It Was a Sign

Seven years ago I told my Dr, "I can't breathe out of the right side of my nose. At all!"

After saying this repeatedly to previous doctors, this one finally believed me and sent me to an ENT. The ENT couldn't even get his instruments into my nose. A benign tumor had filled every sinus cavity on the right side of my face. Here is the fast forward version of the next seven years...

• Surgery #1, April 2003...didn't get it all
• Surgery #2, July 2003...didn't get it all
• Surgeon says he needs to cut open my face to access it...I say "no, thank you" and "goodbye!"
  
• Surgery #3, October 2003...Hopkins ENT accesses it through my mouth and guts everything in my right cheek.
  
• Annual follow-ups...at the five year mark I'm declared "clear" but still have to have annual check-ups for life.
  
• Check-up, April 2010...recurrence. sigh.
• Switch to a new Hopkins ENT who specializes in the tumor and begin surgery plans.
  

So he's giving me his routine run-down of risks of this surgery and says, "damage to tear duct." I stop him and say, "Could this be why my right eye constantly tears?" He got a strange look on his face and says, "It sounds like it has already been damaged." But I think about the timeline and say, "But my eye was tearing before I even knew I had the tumor." To which he replies, "Then the original tumor probably caused the tear duct damage. We need to find out if your duct is damaged so we can have my ophthalmologist colleague join me during the surgery to repair it."

Fast forward once again:

• See an Oculoplastic surgeon...duct is slightly narrowed
• She opts to do a minor procedure...a silicone tube is inserted in the duct to keep it open.
• If the duct is too narrow and she can't insert the tube...come back for another surgery to go through the bone and perform a drainage bypass.

NO THANK YOU! I've lived with a leaky eye for 15 years what's another 20 or so?

Surgery is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 16th. Merry Christmas to me! Don't judge me if I put up my Christmas decorations next week. That only give me five weeks to enjoy them.

Moral of the story?
If your eye leaks, it may be a sign of an underlying bigger problem that should be address immediately. Whonnu?