Mar. 05, 2003 ~ Progress
After being somewhat sick since August, pretty sick since October, and feeling awful since December, I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel. Have lost count of the different antibiotics we've tried these past few months, but each one just left me feeling worse and worse. I laughed at Doc's first mention of sinus surgery. Surely he was kidding, right? But he was not, and each time I saw him, this past month, he said I really needed to visit the surgeon. Last week I asked if we could try one last drug... actually the first drug we had tried. It had almost done the trick, just hadn't cured the problem completely. So he agreed, upped the dose, and I'm almost afraid to say this -- it seems to be helping. My ears don't hurt and that stabbing pain is gone from my face. The headaches are not as bad. The pressure is still there, and my ears are still ringing, but hey, this is a HUGE improvement. My face no longer appears so swollen or puffy. All good, very good. So I'm beginning to think that I may have dodged the bullet, and really am going to get better without surgery. You have no idea what a relief this is! From now on, I'm going to be much more careful about aggressively treating anything that even remotely resembles a sinus infection. In other words, at the very first sign of pressure or sinus pain, I'm going all out to treat it. Antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, decongestants, whatever it takes. I've really worked at getting better, especially this last month or so. Lots of hot, steamy showers, drinking tons of water, using saline nasal spray, being careful about taking vitamins and eating right, and trying very hard to maintain a positive, hopeful attitude. That last one has been a challenge. I've also made an appointment with the allergist for allergy tests, after ten years of being off shots. Rats. But... whatever it takes.
This feels like a huge burden has been lifted. I'm looking forward to a complete recovery!
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