Board Thread:Discussion/@comment-26499078-20160324214114

Okay, so I recently found out what exactly has been giving me serious sinus headaches for so many years.

It turns out I have something called a "mucus-retention cyst" in my sinuses, and it's been keeping my nose from running when it should have.

As a result, the mucus continues to build in my head, usually in my temples, and the pressure causes me quite a lot of pain. It becomes hard to think straight, let alone have fun--when I finally finished Portal 2 last year, I couldn't enjoy the final battle anywhere near as much as I should have, because I was in such pain at the time.

However, now there is hope.

I have an appointment for an ENT (ears, nose, throat) doctor to get this cyst drained and/or removed, thus restoring my ability to consistently have fun, on March 31. I will be feeling weird post-surgery, but I'll recover soon enough--the long-term benefits greatly outweigh the cost (though I do have insurance).

I want to emphasize that '''this is not life-threatening. '''The surgery takes about 5-10 minutes, according to those that have had it, though the general anaesthetic you're given at the start will make you feel weird all day. Reportedly, once you recover, you'll feel like a completely new person.

Here's a description of what the surgery entails, according to someone who was about to have it.

Don't worry, I'm 99.9% sure I'll be fine. I just had to make this topic as a heads-up that I really want to wait a week before we get started on the big event coming up--and posting it here means more people will see it than if I said it in the chat room.

Thank you for understanding. I'll be back next week, I promise. 