Posted on 01/03/2008 6:35:58 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!
Sing hey! for the bath at close of day
That washes the weary mud away!
A loon is he that will not sing:
O! Water Hot is anoble thing!
O! Sweet is the sound of falling rain.
and the brook that leaps from hill to plain;
but better than rain or rippling streams
is Water Hot that smokes and steams.
O! Water cold we may pour at need
down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed;
but better is Beer, if drink we lack,
and Water Hot poured down the back.
O! Water is fair that leaps on high
in a fountain white beneath the sky;
but never did fountain sound so sweet
as splashing Hot Water with my feet!
Well, it's a long and Corin-esque sort of tale.
For a long while now, since at least Thanksgiving 2006, I've been trouble with my nose. Actually, it's been a nasty case of post-nasal drip that started off as a cough when I lay down. I start out sleeping on my back, then turn to my left side; I was hacking and coughing and dealing with classic "post-nasal drip" issues for an hour or so, until I fell asleep.
I was sick when I resigned from that tech support position before Thanksgiving 2006; I think I may have had the flu, and the coughing was just another symptom.
Or, possibly, my high blood pressure medication was causing the cough. The warning says it can cause a "dry" cough, but my cough was definitely not "dry."
I went to the doctor and got cough syrup; it stopped the coughing, but it was codeine, and I couldn't get the doctor to give me a permanent supply ... durnit! So I started coughing again. She wanted to refer me to an ear-nose-throat specialist, but I didn't think that was necesary.
Then we had the rainy spring that wouldn't go away, and everywhere was mold. I'm sensitive to mold, so the expansion of the coughing to my daytime life didn't surprise me. I was tired, which I blamed on my awful sleep schedule and our 17-year-old mattress.
In the summer of 2007, I had a bad bout of vertigo. When I would lie down, the room would spin for 2-3 minutes; it got to the point that bending over with my head tilted was enough to start things whirling. Eventually, the vertigo went away, but the coughing did not. My doctor wanted to send me to the specialist again, but I was working, and didn't have time to break in a new doctor.
We got a new bed (yay, SelectComfort!), but the coughing did not stop; in fact, it started interfering with my sleep. I would wake up every hour, cough for twenty minutes, then sleep for forty.
Just before we went to the Upper Peninsula for Thanksgiving, I went to my doctor yet again; this time, when she suggested a referral to an ear-nose-throat specialist, I accepted, and made an appointment for the week after Thanksgiving.
Well, I came back from the U.P. with a cold, which I had just barely gotten rid of when I went to the ENT dude. ENT dude did a CAT scan of my head (in his office --- vey cool!) and found my sinuses were asymmetrically stopped up. He put me on a 3-week-long course of antibiotics, a six-day course of steroids, and Flonase.
Four days into the six-day course of steroids, I woke up feeling great! I mean, I was ready to take on the world! I didn't realize how draggy and tired and crappy I'd been feeling for months and months until that day! For perhaps the first time since we'd moved into this second-floor apartment, I was able to go down the stairs with a spring in my step, with ankles that didn't feel stiff! Even better, my left leg, which has had swelling issues for years now (I'm too vain to wear support stockings) looked and felt better!
So after the three weeks of antibiotics, I went back to the ENT dude. He did another CAT scan, and, once again, it showed asymmetrical sinuses. Every sinus save one is clear; the left maxillary (the sinus in the cheek, below the eye) was still about 90% full of ... something.
The ENT dude thinks it's a cyst full of fluid. We'll find out on January 23rd, when he goes in with a telescope and a debrider.
My life has suddenly become the wrong kind of busy! If you have a prayer or two lying around, do think of me on the 23rd. As I told my doctor, it will be my first experience with an IV, my first experience with general anesthesia, and I have an inordinate fear of needles.
And pray for DaBear, too ... he gets to put up with me!
Yep, that’s about the way it works. I’m a cat-slave.
Well bless your heart (in the good way of course). What an ordeal. We’ll be praying for you.
We’ll pray for DaBear too, but he’s got it good (and I think he knows it).
Oh, gosh! Glad the docs are taking care of things though. Keep us updated!
You know...we could use a doctor in this group.
I’m just sayin’...
Rose, I’m so sorry you’ve been sick, but glad the doctor is getting you fixed up!! We’ll be praying for you and DaBear.
OB & LSA
Don’t look when they put the IV in. Just look away... I hate needles too.
Take care of yourself!
Well, gee, Rose...doesn’t sound like fun at all. Hope this procedure takes care of things for ya!
Well, we have a nurse...
I have an appointment for Wednesday. Got off my bum and called the doctor and they were happy to schedule me.
Haven’t I said so right along? ;-)
Heh...if nothin’ else, they’d be good help as a writing reference...
I’m still in phase one of health treatment.
Had to order new contacts and have to try new prescription and go back for checkup.
Then it’s on to the physical for the back. Although I must say that things have been better since I’ve been back to thepool.
Rose! Don’t be afraid of the IV! Sure, there’s a needle involved but it’s only for a second and then it’s gone and all that is left is a soft tube in your vein. Bendable and flexible, you won’t even feel it.
I’m sure everything will be fine and you’ll feel so much better!
Nonetheless, you know you have my prayers. Keep us posted.
Oh, the needle does not stay in? I guess that makes sense but I never knew that.
That’s right...it’s just the way to access the vein, then the soft canula is all that is left behind.
You know, all the IV's I've had over the years and I never knew that.
Well, I gotta say...it’s not always the case. Sometimes if it’s just for a minute or two...like for blood draws, then the needle stays in. Usually it’s a very small bore...tiny, what we call a butterfly.
Also, when you donate blood, the needle stays in.
But for the run of the mill hospital IV, for fluids and possibly receiving blood products...then, yeah...it’s just a soft tube.
Yeah, I pictured the ones for fluids like the blood donation ones. They made me wince just looking at them because I could only picture punctured veins every time you move your arm. *shiver*
Right. And it does take some education when you insert them and a lot of nurses forget that. I mean, we use these things CONSTANTLY. You don’t want your patient thinking they have a needle stuck in their vein! I always show them the needle before I put it in the sharps box.
The canula that remains in the vein is strong and bendable...it won’t break off easily. I’ve actually never heard of or seen one break off.
The worst part about taking them out is the dressing usually sticks to your hair! LOL!
I always thought the needle stayed in! Tht's why you weren't supposed to pull it out yourself!
I'm still not excited about the staying-in part, but at least I won't have fears of the needle working its way loose and going traveling all over my body.
I have a morbid imagination ...
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