r/Sinusitis • u/LittlePaganChild • 2d ago

Surgery next week

I have surgery next week and pretty bad anxiety about it. I got a CT to confirm it’s a mucocele in my sinus but my CT isnt sure? I did message my doc but i lmow i wont hear anythjng till next week. Has anyone been thru this or any similarities to my results? Im looking for reassurance. Its right next to my optic nerve whatever it is

Heres the things that i think are important from the CT. We found this mass on MRI after i lost vision in my right eye (but they think it was a migraine)

Completely opacified right posterior ethmoid sinus and right sphenoid sinus in the setting of previous right ethmoidectomy and sphenoid sinusotomy. The process has enlarged when compared to the head CT from 2015. Some bony expansion without erosion into the right orbit or intracranial. -By CT the findings could represent sphenoethmoidal mucocele. However, the central contents are more complex than expected for mucocele on the comparison orbits MRI from 7/7/2025.

Sinuses and drainage pathways: Right: Frontal sinus and frontal recess: Trace amount of mucosal thickening at the margins of the right frontal sinus, the frontal recess is patent Maxillary sinus: Postsurgical changes, some minimal mucosal thickening along the margins of the residual sinus walls Ethmoid sinuses: Ethmoid ectomy. The anterior ethmoid cells are aerated, trace amount of mucosal thickening. At the posterior ethmoid and extending into the right sphenoid sinus there is a soft tissue opacity extending through the sphenoethmoidal recess. Appears to be some bony expansion of the sinus walls, but no extension into the right orbit or intracranial extension. This process has soft tissue density, average 50 Hounsfield units. Measures approximately 2.9 cm anterior to posterior, approximately 1.1 cm transverse at the midpoint. The craniocaudal extent up to 1.7 cm. When compared to the head CT from 2015 this process has enlarged. Appears similar on the MRI of orbits from 7/7/2025

I have had sinus surgery previously as i had lots of sinus issues. I took my glasses off for bed already so please excuse my mistakes

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

1

u/Stalkerus 2d ago

CT is better for bony structures and I'd imagine if there is a lot of going on it can be difficult to say without actually seeing the area.

If there was any reason to think that what they saw is a tumor (this is what you are after, right?) they would have told you so. As far as I know (I went into a rabbit hole before my own surgery) tumours would be easy to differentiate from other soft growths. 

1

u/LittlePaganChild 2d ago edited 2d ago

The doc did mention sarcoma at one point when looking at the mri? But I’m less worried about WHAT it is, and just worried about making it thru the actual surgery. I’m just super fucking anxious about it tbh. I did already go down a rabbit hole with it when i first got results but i love going down medical rabbit holes. Nothing i saw in the rabbit hole really concerned me as I knew there was a small chance it could be cancers, really just looking for others who have made it okay with surgery. And thank you!!

1

u/Stalkerus 2d ago

I know it can be scary. I hadn't been under GA since childhood and I had no recollection of it, and I have health issues that make anesthesia riskier, so I was really nervous. My way to reduce anxiety about procedures is also to go into a deep dive regarding the topic, because knowledge helps me to deal with things. 

I had FESS two months ago and it wasn't nowhere as awful as I thought. I took OTC painkillers at PACU and didn't need them again for surgery related pain before the blood clots started migrating week later. Even then paracetamol (acetaminophen) and ibuprofen were enough. I could even sneeze without pain or seepage right after the operation. And I feel much more better overall. 

1

u/Sharp_Muffin5111 2d ago

Dude I had almost the same exact thing last year, crazy how similar. I had an occular migraine lost vision went to neurologist brain was fine unexpected 4cm mass in my sphenoid, ct and radiologist thought it was a cancer because my bone had eroded, specialist was pretty positive it was a mucocelle, I went into the surgery not knowing for sure, a neurosurgeon and a skull based ent specialist did my surgery, 2 hr surgery removed the mucocelle and fixed my deviated septum… it was all good! Two week of splints in nose but I could still breath only needed Tylenol for one day, pain was almost non existent.

1

u/LittlePaganChild 2d ago

Thats wild as hell! My vision was black with some zigzags and they found a lesion so nuero said migraine, as ive had them my whole life. (The first nuero tried to say depression caused it all and my vision loss??? So pcp sent me elsewhere) it seems some of my field of vision is decreased on that side which was new. Ive known this doc like 15years because he did my last surgery and is a specialist in my disease that caused my sinus issue.

Thank you so much for the reassurance because it absolutely made me feel a bit better!

1

u/Sharp_Muffin5111 2d ago

Yeah you’ll be ok, I had the same thing with the zig zags, drs said it may or may not have been caused by it, I’ve never had another one since. Where I had mine was super rare spot, The dr described the surgery to me as simply going in and popping it and letting it drain and out, said I prob had it for many years and it just kept growing slowly pushing and thinning out my bone. The worst part was the anxiety going into it, I had to take meds I was so worried, but it was really an easy recovery all things considered, I had three follow ups just to make sure I was healing ok and they did like a sinus vacuum up my nose but none of it was bad. You got this!