Tammy's Story: Balloon Sinuplasty

Dr. Robertson: Tammy, I just want to thank you for letting us videotape you two minutes after we finished doing this Balloon Sinuplasty procedure. So thank you for allowing us to film the whole experience, but I guess, I’d just like to take this opportunity to ask you, ‘How was it? Was it what you expected? Was it a horrible experience? An ok experience? How would you classify this?’

Tammy: I was surprised that it didn’t hurt more than it did. It went really fast, very minimal pain.

Dr. Robertson: How would you say your breathing is at this moment compared to earlier this morning?

Tammy: Well it’s already better, I think. I’m already getting more air in now. I was actually most surprised that the injections when you were numbing me up didn’t hurt any more than they did. It was almost like having dental work done.

Dr. Robertson: I oftentimes will tell people that if you do ok at the dentist, you should do ok with this procedure. Would you agree with that?

Tammy: Absolutely. It very much felt like numbing for having dental work done.

Dr. Robertson: I know that a number of years ago, you had another nasal procedure by another physician who straightened your septum. How did that experience compare to this experience?

Tammy: That experience was awful. It was painful. I went home with my nose stuffed up, and kept cotton and gauze in my nose for about three days. I came back and the doctor said, ‘Well, I can numb it up and take that out,’ but I was so miserable because my nose was just growing with the liquid in there I said, ‘No just take it out.’ It’s the most painful thing I have ever done.

Dr. Robertson: Some of those memories were actually making you a little but leery about this procedure.

Tammy: And I almost backed out.

Dr. Robertson: And now having gone through it, and you’re on the other side, what would you say to somebody else who may have had some bad experiences with previous nasal surgery or perhaps a loved one, a family member, or a friend, who went through a miserable experience with a nasal procedure in the past? What would you tell them about this Balloon Sinuplasty here under local anesthesia?

Tammy: Well I would say that it’s not even close to what you might be expecting if you’re expecting it to be as hard as it was the last time. Because I’ve been here just for a couple of hours, and it’s done, and I’m sitting up talking and breathing, and feel fine.

Dr. Robertson: And that’s a pretty common experience that people will actually, almost immediately, tell a bit of a difference despite the trauma of this balloon procedure, although again, there’s a little bit of trauma—not much—and a little bit of swelling, but yeah, people can notice right away oftentimes that there’s some nice changes that have been made.

Tammy: I think so too. Absolutely.

Dr. Robertson: Good. So would you recommend this procedure to other people?

Tammy: Absolutely. And I had a niece that asked me about it this morning, and I said, ‘Well let me go try it out first, and I’ll tell you if you want to do it or not.’ So I will tell her. She’s going to get the thumbs up if she wants to do it. She’ll get the thumbs up sign.

Dr. Robertson: Well thank you for sharing this, and we still have to take your vital signs. I mean, we just literally finished two minutes ago, so we’ll go ahead and do that.