surgery

A week gone bumming around Pretoria and finally I've sat down at a computer. Travelling from Namibia to South Africa is an easy flight and Peace Corps takes care of rides to and from the airport so it was mostly painless. I made a quick stop at the Peace Corps office and met the doctor in charge of all the medical evacuations in the area. We went through the whole story in preparation for my appointment with the ENT and then he invited me to join the other PCV in town for dinner at his house. His wife was a PCV several years back so they understand how nice a home cooked mexican meal is for us. So I saw the ENT and after his examination he suggested the same treatment as the doctor in Namibia so the surgery was scheduled for Tuesday pending approval from Washington. He had me take a hearing test which showed my hearing was fine but the right eustachian tube was not functioning properly, consistent with my symptoms. I spent the weekend with one other medevac from Tanzania and some PCVs from South Africa that were in Pretoria after a workshop. The weekend was fun and my fears were relieved Monday morning when I learned that Washington had approved my surgery. I went in early Tuesday morning with no assurances that the surgery would solve the problem but with the knowledge that it is the only option left since I haven't responded to any other treatment. It took an hour to be admitted, another hour for paperwork at the day ward and then I could get in bed and sleep while I waited for my turn in theater. Sometime around noon they rolled me away and by 3pm I had woken back up. During that time the doctor performed a functional endoscopic sinus surgery & anstostomy & adenoidectomy & tubinectomy (can't really read how that last one is spelled). That means he went through my nose to open up my sinuses, remove the inflammed adenoidal tissue and put tubes in both my ears. Shortly after I woke up they moved me to my room for the night where I read until they brought dinner, chicken and mozzarella salad. By 6pm I was feeling pretty good so I called the nurse in to find out where the nearest phone was, assuming she would want to accompany me but she just let me cruise down the hall to make a couple phone calls. It was surprising how quickly I was feeling mostly normal after surgery. Wednesday morning I saw the doctor again and got all my medicine together and let myself out of the hospital. Since then I've been resting some but also going out for dinner in the evenings. Today I just bought some McDonalds and am planning to stay in and hopefully be feeling well by the weekend. The biggest thing I've dealt with is congestion in my nose. I'm not allowed to blow my nose because thats where the incisions are but its packed full of blood clots that have been slowing loosening up and clearing out enough space for me to breathe. The other problem is the tubes in my ears. Right now they're a bit uncomfortable and until that heals there is no way to tell if the surgery fixed the problem. So now I've got a few more days to kill in Pretoria before I see the doctor again next week and check on my progress. At least the guest house where I'm staying is nice, although no chance to get any NCAA basketball. The cricket world cup is going on right now so that is the big sports news, South Africa is the top rated team in the world so the television coverage is pretty thorough.