Melissa,First, I've had the CT guided endoscopic sinus surgery and was absolutely astounded at the ease of recovery. Mine was totally enclosed in all but the rear ethmoid and sphenoid sinuses and so dense in the maxillary sinus there was the possibilityaof a tumor. They had to break a bone under my eye to "chunk it out." No tumor in the sinus. I had no bruising -- none, zero, zip. Very little pain -- eensy, teensy -- barely a blip. The grossest part for me was doing the nasal lavage to keep the gunk cleared for a few weeks (?) but it wasn't any big deal after the first few times, other than the gross factor. Oh, bless the heart of my sinus surgeon, I was freaked some (we had to clear the sinus problem before the facial tumor surgery which they scheduled for about six weeks later) so even though it an outpatient procedure, I stayed overnight at the hospital on one of those 23 hour deals and was one of the first to enjoy (truly!) the hospital food as they had just recently changed providers.So sorry you are going through this. I am stunned at the amount of time you've dealt with it. My facial nerve tumor was actually discovered after trying to clear a chronic sinus infection. Because any surgery carries risks (as we all know), they tend to keep trying to clear it before even suggesting surgery.I'm not sure if it a blessing or a curse for you because I was absolutely clueless. I'd gone for an MRI due to my psychologist referring me to a neurologist after my first visit. I'd gone to see him to discuss strengths and weaknesses for a career change. He put together my 10 year hearing loss, 50 year facial paralysis and about 3 years of stumbling like a drunken ballerina.The radiologist, as seems to be his customary practice, checked to see if I had any other radiographs in the system to compare. He pulled up a 3 year old CT scan (from when my PC wanted to rule out stroke after yet another bout of "Bell's Palsy") and noted that all of the sinuses that were blocked on the old CT were still blocked.After trying to clear up the sinus infection, we did another CT scan specific for the sinuses, and that's when the facial nerve tumor showed up as a mass in my middle ear.My sinuses have remained clear the past 20 months. They also took care of my deviated septum.I was so freaked out by the sinuses, and on its heels, the facial nerve tumor, that I did pretty extensive research and also asked the surgeon to see if there is a connection between the cranial nerves. To the best of my knowledge and his information, there is no connection.The only "gooey" problem I've had (was/is) the "nervous dog, drippy nose" that occurs in copious quantities whenever I am active or the weather is warm. This happened AFTER the facial nerve resection NOT the sinuses. I dug out the information on this one after a hint of info from an ER doctor regarding how microscopically small and twined together so many of these cranial nerves are. So while I don't have sinus problems, I do have "Pseudo-Cerebral Spinal Fluid Rhinorrhea."And for such a big fancy name, and the oopy-goopiness to it, it is easily managed with a prescription for Atrovent nasal spray -- it's available as a generic (yay!).Sorry to have prattled so, but I'm new to this list and guess I'm having a case of newby-itis.Melissa, truly, after I told a good friend of mine in another state about how great the sinus surgery was, she went ahead and had hers done (she'd been fighting with problems for years) and she told me her general health is better since she had them rotor rootered. <g>Anyway, I'll head back to lurk. Best.Claudia
