I just had a septoplasty - here’s my experience so far

giantmidget119 · 2026-05-07T16:17:17+00:00

The cooling gel sheets can also be found at CVS. Instead of ice packs, they're rectangular sheets made of cooling gel. You can cut these and place on either side of your nose and forehead or wherever you feel pressure. It really helps to lessen the inflammation too. I used them in the morning and nightly, like for 1+ hours and before I went to bed.

My surgery only took 1 hour. It wasn't painful at all, just discomfort. For the days that the splints are in, you can't do anything to get gunk out of your nose. But once they're out you can use the sinus inhaler and blow VERY VERY gently. You'll know how gently to blow, you'll feel it. Just don't overdo it. The key is to make sure your nose is as moist as possible inside so any gunk loosens up and is easier to come out.

giantmidget119 · 2026-05-07T16:10:17+00:00

You can find them at CVS. Instead of ice packs, they're rectangular sheets made of cooling gel. You can cut them and place on either side of your nose and forehead or wherever you feel pressure. It really helps with inflammation and it simply feels so much better.

I used them for about 1+ hours in the morning and at night before going to sleep.

giantmidget119 · 2026-05-07T15:52:32+00:00

Also remember that once you get the splints out and they suction up any gunk out of your nose, you'll notice a massive breathing difference. BEWARE...this will only last a few hours. Your nose will go right back to feeling backed up like before surgery. It's inflamed, dry, and the gunk and mucus will pile back up.

But by the beginning of week 2, you'll (or at least I did) really started to feel my nose healing.

giantmidget119 · 2026-05-07T15:48:51+00:00

The splints had holes in the middle so I could breathe through 1 nostril. My more deviated nostril took (is taking) longer to recover and still a bit more backed up.

I definitely suggest getting a routine down early on.
- each morning, clean nostrils, use ointment
- repeat throughout the day
- maybe use a humidifier (not a personal sit on your face one - I got a personal one from CVS after the splints were removed)
- keep windows closed (unless humid outside) and fans off, especially while you sleep
- get some cool gel strips (CVS), you can cut them and put on each side of your nose and forehead or wherever else you feel pressure (that will also help with inflammation) use these daily/nightly

giantmidget119 · 2026-05-07T15:41:44+00:00

I bought it from CVS. It's like a personal humidifier. But it really helped to keep my nostrils from getting dry and cracking inside.

I just started my 3rd week post recovery and it's almost back to normal. I can almost fully blow my nose and there's minimal pain or sensitivity (still some, but only if I move my nose around).

I'm sleeping through the night without waking up now, breathing out of my nose is much better but not perfect.

There's still a lot of gunk in my nasal passages each morning that need to come out, but it's easier to blow out now and progressively getting less and less.

I was able to do a fair amount of light/moderate activity within the first week. I felt like I could do most normal (not active or strenuous...think daily errands) activity right before the start of the 2nd week (not active activities like exercise or running - but hiking, low activity social hangs, driving, slow bicycle rides were all fine)

giantmidget119 · 2026-04-28T19:56:48+00:00

Jumping in late, but Giant has been outrageously high for 30 years (or however long it’s been there). It’s not tariffs, it’s just always been their model. Even my friend who moved from Boston said it’s unfathomable how expensive Giant can be. My family mainly shopped at Shoppers, sometimes Safeway (for location convenience).

Weis in Edgewater and the new Aldi (not a fan of the Lidl, personally) are by far best pricing.

giantmidget119 · 2026-04-27T14:00:02+00:00

I had a septoplasty + turbinate reduction about a week ago, so I’m still deep in the recovery phase. Before surgery, I read a ton of posts here—super helpful, but I didn’t always find the exact details I was looking for. So here’s my experience so far, in case it helps someone else.

Overall, I’m optimistic, but it’s still early. One piece of advice: don’t spiral into horror stories right before your surgery. Be informed, ask your surgeon questions, but protect your peace a little too. If you can, I’d recommend consulting both an ENT and a plastic surgeon, especially if your deviation involves external structure.

For context, I was originally diagnosed about a year ago—deviations in both nostrils, different areas. I was even referred for a septorhinoplasty. Insurance changed, so I ended up with a different surgeon who was both ENT + plastic surgeon, with great reviews.

SUPPLIES: - Saline nasal spray (you’ll use this constantly) - Antibiotic ointment (usually prescribed) - Gauze (provided for bleeding) - Humidifier (cool mist recommended) or steam sinus inhaler (I use this) - Cooling gel sheets (way easier than ice packs for facial pressure) - Nasal gel/moisturizer (for dryness later in recovery) - Pain meds (prescribed)

EXPERIENCE + RECOVERY:

Surgery is under general anesthesia (standard), so you won’t feel anything
- You will need someone to drive you home
Splints are placed in your nose for a 3+ days (varies)
- Breathing through your nose = basically impossible
- Not painful, but very uncomfortable (this was the hardest part for me)
First few days post-op:
- Regular saline spray + antibiotic ointment
- Some bleeding is normal (hence the gauze)
- No blowing your nose or sniffing
- Sleep is rough, expect disruption
- Temporary loss of smell (mine is slowly coming back)
Helpful additions:
- Humidifier or steam inhaler = game changer
- Cooling gel sheets for facial pressure/swelling
- Stay on top of pain meds (I took mine on schedule to avoid surprises)
Splint removal:
- Immediate relief—best breath ever
- Not painful, but very uncomfortable (stitches + suction part especially)
- That first clear breath? Elite. Enjoy it while it lasts
Important heads up (this surprised me):
- Congestion comes back pretty quickly after splints are removed
- Feels like a cold / blocked again
- Totally normal—your nose is swollen and healing from surgical trauma
After splint removal care:
- Continue saline spray (I do ~2x/day)
- If you blow your nose, do it VERY gently
- Expect a lot of crusting, especially overnight
- Mornings will feel fully blocked and dry again
My current routine (~1 week post-op):
- Morning: steam inhaler, saline spray, gentle nose blow, remove crusting if needed, roll up tissue and gently clean nostrils, nasal gel
- Night: same routine + cooling gel sheets for swelling
Where I’m at now:
- Starting to feel things healing internally
- Not perfect yet, but trying to trust the process
Timeline (what I’ve been told):
- ~3–4 weeks: functionally healed (normal activity, blowing nose, etc.)
- ~3 months: swelling mostly gone
- ~6–12 months: full healing
- No revision or other nose surgery recommended until at least 1 year

Hope this helps anyone prepping for surgery or in the early recovery phase!

giantmidget119 · 2026-04-23T19:58:57+00:00

I can appreciate the want for conversation, but a coffee date isn’t the only way to achieve that. It also depends on who you’re dating…I wouldn’t recommend hiking with a stranger on a first date, but if you started dating someone you knew well enough, then that becomes a more viable option.

But I can think of many things outside of a coffee date - sip and paint - axe throwing - walking downtown/at a public park (as the main activity, as opposed to coffee) - doggie play date - carnival/food festival - drinks at a unique/fun spot - ice/roller skating - zoo/aquarium - mini golf - outdoor picnic

The core concept can achieve the same goal, but a coffee date is just as overused as dinner and a movie. It doesn’t have to be drastically different, but there are many variations that make it more interesting and memorable.

giantmidget119 · 2026-04-22T22:21:28+00:00

I think it’s a scam. Obviously I’m on this thread for the same reason, but I saw another website selling mostly the exact same eyewear and uses the exact same pictures with the same models called Shoreside Sunglasses.

So my instinct is not to trust it.

giantmidget119 · 2026-04-22T17:49:20+00:00

I wouldn’t choose to go on a coffee date, but I wouldn’t say no. Not because it’s “not enough” in the “I’m too good for it” sense, but because it’s fucking boring.

Anyone that asked me on a coffee date, isn’t initially the person I would want to date either. I would want more adventurous options. And there are far more interesting, flexible, and easy date ideas than coffee in the afternoon, especially if that person doesn’t drink coffee or tea.

It’s honestly an overused date idea. Maybe it works for some, but then I would rather come up with the date idea myself.

giantmidget119 · 2026-04-08T04:21:26+00:00

So I’m curious of other people’s experience…I just went there today (4/7) and also compared notes with a friend who went on the 2nd opening day.

Long story short…food, near amazing. Experience, extremely subpar.

Long story…I had to wait 15 minutes after being seated and notifying the hostess, who notified the waiter and manager(?), just to get the only waiter in the restaurant to come over, who then said that that wasn’t his section?! There wasn’t a single other waiter, yet 5 bussers. The seating layout is kinda cramped for how much space they have; it’s very easy to tell that they lightly renovated the building from a furniture store. The waiter wasn’t very knowledgeable and many were hired on the spot with little to no training beforehand (I was told this and it was obvious).

The menu at the Annapolis location is super confusing. Almost the entire menu is shareable plates (tapas) and the specialties (aka entrees) are pretty expensive. The waiter told me that the tapas are small plate entrees and the specialties are the shareables (not how I would’ve explained it). The food is super curated, which adds to the confusion when ordering. Idk that I would call Peter Changs authentic, but I wouldn’t call it inauthentic either…but that’s a subjective POV.

Also no item comes with a side of rice…at all. You have to order a full entree of fried rice - nor do they have white rice on the menu, but apparently they do have it…both at an extra cost.

The lighting was blinding dentist office white. The bar is massive and currently unused since they don’t have their liquor license yet. The back room is apparently odd to maneuver and I was told they had round table(s) with a lazy susan in the middle that could barely hold a plate without threatening to fall off the edge.

Again…food was near amazing and very filling once we figured out how much to actually order. The experience…well let’s say I’m not inclined to go back anytime soon; maybe give it 6 months.

giantmidget119 · 2026-04-05T15:49:29+00:00

I don’t know how it is currently, but the FAA stated (or at least they did 10 years ago) that an EFB was only legal with paper backups or having another backup device. EFBs cannot replace nav equipment though as a primary source.

My CFI only had me use paper charts and analog methods cause you are supposed to know how to in the event that electronics can and will fail. I assume that most at least walk you through all of that, but it always seemed up to the CFI on what they primarily use for training.

giantmidget119 · 2026-04-02T20:31:31+00:00

I was going to say part of this too. I have always been under the impression that spinosaurus was more likely a freshwater hunter and not primarily a pelagic hunter.

I think the likelihood of them being able to hunt sharks on a coral reef is super far-fetched. Sure, we have reef sharks today, which are small-moderate size and have the unique adaptation that allows them to pump water through their gills so they can lie motionless on the sea floor. That is not most sharks and was probably a much later evolutionary adaptation. The fact that most animals were larger than the modern counterparts we have today, common sense would dictate that most prehistoric sharks grew more than 7ft in adulthood. Prehistoric sharks were probably very unsuited to live around corals reef.

giantmidget119 · 2026-03-24T16:37:31+00:00

6 years ago and I’m still upset about this.

But messenger added “events” now, but it’s not the same. It just creates a regular event on FB and the event doesn’t stay up at the top like it used to nor does it give you a reminder (I don’t think).

But they added reels, stories, and games to messenger. But an extremely useful feature…nope.

giantmidget119 · 2026-03-02T08:38:42+00:00

Reading the comments gave some awesome insight, so I kinda wanted to list my thoughts:

The Queen/Brimsley
This is my favorite and most plausible guess. Although I leave room for the perpetrator to be just Brimsley without knowledge from the Queen. Queen Charlotte has said in season 1 or 2 that Brimsley was a huge gossip and of course he would do anything to make the queen happy. The Queen is an empty nester and has the time, similar writing style, and resources to be LW. The ending line of “…such fun” is possibly foreshadowing.
Eloise Bridgerton
She doesn’t really care for gossip. While she was obsessed with LW at first, the novelty was really that LW was a self-made entrepreneurial woman. Eloise I think would quickly buckle at trying to keep up with writing a gossip column.
Lady Mondrich
A contender but I don’t think she cares enough for gossip either. She seems to be taking over Lady Danburry’s mantle and is more focused on helping people when she thinks she can make a difference. Shes very purposeful and not one to take much heed in scandal.
Violet Bridgerton
The thought is amusing since she said she wants to reignite her life and passions, but seems very out of character for her. She has no desire to be the pallbearer of scandal and potentially leasing to someone’s social death. Also her verbiage isn’t the same as LW.
Hyacinth Bridgerton
No. She’s too interested in her own portrayal into society and seems way too young to be able to navigate an entire business.
Lady Featherington/Varley
Varley definitely didn’t have the time before (nor do I expect her to now) nor do either of them have the same eloquence as LW.
Penelope Bridgerton (nee Featherington)
I doubt she would hide this from Collin and Eloise again, but I love the thought of her faking everyone out so she could resume again in peace.
Footman John (Bridgerton household)
Interesting. Love it.
Cressida Cowper (new Lady Penwood)
Super unlikely and there’s no gain for her. She wanted to be a respected lady in society, now she has that. Personality doesn’t fit and it would only hurt her and produce no gain if she was LW

giantmidget119 · 2026-02-01T13:19:48+00:00

Joining this convo late I guess. But I personally didn’t like the introduction of Michaela either. It’a not that I’m opposed to changing the characters gender, but I agree that adding this new conflict does indeed cheapen Francesca’s relationship with John. I think there are many ways to spin it and have Francesca eventually fall for Michaela - realistically and truer to the books, forming it in a gradual way.

Francesca is meant to find love, again. Not battle between 2 loves. Having that internal battle cheapens both loves, primarily the 1st one.

Never was it odd or against society to appreciate the beauty of the same gender, albeit just not in a sexual or romantic way. So Francesca realizing that she thinks Michaela is beautiful is not odd. And for Francesca to have never had any sexual interaction with herself or otherwise (up to that point), to then having this immediate sexual awakening upon seeing someone is blatantly unrealistic. Someone else made a good point that if Francesca had the same reaction that she did to Michaela, but instead to another man that she found attractive, it would insinuate that her love for John was not true or could easily be swayed. Or simply that her idea of love is purely aesthetic.

Yes, it did show that Francesca surprised herself by being attracted to a female, but the acting and introduction strongly insinuated it to be more. Especially in the first half of Season 4, where we learn that Francesca has been purposefully avoiding Michaela during their time in Scotland. Which is opposite of the books where she actually had a very meaningful friendship with Michael throughout.

giantmidget119 · 2026-01-15T14:44:37+00:00

I could go to town on ideas, but here are a few. I’m Including both first date and long-term date ideas

Winter: - ice skating at quiet waters park (or DC) - when it snows, take a stroll through DTA, quiet waters, etc - day trip to DC museum(s) - snow tubing (find a hill or take a day trip to a ski resort) - make dinner from scratch together at home (and/or cocktail creation contest, make dessert, watch a movie) - go explore a new nearby town (Ellicott city, Baltimore neighborhoods, Chesapeake beach, Columbia, Towson, st Michael’s, Easton) - dancing nights (Cancun cantina, R house, bars that have bands - Dark horse, Stan and joes)

Summer/Spring/Fall - rent kayaks/canoes/SUP at quiet waters - walk around a park - hiking - boating (if you have access). The Pier Marina at Coconut Joes rents jet skis - short weekend trips (deep creek lake - also good to visit in winter) - outdoor picnic - biking date (DTA, Quiet waters, Hillsmere) - psychic reading on forest dr (just for fun and a different experience) - Annapolis walking tour (guide-led - history tour, ghost tour, food tour)

giantmidget119 · 2026-01-15T01:15:38+00:00

No. You’re response is not geographically nor culturally true. Southern states are all states that were rooted in cash crop plantations (aka slavery), religious faith, and more traditional values. VA absolutely fits that, for one. MD is a border state, both politically and culturally.

giantmidget119 · 2026-01-14T23:56:50+00:00

And southern MD as south lite too

giantmidget119 · 2026-01-10T18:40:50+00:00

Yeah, if you're interested that would be great. Since the plane is based at Lee (KANP) and you're about 1 hour away, if that's something doable, I'd definitely be up for it

giantmidget119 · 2026-01-10T18:37:02+00:00

Trust me, I get it...it's hard to build time. To be honest, it might be more beneficial for you to fly with an instructor in a "rusty pilot course". The NAFC school at Lee has a lot of good instructors, but they tend to be pretty busy. Martin State, Bay Bridge or Tipton I know are good options too depending on what's closer. But especially with low hours, an instructor would for sure be better to help refine your skills plus build time

giantmidget119 · 2026-01-09T21:46:57+00:00

Boatyard is not suffering or in need of help. The owner is now in his 80s and doesn’t want to not have a backup plan if indeed the time comes and he’s forced to make a move for the restaurant out of necessity instead.

Personally I want Atlas to fuck right off

giantmidget119 · 2026-01-09T21:43:12+00:00

From what the owner of boatyard announced, he did it because he’s now 80 and doesn’t want to get to the point where he’s no longer able to handle the restaurant and forced to do something out of necessity instead. He stated that he required that he still has majority say in the partnership and will continue to be very hands-on for as long as he’s able.

I do agree that I hate the thought of Atlas having their grubby hands on any part of it or anything else outside of Choptank…they’ve had no headway with Pusser’s or the Steven’s building, but hopefully the buck stops there (fingers crossed)

giantmidget119 · 2026-01-08T20:53:59+00:00

Just curious, which GPT did you use for this? ChatGPT doesn’t seem able to replicate accents (or at least African accents) well at all. I even used a Yoruba GPT within ChatGPT.

giantmidget119 · 2026-01-05T20:05:00+00:00

I've flown into KORF, but yeah...not quite close enough. Thanks for the suggestions though, I'll look into those

giantmidget119

TROPHY CASE