Glad to hear it's healing up good and your breathing better. I broke my nose when I was in 2nd grade. Got taken thru an orchard on a horse I had no buisness on. Bashed my head on a limb and landed on a large rock and cut my head open. After I got my head stitched up, my dad wondered if maybe I had broken my nose too. I lied and said no. So I got away with it.
I have pretty much the same story as U. I'm almost 57 now. About 5 years ago I had Septo Plasti done on my left nostril. I'm so glad I didn't remember how painful it was on my dad years ago when they removed all those miles of gauze from his nose with the " The Old Procedure". Like U said, it was painful, and packing didn't want to come out! Yikes! There was a slight hesitation with the pain, and then it was over.
I still have trouble with this nostril. I go to another ENT. now.This guy is sharp. I have sleep apnea, and went to him because U have to be able to breath thru your nose to be helped with the C-pap machine. My nose still plugs up alot. So bottom line is I'm on Plan A, using Breathe Rites and Nasonex nasal spray along with my C-Pap machine. Plan B would be to remove my septum and crush the bulge which is partially blocking that nostril, flip it over to the good nostril, and reinstall.
So I'm giving Plan A as much time and effort as is necessary. As far as breathing thru my nose, I still have a really hard time not breathing thru my mouth. Probly just habit?