My (perhaps controversial) thoughts as a "newbie" to CA.
Comments
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Helloooooo!
Ooh cortisone shots so good but so not. I am going to have to have one I think. An ongoing case of hives and swelling for the past 3 weeks. The first kick at the can of prescription allergy medication is doing little. Arg. Never an allergy in my life and now I've turned 40 I get one. This is BS :-) Hope yours clears up without surgery Trill.
The bees are buzzing, the kids are good (well, mostly anyway) and school doesn't start up for another week and a half so I am squeezing every last bit of wonderfulness out of this summer that I can.
Today I went for brunch in Toronto with an old friend, went to see a Blue Jays baseball game with a dear friend to celebrate her birthday and topped it off by attending an outdoor movie in the park near home with my family. I even got to eat candy floss. What a glorious day it's been here, itches and all.
Virtual hugs to all.
Hoping surgery recovery and chemo is going well Molly and Lori.
xo
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Jbeans, oh no! I hope you get the allergy under control soon. It's so strange, we always started school after everyone else in the country now we start before! Hi to everyone else!
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Hi everyone!
Curses, curses...the ice cream thread finally did me in...
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Curses, curses...the ice cream thread finally got me
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Yummy!
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Just checking in. All the edema from my Italy trip is gone, but happy memories, photos.....and credit card bills remain. But I wanna go back! (Still have to figure out what to do about this heel spur).
Had a rough patch the past few days due to my first encounter with Zometa. Took 4 tries to find a vein that worked for an I.V. (I’d warned the lab I have crummy veins and begged them to start an IV and do the blood draw through that. “Don’t you have a port?” the tech snipped at me. Has she never seen a cancer patient who didn’t get chemo? She drew the blood, pulled out the needle and slapped a gauze & tape over the site. The infusion nurse was unable to get an IV started in that vein--its valve had gotten “sensitive” and slammed it shut). First night I felt like I was being tased at random. Next morning, saw my hand orthopedic surgeon and we agreed to skip a second trigger thumb cortisone shot and cut to the chase; tendon release surgery is scheduled for 9/20. Of course, now my thumb is behaving itself better. He prescribed Lyrica for the “zaps” and said to take the first one at bedtime, then the next day at dinner and at bedtime, and work up to 3 a day. 30 days’ worth is $233...and that’s with the insurance discount (I’m in the Medicare “donut hole” now). Later that day, the “faux-flu” hit me like an iron fist. Fever up well over 100, muscle aches, joint pain, headache--but thanks to taking Claritin at least no bone pain. Next day was worse--shivering, chills. Called MO’s nurse and she confirmed it’s not the flu but classic Zometa SE. The cattle prod zaps didn’t seem to return, so I took only a bedtime Lyrica. By last night I was pretty much okay, so that was my last Lyrica. I spent three days doing absolutely nothing, as was my plan, knowing Zometa might lay me low. What I hadn’t planned on was becoming a human pincushion, with blown veins and multiple bruises all over my left arm. The MO’s nurse agreed that six months from now, perhaps we should rethink this Zometa thing--and between now & then draft a killer appeal of my Part D carrier’s denial of the MO’s prior auth for Prolia. Otherwise, I will roll the dice on osteoporosis--not going through Zometa again and not going to fry my esophagus with an oral bisphosphonate.
Most of my music these days is as a consumer--Pearl Jam at Wrigley Field last Mon., the Boss & E St. Band at United Center tonight (yes, the same “The River Tour” I saw there in January, but he’s doing nearly 4-hr. sets now). Next weekend I’m playing a writers’ round at a folk festival; two days after that is my cataract surgery. A week & a half later I’m playing a coffeehouse in Madison, then thumb surgery, then Bob’s cataract surgery, then hopefully my other eye gets fixed. End of Oct. is a folk conference in Iowa City, but probably not going to play any showcases (didn’t even apply for official ones). Only hoping my singing partner gets our CD’s liner notes ready so we can have at least burned pre-release copies in hand for the folk DJs in attendance--too much to expect that our graphic artist can plug in the text, get us the proofs, and get the project out to the pressing plant in time. As long as we can start selling the finished product before Christmas; but my singing partner has gotten too busy playing senior centers and making FB memes that have nothing to do with music...(don’t get me started on adult ADHD). Then the Bar Show in early Dec., our Christmas gig in the S. suburbs 2 weeks later, then vacation. We’d originally planned to go to Barcelona, but we have HGV points expiring 12/31, so Bob wants to go to Vegas where our timeshare actually is. (I detest Vegas--I don’t gamble, smoke, hardly drink and don’t care to shop for stuff I can buy on Michigan Ave. But he loves it--except the shopping part).
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Hi! So good to read about everyone's latest....
ChiSandy--What an active life you lead....I feel like a couch tater tot--or should I say Big Spud?--compared to you! I'm sorry to hear about the Zometa experience--sounds awful. I don't blame you for saying "Skip it!" next time around. When I was in the hospital for shortness of breath and cough etc due to this awful sinus issue back in 2011--it cropped up literally overnight and I had no idea what was going on--they were concerned about my rapid heart rate. In order to do a cat scan (or something) of my lungs to rule out embolism they had to get a needle in ABOVE the elbow. Good luck! I told them. I'd, like you, been poked and prodded and there were several failed attempts to get a vein....my arm was so sore...anyway, here I am in the ER and a doc comes in to take my history. While we're talking in comes a tech wheeling a computer on a stand. I didn't even feel it when she, using the computer screen, inserted a needle in my upper arm! I looked and she was gone! I couldn't believe it....why can't they all be that way???
I'll be thinking of you in the up-coming weeks as you get your cataract thing done and finger work done....
Boy, didn't we take our young bodies for granted!??
MelissaDallas--That's one amazingly tempting shot! How did you keep it together to take it? That's a Magnum?
Molly-I'm glad to hear someone else misses the Games! It just added a level of excitement and refreshing entertainment to the bland fare on TV these days. Thank heaven for Netflix! For about eight bucks a month I stream it..it works great on the smart TV....I just finished a binge marathon of Myth Hunters (is that the title?) and then something called Most Haunted. The first was excellent--history and treasure and adventure all rolled into one. Most Haunted was funny. The ghost hunters--the women on the team--screamed to high heaven at weird sounds, blotting out the sounds themselves. Then being Brits they spoke with heavy accents and rapidly and in strange, echo-y places where you couldn't hear half of what they were saying. They used the Ouji Board but you couldn't see where the glass was touching to read what the "spirit" was communicating... But the settings were fantastic--great old English homes and estates and buildings that go back centuries....the photography and backstories were so well done....
JBeans--O poor you! Hives!! Hope the shots work...Never had an allergy my whole life either. Ate too many tomatoes once and got hives. And a jar of homemade strawberry jam gave me hives...I made a mess of oatmeal/water--all gooey!--and slathered this on and let it dry.
So glad you had some fun in town...cotton candy and all....yummy....as a kid I always wondered how much one of those machines would cost!
Lori, hon, am thinking about you every day.
(I think about ALL of you every day...)
t
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JBeans, I mysteriously started breaking out in hives frequently in my thirties. People at work had to keep taking me to get steroid/benadryl shots. I finally got allergy tested and was allergic to peanuts. Now, I had eaten them all my life with no problems, but I had started eating peanut butter on a graham cracker every day plus lots of asian food during ragweed season. My reaction wasn't immediate so I could not figure out what was happening. Layed off peanuts for a while. I've found that if I don't eat them all the time they don't bother me. Weird, huh?
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Trill, yes, that is a Magnum caramel bar. They are dipped in chocolate, then caramel, then chocolate again
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Oooooooohhhhhhh, MelissaDallas! What a rascal you are to tempt with this!
That's weird about the peanut allergy thing.
When I was dieting I made this soup my mom loved and had learned about in Weight Watchers called Ocho soup--eight veggies in a tomato juice base (let's see--tomatoes, corn, green beans, onions, peas, carrots--and two others I forget. I think I put in mushrooms and beets...)
Anyway, she said she was told you could eat all you wanted of this and so I did--I had it cold, warm, with dinner, for breakfast--you name it. I was taking a lost wax bronze casting course and someone in the class commented on the bright red welts she said she thought she could see forming even as she was looking at me! Creepy! I went in the bathroom and, sure enough, here were these strips of raised itchy welts on my shoulders, neck and chest. It took a while to figure out that the tomato overdose was the culprit--someone said that ANY food eaten too much of can bring on hives. No fun! And until I figured things out I continued the delicious Ocho soup--I still love it...
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JBeans, I hope your allergies are getting better. Hives and swelling sounds awful!
Molly, glad to hear you are doing well.
MelissaDallas, that Magnum bar looks delicious! It has been so hot that we have been eating a lot of ice cream. It is the only thing that sounds good in the heat.
ChiSandy, sorry to hear about your Zometa ordeal. That is awful. I hate needles and I warn the nurses/techs that the veins in my left arm have a tendency to roll and not cooperate. They only get 2 chances with me and then they will have to find someone else because they are not going to get near me again. Too many bad experiences even with my right arm before BC. The last time I had to have blood drawn, my warnings scared the poor girl so bad, she wouldn't even try. She just went and got the expert. LOL. I would love to see Bruce in concert. And it sounds like you have a busy couples of months ahead. Best of luck with the CD.
Trill, I miss the Olympics as well. Most Haunted is the British show I was talking about before. They cracked me up. I love their accents and I love learning about the historic places. Another fun show is Destination Truth with Josh Gates. He is so funny. This was his first series and was shown on the SYFY channel. He has a new show now called Expedition Unknown that is on the Travel channel. I know Destination Truth used to be on Netflix and if it isn't right now, they will probably bring it back at some point (they tend to rotate it around).
Hope everyone else is doing well.
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wow weird - I guess we are never too old to get hives or develop an allergy. I never knew it was so common and from eating too much of something. Maybe if it hadn't started 3 weeks ago before I had many tomatoes ready I may have blamed them as in the past week I've been enjoying so many from the garden every day. I'd freeze some but my freezer is already full with pear jam. We are really having good garden and tree yields this year
I remember that soup too - my mom and I used to make it when she was dieting I never liked it - I don't know why because thinking back it must have been good. I seem to remember cabbage in her soup recipe from Weight Watchers.
Anyhow - I've been put on prednisone to keep the hives at bay for 5 days. It's day 2 and so far so good. Just a few stragglers but they aren't so bad. I also go to an allergist on Tuesday to hopefully find out what it is all about.
Take care all.
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Hi all--
JBeans, Yes, I do think all that tomato-eating is to blame. I read that it can cause this but it doesn't mean you have developed an allergy to tomatoes--or this was in my case---just the overdose effect... I returned to tomatoes and Ocho soup but this time in moderation.
(When you grow tomatoes, isn't it great to stand out in a hot field and pluck a ripe beefsteak tomato right off the vine and eat it standing right there? It's hot and juicy and wonderful and gets all over your face...).
I feel like I missed summer this summer....the street running right next to mine caved in at the end of April--the street runs past the Walters Museum--and they are still working on it...!!! All summer this machine ran right under my 3rd floor windows...I thought it was just a huge generator but it was a pump, carrying drainage water from all our buildings here...!! It was a racket. It was so infernally hot that it was fine keeping the windows closed and the a/c on and off...but I really longed for those summer evenings with the windows open and the city outside calmed for the night...everybody gone home from work, the streets empty...just to enjoy that balmy air....
BUT THE DAMNED RACKET RUINED IT!
They took away the drain thing but a week later installed a gizmo that made this loud hissing noise...don't know what it was but it was almost worse than the deep chortle/rumble of the earlier machine.
Finally they took that away! Hooray!
Then yesterday afternoon Pantaloon was here in the bedroom in the windowsill, sleeping... suddenly there was this loud buzzing and I looked up--and so did she--and here was this giant cicada--I think that's what it was--on the screen--just buzzing away like crazy. It must have been two inches long!! It stayed there for a while, letting Panty and I enjoy the late summer song of the cicada---a sure sign fall is coming and summer waning.
When he finally blipped off the screen and into the tree by my window, I said, "Thank you, summer, for that!" It was like summer gave me the feeling of summer again...
But then I had a horrible night. This chest congestion was miserable! I couldn't really sleep--and NEVER on my back, the tightness and pressure just too much. I had to roll on my side but my breathing was so shallow--like I couldn't really get a deep breath in... when I got up to do something I had to bend over to breathe better...
I was due to see my breast surgeon tomorrow but cancelled that as soon as morning arrived. Then I called my ENT and said could they give me a sooner appointment with him than the October 18th we'd set--I can't wait that long. I got one for next week--hooray! He's only there Tuesdays...surgeries are Monday, research in a lab the rest of the week....While I was talking to the really sweet gal who sorta sets appointments and communications etc I asked her if she could ask if he could order some cortisone to calm this down. That was at about ten a.m. I had had two hours sleep--I know cause my Fitbit told me!
I felt like hell. She said she'd put in the request . Finally, at five thirty, I got a call from the doc...he said he wondered if maybe something else is going on here, but I told him this is exactly what I had back in 2011 with the first episode of this--where I had no idea what was going on...and ended up in the ER...then admitted...I mean, suddenly I have sinus disease!!
I told him that it follows the same progression now as then. Chest tightness, head/sinus congestion, then eventually I have to get the stuff out and cough like every 30 seconds for an hour. I mean real deep hack hack hacking....sometimes I cough so hard I bring up stuff. But it's mainly that clear egg-white stuff, but thicker. I'd Googled "post nasal drip cough" and got a lot of stuff on it...I get the feeling it drains down the bronchial tube and gathers and then builds and finally up it has to come. In the meantime you're short of breath, can't sleep---that's the WORST! You can't find a comfortable position, on the exhale you hear that crinkly/rattly noise of the mucus down there that keeps you from sleeping...
I read somewhere that sinus disease is more debilitating that heart disease and diabetes. I will add to that list my double mastectomy in December! That was heavy duty surgery but I didn't feel like jumping out of a window!
Well, I got the prednisone taper packet. Finally. It lasts a week. I already feel better after the first dose. I see him next week and think he's gonna say this needs clearing out. ( After a full month on lots of cortisone--a major medical hit against it--my cat scan, when I went to follow-up with him in July and go over things, said this is bad bad. Just a mess in there...I even had some facial pain when I was rubbing my face washing it.)
I hate surgery--who doesn't?--but feel that's coming. I just can't go through this a couple times a year...just can't. I mean, I know cortisone isn't good long term but, boy, it works wonders and is almost worth it. I doubt that he'd prescribe it time and time again...
Thanks for letting me vent this story! This has really been worse than the breast cancer! Really.
But at least I feel better now. And thank God I can see him next week...
I hope you all are doing well, eating ice cream, keeping bees, clearing of hives, and being good girls!! Hah!
I wish I had a Magnum right now. (Earlier I would have settled for a Clint Eastwood .45 Magnum and taken it to my blocked sinuses! Oh--on that idea--I read that Clint Eastwood is backing Trump....that reminds me of Charlton Heston backing the NRA...I hope I don't offend anyone here, but these guys who want to be macho--and I think that's a lot to do with it...men who haven't yet really grown up....I mean, why do these guys just really, really need an Uzi??? And they are glomming to him like crazy. I almost can hear them going "We've stood an African American president for eight years, now we have to take a woman!!!???" I sincerely think this is so tied in with men who are frustrated that heretofore "minorities"--yes, us gals included--are doing so well, gaining strength and wisdom and just plain old RISING! And I think it frustrates and angers them....their power is not what it was fifty years ago....that's all changed...)
No, I don't want a .45 Magnum. I want a Magnum slathered with caramel and chocolate, like Melissa's photo. I love that she's bitten into it....
You should see MIss Panty when I start hacking.. She's sorta used to it now, I think, but she still gets this look on her face like mommy what's wrong with you? I hug her and tell her we have to learn to laugh at this stuff...
I'm gonna try to get a shot of her in one of her favorite sleeping places---wrapped around my lamp by my bed...
'Night, ladies! Sleep tight!
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Hmmm...that shot of Miss Panty isn't showing up here, and I definitely attached it.....am I hallucinating? Well, here goes another attempt...watch---they'll BOTH be on here when I check back tomorrow!
....hah!.
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I hope you feel better soon, Trill. Did you reschedule your breast surgeon appointment? Miss Panty always makes me smile.
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Hi Molly-- Yes, I re-set that appointment for mid September....it's just a 6-months checkup, so I'm not too concerned about putting it off... am still coughing like mad...woke myself up coughing....I thought it was calming down...nooooooo......Yes, Miss P is a real photogenic gal!
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The way my allergist explained the hives thing to me was that it was kind of a "straw that broke the camel's back" type thing. You can get away with eating or being exposed to stuff you are not necessarily severely allergic to for a long time, but some day when your pollen allergies and other stuff is already severe that one more thing on top of may be the thing that pushes you over the edge.
What I found amusing when I got tested was that I knew I would test positive to cat allergy, but I would have sworn dogs didn't bother me. Wrong. I tested "4+++Huge!!!" on dogs, and indeed, since my last dog died my allergies and sinus troubles have all but gone away, except for ragweed and mountain cedar, but they are NEVER like they were.
Trill, I'm sorry about the sinus thing. It is truly miserable.
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Thanks, Melissa! Any way you could shoot me one of those Magnums? I realize the heat and the distance MIGHT prove problematic....but one can always hope! Hah!
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Trill, thank goodness there are only three of those wicked things in a box-they are long gone, but if I could teleport one to you I would.
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Oh Trill,
I do hope you've gotten some sleep now you have the prednisone. Good luck with your surgery - I sure hope it does the trick and that you don't have to deal with this ever again.
Mmmmm yes a big Beefsteak tomato enjoyed in the garden is the best. I've got two ready for the picking tomorrow - my best friend, I, and our kids are getting together for a picnic and some crayfish finding tomorrow at a stream half-wayish between where we each live and I'm going to bring a sharp knife and the tomatoes and we shall slurp them up.
I'm sorry you've felt like you've missed summer. Maybe now with windows open we all will have some weather where you can make up some lost summer time.
And - MelissaDallas - thanks for the description of allergies. Our bodies are pretty nifty in how they defend us. Even if it does make us itchy and sneezy.
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Trill, has your doctor discussed preventive maintenance therapy for your periodic post-nasal-drip-gone-wild? I used to go through that every spring and fall (only my p.n. drip would fester once it reached my chest). Nothing like wheezing so hard that were you to attach a keyboard to your arm you could play “Lady of Spain" on your lungs. I'm taking Singulair and Zyrtec and snorting Ocean & Nasacort, so that I needn't resort to the Medrol Dosepak I have on hand (including in my suitcase) at all times. My primary would prefer I also use a combo inhaler like Advair, but the steroid in it causes vocal fold atrophy and I'm a singer, sooo.... I do keep a rescue inhaler for when I feel a wheeze, cough or lung-twitch coming on. I no longer take desensitization shots for mold, weeds & trees. (I had an allergist who used to wear a button on her lab coat that read “Ease the Sneeze to Ease the Wheeze"). We also have plug-in and battery-operated nebulizers and a supply of Duo-Neb ampules on hand--Gordy has far worse asthma--which does save on ER bills. I tested 3+ allergic to cats, back when I had only one, 35 years ago. But I tend to develop immunity to my own cats' dander.
Another thing that helps is a Neil-Med bottle. It was invented by an allergist when he observed his son (“Neil," of course) struggling to use a Neti pot without drenching himself and the kitchen. It's a plastic squeeze bottle with a nozzle-cap attached to a tube that runs nearly to the bottom of the bottle. You fill it with lukewarm buffered saline (packets are included, and you use bottled water nuked to the correct temperature), bend forward (not back) over the sink, tilt your head to one side, insert the nozzle in the opposite nostril and squeeze. You can either alternate nostrils or work on one side till you reach the halfway mark printed on the bottle and then switch. You'd be amazed at all the disgusting gunk that squirts out the other side. (Unlike a Neti pot, the Neil-Med shoots the saline way up into your sinuses before it drips down and out the opposite nostril, taking the crud with it before it can slither down your throat and into your lungs). It's ten bucks (about $17 for a two-pack at Costco). You clean it by filling it with hot tap water and a drop of dish soap, putting your finger over the nozzle, shaking well and then turning the bottle upright and squeezing it hard, straight up. We call it “Mt. Vesnotvius." Here is where Miss Panty comes in--my kitties love to swat at the eruption of suds and the occasional floating bubble. Repeat with more hot water until the suds are gone, and then air-dry the components.
How I wish I could pick a ripe tomato off the vine! I must rescue them as soon as they show the slightest sign of ripening, lest the squirrels get them, take one bite, and then leave the rest on the deck to taunt me.
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Hi all!
It's September! I can't believe summer is over already!
JBeans, thanks for your sweet words--and can I join you on your outing tomorrow?? Sounds wonderful! I would bring along one of those Magnums that I know Melissa would teleport if there were any left in the box!
How are the hives? Is the prednisone helping still?
Tonight I did a ton of laundry and it always feels good to have that done. I threw everything into the hamper, and then, of course, needed a washcloth and towel and none were there...all in the hamper...
Maybe the laundry made me sick--just the bulk of it facing me!
Melissa, that's so funny about your allergy test! Wow. To dogs??? You've got to be kidding me! I had the testing too but only showed up a little positive for leaf mold, whatever that is, that lingers in window wells etc. None of those in the high rise where I now live. I almost wish I'd tested positive for SOMETHING, so I'd know what to do.....so I could do SOMETHING..
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Springsteen was amazing: played 3 hrs., 35 min. without so much as a pee-break. (Maybe the E Street Band should adopt the name the late Rolling Stone & Playboy rock critic Charles M. Young gave to his own punk-rock band: Iron Prostate, whose signature song was “Bring Me the Head of Jerry Garcia"). I suspect the few long piano (and a couple of string-section) intros and interludes were to allow him to duck behind the amps and whizz into a plastic urinal bottle; I posited that maybe the band--baby-boomers all, except sax player Jake Clemons, nephew of the late great Big Man his ownself--were wearing Depends; Gordy countered, “nah, Mom--catheters." TMI. This was nominally the return U.S. leg of the “The River" tour, necessitated by the band's having been unable to schedule a second January Chicago show; but by now it's the “No-Pre-Planned-Set-List, Let's See How Many Songs We Can Squeeze In, From All Our Albums in No Particular Order, Before the Arena Management Kicks Us All Out" tour. Fine by me. They took requests--by now, a tradition, collecting handmade request signs & banners from the audience; brought moms & kids up on stage to sing and dance along (and Bruce even draped his guitar around a little girl's neck and took a selfie with her). One striking song choice, in light of the Laquan McDonald shooting in Chicago, was the originally-Amedou Diallo-themed “American Skin" (with Jake Clemons standing silently, hands up) segueing seamlessly into “Murder, Inc." to protest both police-involved shootings and gang gun violence. At about 2hrs. 30 min., as “Cadillac Ranch" ended, I was in such pain that even I had to slither out to the rest room (in rhythm to “I'm a Rocker"). Made it back in time for “Backstreets." Only bummer is that they didn't play “No Surrender," “Thunder Road" or “Glory Days" (all of which they did fit into their 4 hr. Giants Stadium show). The weirdest thing was when I got back from the loo, Gordy (who was live-Tweeting all along) checked the weather app on his phone to see if the storms had hit--and “location services" thought we were in........East Rutherford, NJ! (That's right--anywhere the E Street Band is playing is Giants Stadium for the evening).
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Hi Sandy--Thanks for all this info.....I haven't had the wheezing--so far--but I do think this is post nasal drip gone wild..."festering" as you say, in the lungs until it erupts...right now I'm just using the nasal mist Fluticasone Propionate, two squirts per nostril per night. Haven't used any of the inhalers etc or asthma-type rescuers...
Thing is, I don't know what I'm allergic TO. The tests came back negative for the most part--just one little one for leaf mold. The doc talked about the polyp I have--new since an earlier catscan--that blocks the right side and I see from the catscan report available online that this side DOES have more stuff in it. One fragment I remember in the report is where it said "almost total opacity of the ...blah blah.." Opacity means the opposite of clear. (It was so funny--when I went to the Dental Clinic in 2012 they did one of those panoramic X-rays where you stick your head in and the thing goes around your head--and the gal reading the computer screen that showed the image turned to me and said "Are you by any chance having trouble with your sinuses?" She said this because all the sinuses were totally black--meaning packed!! That was when things were staring up with the chronic congestion.
I bought one of those MyPurMist devices--not cheap at $150!!--and used it last summer and onward quite a bit. I got it out the other day but all it really seemed to be doing was adding more to my congestion so that when I finished the two 20 minute sessions I was more stuffed up than before..in that NOTHING came out...so I put it away. Yes, it hydrates, but I want something that will get the gunk out...
I do do the Neilmeds twice a day...two bottles per nose per day. Then two more with budesonide. Now I'm doing more. I love them!! I just boil a gallon of tapwater and add to it 4 teaspoons of bicarb of soda and 8 of kosher salt. It got too expensive buying bottled distilled and lugging it home, especially since I sometimes go through a gallon every two days. I just fill boiled water in the gallon container, and do the salt thingy, then turn and fill the pan and boil up the next batch so there's alway plenty on hand. I'm also doing the budesonide vials. An hour after the regular rinsing--one bottle for the left nostril, the second for the right--I put 8 ounces in a third bottle and warm the treated water and then add the vial. Then I use 4 ounces on the one nostril, 4 on the other. Do two vials a day. This is running me $80 per month....for a while I did cheat and split one vial and used one per session, the other for the next, over the same day. Who knows--maybe this altering of the schedule led to this latest eruption?
One thing I started doing a while ago after seeing a youtube video on sinus rinsing was I've been topping off the neilmeds with lemon juice. This seems to clear things better. It stings a bit but it seems more gunk comes out. When you think about how a glass of lemonade will clear your palate, I think it makes sense. My ENT grins when I talk about my lemon method!
He also pointed out something I think you mention--and the best way to do the neilmeds---to tip the head and squirt sideways--I mean, to get the liquid right into the cheek area. Head tipped to the side. I was doing it bent over the sink and squirting UP.
Well, thanks for all your words...I wish I knew what I was allergic to...I wonder sometimes if it's stress-related. I've been working on the book I'm writing and trying to get it finished by September first--today!!--and have been pressuring myself a lot. I told my therapist that I don't know how to say no to good things. Bad things are easy! But I feel a pressure to fulfill other's expectations and that combined with being a perfectionist leads to some pressure and stress. I hate to say NO to good stuff! But then it's too much and maybe my body is telling me something--maybe it has less to do with polyps and allergies to things and more to do with an allergic reaction my body has to being pushed too hard...but people want to read this book and they don't want it in chapters--they want the whole thing! It's 350,000+ words and that's a lot to go over, edit, think about, etc..
Anyway, I'm calming about the whole "deadline" thing. I'm gonna take my time about it.
Gotta make some dinner. Miss Panty is also waiting for some attention.
thanks again! t
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Three little words: inflammation, inflammation, inflammation. (Okay, three big words). There are so many things out there sensitizing our epithelials--including stress itself, which makes us secrete more cortisol, which increases inflammation--that cannot be quantified via old-school immunological sensitivity testing (except, perhaps, via costly recombinant DNA or radioimmunoassay testing), that our immune systems have become hair-trigger-hyperreactive. Allergy is, after all, the original “autoimmune disorder."
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Sandy-- These things I didn't know...there is so much going on with our bodies!
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Hi Sandy-- I just saw my therapist. She has had bad shoulder pain. This week her doc put her on a 10-day course of nsaids--2400 per day (3 800 mg per dose). She said the pain is gone. She asked me if I'd thought or talked to the docs about just doing this intense course of nsaids vs cortisone for inflammation.
Any thoughts on this?
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Sandy-- P.S. Loved your piece on the concert..you should write for Rolling Stone or The New Yorker...
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Sandy and Trill, you are both such engaging writers. it's such a pleasure to read and think about your posts. I had never thought about how musicians make it through night after night - I guess it really all Depends.
Trill - my friend today told me that her son had a similar presentation of hives to me last summer and that it turned out to be a staph infection. Something to ask the doctor about on Tuesday when I go for allergy tests. However the prednisone has been working a charm so I've been enjoying itch-free days and peaceful nights. It all comes to an end soon though as tomorrow is my last dose and the hives have been creeping up in the early morning just before I take the next dose each day.
By the way - we really enjoyed the tomatoes today. Twelve crayfish and one frog were caught, viewed extensively, and released. One automatic flushing toilet nearly ruined the day for my friends daughter and a sting from a yellow jacket showed my son why active shooing is not always the best policy. You never have to ask to come along - you are always invited for a picnic.
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Bless your heart. You are one courageous person. I believe it is very dignified of you to choose the path you are contemplating although this is a survival forum. I am new to it -- so I am not really sure of other person's reactions.
Nonetheless, I think that were I in your position, I would be inclined to think like you. I Did yearly mammograms and only the last one 3 months ago indicated something was wrong. I have micro calcification clusters and IDC but in a very early stage (although the cancer is very aggressive).
It just occurs to me to recommend Caroline Myss' work (I actually listen to her CD's). Check her out at Myss.com.
Own and enjoy whatever path you decide upon.
Namaste.
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