic, my CF doctors put me on amoxicillin and all of the doctors agreed that should take care of my staph infection and help the headaches. Dr. Tabor is putting me on nebulized vancomycin straight into my sinuses with the PARI Sinus system, which vibrates inside the sinus cavities by creating a closed system and pulsing air in and out at high frequencies. It’s quite a strange sensation, but I am optimistic that it will keep things more open and get into areas that using a nasal attachment on a passive system doesn’t.
With that all set to start at the beginning of the week, he said that if a month of that doesn’t make things significantly better up there and get rid of my headaches, he’s going to have to take some pretty drastic measures involving drilling and “removing bone” from my sinuses to allow things to drain better. While I’d love to get rid of the pain, I wouldn’t exactly be looking forward to that much reconstruction.
One thing is for sure: I’m coming to my April 1st appointment with a thumbdrive to get the video from that cleaning.
One thing that isn’t for sure: Will I be able to trust anything he says on April 1st? I almost chose March 31st just in case. ๐
April 1, eh? Well, it was 4 years ago on April 1 that my friend Tom called your mom on my cell phone and told her I’d been in a motorcycle accident & was on my way to the hospital. She believed that, and I’m sure glad she did. ๐
Hope they don’t have to resort to drastic reconstruction in there. But, even in that little video it looks really crowded.
He said that is all gone now from his first surgery, though. This would all
be about the frontal sinus access. I already have a polyp for cryin’ out
loud.
Yucky-looking junk, but interesting!
Praying that the antibiotics and the PARI Sinus system work wonders.
Well, I definitely had to view it! I guess, I’m awesome! LOL
That was amazing and nasty all at the same time. I am a nurse so gross stuff always intrigues me. I hope that you get the news you need on the 1st. That reconstruction sounds excessive, but may be a necessary evil.
Good luck!
I guess you ARE awesome!
I wanna see!! I’m on a Mac and there is nothing where the video should be. Just a big white space. Thanks in advance. I’m also very curious how you like the sinus nebulizer. I got one but it is too forceful — makes the inside of one nostril bleed where there’s a weak spot. The Pari sinus looks like your nose won’t be directly under the strongest air pressure? Do you spit the medicine out that drains down your throat? This is all very interesting!
I made it on a Mac. It’s a Vimeo site video. Make sure you can see vids on their site.
They give you a rubber stopper with a pin hole for the other nostril – you sort of close off your throat a bit, too.
I am so NOT awesome, but if I were then I’d be in the medical field I guess. I can take care of IV’s and stuff like that, but the inner workings of the body- no thanks. I sure hope you don’t have to go through the reconstruction surgery. As a sufferer of migraines, I can only imagine what you are going through.
From what I understand of migraines, since my mom has a history of them, they are on par with each other. I guess that means it’s either not as bad as it sounds or it is, depending on your perspective on migraines. ๐
I have the same ENT. He’s awesome! Best of luck to you!
How long have you been going to see him?
ย I’ve seen Dr Tabor since April of 2009. I have seen about 5-6 other Tampa area ENT’s and he’s the only one who hasn’t bailed on my situation.ย I have chronic recurring sinus infections.ย Mostly antibiotic resistant Pseudomonas, and I’ve had MRSA twice in the past year.ย ย
I like you have not been able to get rid of the daily headaches.
The best thing about Dr. Tabor is he’s not willing to just throw in the towel. As frustrating as managing this is, he is not giving up.ย It says a lot.
ย
I’ve seen Dr Tabor since April of 2009. I have seen about 5-6 other Tampa area ENT’s and he’s the only one who hasn’t bailed on my situation.ย I have chronic recurring sinus infections.ย Mostly antibiotic resistant Pseudomonas, and I’ve had MRSA twice in the past year.ย ย
I like you have not been able to get rid of the daily headaches.
The best thing about Dr. Tabor is he’s not willing to just throw in the towel. As frustrating as managing this is, he is not giving up.ย It says a lot.
ย ย
I felt pretty comfortable with his confidence immediately and found out he’d done one of my other CFer friend’s first surgery a couple months prior. Then I referred a non-CFer friend to him and he operated on her recently.
ย I was going to ask you also, where did you get the video? Did you take it? OMG.ย I want to see my sinuses from that angle. Pretty gross, but cool.
You never noticed that the scope is a camera? He can hit “Record.” Bring a thumbdrive.