NBC4 Chief Meteorologist Dave Mazza to undergo two surgeries

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — NBC4 Chief Meteorologist Dave Mazza has shared that he will be undergoing two back-to-back surgeries Monday.

Mazza said that he will first be having a procedure on his to correct "a fairly deviated septum," the middle piece of the nose.

"Mine is grossly pushed to one side of my nose on the inside, making it nearly impossible to breathe out of one side of my nose," Mazza said. "Even at this moment, the 'good side of my nose' on a good day feels like I have mild congestion, the 'bad side' feels like I could maybe get 5-10% of air through if I tried real hard.

"What I am told is this should help with breathing more clearly through my nose. The hope is, I will breathe a lot better, and this will help me sleep a lot better too, which would lead to better overall health and energy."

Mazza said the second procedure will be a laser vocal cord polyp surgery.

"It might be hard to notice on air because I wear a microphone on my tie, but basically since December I have been having issues with a raspy voice, and at times a sore-ish throat because I have been pushing my voice a bit to compensate," Mazza said. "I have worked with an expert on voice therapy to make the vocal cords stronger, but I have a bump (I don't know exactly what the ENT would call it) on one of my vocal cords.  It is small, but he is going to remove it after my first surgery."

Mazza said recovery time would be "a bit more than a week, with full back-to-normal recovery taking longer." He anticipated he would be cleared to be back to work on Tuesday, May 23.

For the vocal cord surgery, he will be required to not use his voice for several days to "allow the best/quickest healing possible."

"I do now know exactly how long I will be instructed to be quiet, and will find out after surgery next week," Mazza said. "So if you see me somewhere, I will likely wave and smile, but will not be vocal. I also will likely be wearing some cool bandages on my nose for a week."

Mazza is also encouraging anyone who has had either of these surgeries to let him know about the experience.

"I am a bit nervous, to be honest, but very optimistic too!" said Mazza. "I have two excellent doctors that will be helping fix me."