December 11, 2008
my cellulæ ethmoidales hurt
12/11/08
I simply must apologize for my subpar output of late, and I realize I'm breaking a pretty good rule even by mentioning it ("no talking about the blog on the blog") but I was felled by two sinus infections in a row, which as you sufferers all know, means one thing: steroids!
You get a blister pack of little white pills and take them in tapering doses over the course of a week, and they never fail to bring on Effervescent Head-Zap Purple Weirdnessland. Some odd gland pushes against the bottom of my voice box, which would temporarily give me a high B-flat if the actual sinus infection itself would allow singing. As it is, I talk like I'm in middle school, and occasionally feel like it too.
I thought I'd broken this cycle - every year, when we come back to New York, I'd get fucking sick - not just sick, but sick - and spend 75% of my precious East Coast time in motherfucking bed. Last year, thanks to a good regimen, losing weight and being a smartypants, I sailed right through it, but this time, something godawful got into my otolaryngology.
The weather here is my least favorite: windy, 35 and pouring rain. Fortunately, Tessa and Lucy are having a fantastic time, so I can live vicariously through their shenanigans. Today, I stumbled Lucy over to the local Kiddie Playspace FluCatcher AdventureZone, and even though there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING INTERESTING in there (not even books or games!) we did find an odd plastic tinkertoy-esque bin and started making letters.
Lucy has about 75% of the alphabet down, and knows how to spell all our family's names, partly thanks to a song I started singing to her years ago (tune vaguely based on "Three Little Maids" from The Mikado):
L-U-C-Y, that spells Lu-cy
D-A-D-D-O, that spells Dad-do
M-O-M-M-Y, that spells Mom-my
I like cheese!
She always has a hard time with "M-O-M-M-Y", however, getting stuck on the M's in an infinite loop like "M-O-M-M-M-M-M-Y". When she started spelling out Tessa's name on the floor, she stuck to her guns. That's my girl!
Love the Lucy-Daddo-Mommy-cheese song. Bravo, young speller!
Ian, is there a chance your East Coast maladies are brought on by (ick) mold that causes allergies that block your sinuses that lead to infections? Especially if you're in an old farmhouse. It's so damp in the northeast, mold flourishes everywhere and is pretty much in the air all the time. I take Zyrtec year-round and use Rhinocort (Rx) nasal spray to avoid endless sinus and ear infections.
I agree with Anne. I, too, have learned to head off an annual spring sinus infection with an antihistamine (Claritin). I'd try that and a Neti pot.
And who is your provider? Dr. Spaceman? Are steroids really the proper course of care? Not a different antibiotic? With all of your reports of maladies and extreme drug intervention, I've always wanted you to find a great holistic provider, M.D. or not.
In case you were wondering my unprofessional opinion . . .
Well really, who doesn't like cheese?? Hope you feel better soon.
me too!!! i have been hit with sinus fuckery and i'm over here in the bay area, but here is my cure:
1. neti pot
2. nasonex
3. claritin Dboo-ya! 2 days down for the count, max.
I am spraying Nasonex all over my cubicle as I read today's entry. I have been stricken since the tail end of the Thanksgiving holiday, and I was so happy to find a full spray among all of my empty ones in my bathroom this morning. I agree with everyone else. . . get some Nasonex and Claritin D. Never done the neti pot thing, but I hear it is all good.
I used to get recurring sinus infections and then I got a sinuplasty for my deviated septum. Greatest thing ever. Haven't had a sinus infection since. That was 7 years ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/health/08real.html
Joanna - This article discusses the recent evidence against using lots of antibiotics for sinus infections. Steroids are often used in persistent cases to decrease swelling to allow for better drainage. The side effects are annoying though. I agree with everyone else Ian that you ought to be using an antihistamine and nasal saline (possibly even nasal steroids)daily for a few weeks before you travel back to NY even if you feel well. It might be preventive.
Also - I'm not a big believer in the sinus surgeries. For every good outcome like Brad's I've heard at least one bad one and many times no real benefit.
Just my two cents..
Well, I would LOVE for any of the more homeopathic remedies to work but this time, they just didn't. I was using a neti pot starting from mid-November, and I've been on Nasonex for a year.
My sinuses stayed impacted, with no drugs helping, for three weeks. Finally, I woke up on Monday with a 100-degree fever, and a headache so bad that I had to fight down nausea, and for a few seconds, I entertained the idea that I'd actually had an aneurysm. By the time blood and horrible-colored stuff was coming out, you bet your ass I went on the steroids and Avalox antibiotic.
Oliver to me (his father): "The email button is 2". Oddly, I understood exactly what he meant, and turned this into a teachable moment, showing him how to use the Shift key.
Ian: Didn't I see a neti pot (I really don't enjoy saying or typing "neti pot" and I don't know why.) on your shower window in Hillsdale some time ago? The squirt bottle version, that I use, has instructions that seem to threaten death if I don't use distilled water and be freakishly cautious of cross-contamination. Are you filling up with "regular", out of the shower? That might be an issue.
On a completely unrelated note... you may remember me from the first Zap (I was one of the librarians). I still follow your blog and have developed a strange fondness for UNC Chapel Hill as a result. So I was entertained somehow to see this via Facebook earlier today: