Interesting!
Mar. 30th, 2006 03:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kisthaSo I finally had my consultation with the Ear, Nose and Throat Dr.
So first we talk about symptoms, then she asks if I've seen my CT scan. I say no, but I saw the results. That's when she told me she didn't think I needed surgery.
I fell off the chair - and then things got interesting.
So she says that she'll go get the CT scan. She shows me my scan. (Getting to play with your own CT scan is fun. Should have asked for a copy.)
Guess what I'm an Alien!
I have an extra sinus. (Sort of) My right frontal sinus (the ones in your forehead) is so large and is formed almost like there is a third sinus in the middle of my forehead. The Dr says, "This is the biggest anomaly." All of my sinuses are clear, and most of the three blockages are the size of pin heads. The big one is in that huge sinus and if that was causing problems, I would have a headache in the top of my head. And I don't. The lining isn't irritated or infected. And that deviated septum? Less than a full degree.
Then she looks in my nose and ears, and mouth. Then she says, you've had your tonsils removed, right? I have. Apparently I have a lot of scar tissue on my soft palate, and she's worried about my ability to breathe through my mouth - especially when I'm sleeping. Do I have sleep apnea? Not that I'm aware of. Do I snore? Oh, yeah. She wants a sleep test - she thinks the tiredness might be sleep apnea. I've been trying to avoid this kind of testing since I was a kid. Seriously. Freaks. me. out. And the sleep clinic murderer CSI episode did not help any. I do not want someone studying my brain waves while I'm sleeping. I have this deep fear of waking up somewhere where they are going to study me - the kind where you disappear and no one ever sees you again. Silly I know, but still.
So then we talk about allergies. We talk about the steroid I was on. I tell her about the side effect. She says "Interesting" I'll hear this a lot in the next 30 minutes. "I've never heard of that." I explain the exclusion method I used, and that the side effect stopped as soon as I quit the Nasonex. Then she asks how long I was on it.
"About two, two and a half weeks."
"Really, that's how long it takes to get a large enough concentration to really start working. Interesting."
We talk about how I haven't had allergy testing done since my initial tests 10-15 years ago. We decide to test again. We also think I might to have to go to allergy shots if I can't handle the steroid drugs, and the pills don't work.
Then she checks my chart and notices that I'm on Omeprazole. She asks what for and I tell her about my acid reflux. Then she asks about the symptoms. I tell her I used to get acid in my mouth and when I slept in my sinuses. She wonders if that isn't where the cyst came from. Then she asks about dosage. I tell her 20mg once a day.
"And that stopped the reflux? Omeprazole just stops the acid, and that much isn't usually enough to stop acid reflux that bad."
"Nope rarely happens at all anymore, occasional breakthroughs maybe three times a year"
"Interesting."
She tells me she doesn't want to do surgery, unless she's fairly certain that it will be an improvement. (And I suspect she's not sure of much about me at this point.) It could be a new allergy, or an increase in sensitivity since it just started being problematic this winter. So we agree to start at the bottom and try and see what the new tests will show. So I get the paperwork for new testing and the sleep clinic. She makes a couple more "Interesting." comments while we go back over stuff, and then I'm free to go.
The allergy testing should be quick, but the sleep test results will take four weeks to receive after I go do the damn thing. I don't want to, but I'd like to go back to being normal again. Or at least as close as I can get.
I'm starting to feel like soon I'll be a case study. *sigh* The nice thing is that she didn't sound doubtful at all about the oddities and allergies and was very open and nice. I like her, and I've already had a couple of calls with her nurse, and she knows what she's doing. A major plus.
Hopefully this will all get resolved sooner than later. I'm tired of this crap. Guess I'll just go back to my normal life, and grind through it.
Guess I'll go back to Hula this coming quarter after all.
So first we talk about symptoms, then she asks if I've seen my CT scan. I say no, but I saw the results. That's when she told me she didn't think I needed surgery.
I fell off the chair - and then things got interesting.
So she says that she'll go get the CT scan. She shows me my scan. (Getting to play with your own CT scan is fun. Should have asked for a copy.)
Guess what I'm an Alien!
I have an extra sinus. (Sort of) My right frontal sinus (the ones in your forehead) is so large and is formed almost like there is a third sinus in the middle of my forehead. The Dr says, "This is the biggest anomaly." All of my sinuses are clear, and most of the three blockages are the size of pin heads. The big one is in that huge sinus and if that was causing problems, I would have a headache in the top of my head. And I don't. The lining isn't irritated or infected. And that deviated septum? Less than a full degree.
Then she looks in my nose and ears, and mouth. Then she says, you've had your tonsils removed, right? I have. Apparently I have a lot of scar tissue on my soft palate, and she's worried about my ability to breathe through my mouth - especially when I'm sleeping. Do I have sleep apnea? Not that I'm aware of. Do I snore? Oh, yeah. She wants a sleep test - she thinks the tiredness might be sleep apnea. I've been trying to avoid this kind of testing since I was a kid. Seriously. Freaks. me. out. And the sleep clinic murderer CSI episode did not help any. I do not want someone studying my brain waves while I'm sleeping. I have this deep fear of waking up somewhere where they are going to study me - the kind where you disappear and no one ever sees you again. Silly I know, but still.
So then we talk about allergies. We talk about the steroid I was on. I tell her about the side effect. She says "Interesting" I'll hear this a lot in the next 30 minutes. "I've never heard of that." I explain the exclusion method I used, and that the side effect stopped as soon as I quit the Nasonex. Then she asks how long I was on it.
"About two, two and a half weeks."
"Really, that's how long it takes to get a large enough concentration to really start working. Interesting."
We talk about how I haven't had allergy testing done since my initial tests 10-15 years ago. We decide to test again. We also think I might to have to go to allergy shots if I can't handle the steroid drugs, and the pills don't work.
Then she checks my chart and notices that I'm on Omeprazole. She asks what for and I tell her about my acid reflux. Then she asks about the symptoms. I tell her I used to get acid in my mouth and when I slept in my sinuses. She wonders if that isn't where the cyst came from. Then she asks about dosage. I tell her 20mg once a day.
"And that stopped the reflux? Omeprazole just stops the acid, and that much isn't usually enough to stop acid reflux that bad."
"Nope rarely happens at all anymore, occasional breakthroughs maybe three times a year"
"Interesting."
She tells me she doesn't want to do surgery, unless she's fairly certain that it will be an improvement. (And I suspect she's not sure of much about me at this point.) It could be a new allergy, or an increase in sensitivity since it just started being problematic this winter. So we agree to start at the bottom and try and see what the new tests will show. So I get the paperwork for new testing and the sleep clinic. She makes a couple more "Interesting." comments while we go back over stuff, and then I'm free to go.
The allergy testing should be quick, but the sleep test results will take four weeks to receive after I go do the damn thing. I don't want to, but I'd like to go back to being normal again. Or at least as close as I can get.
I'm starting to feel like soon I'll be a case study. *sigh* The nice thing is that she didn't sound doubtful at all about the oddities and allergies and was very open and nice. I like her, and I've already had a couple of calls with her nurse, and she knows what she's doing. A major plus.
Hopefully this will all get resolved sooner than later. I'm tired of this crap. Guess I'll just go back to my normal life, and grind through it.
Guess I'll go back to Hula this coming quarter after all.
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-31 12:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-31 08:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-31 05:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-31 08:22 pm (UTC)I've talked to a couple of people who've had it done now, and they all are being reassuring.
Here's hoping.
sleep study
Date: 2006-03-31 05:35 pm (UTC)I had a sleep study done. The medic that took the study gave me highlights in the morning... at 5am. The sleep study was worth it because I have this wonderful CPAP machine that lets me get a full nights sleep.
Do it. But you could inquire if you could have your husband be around as sleep guard. Maybe have him in the car in the parking lot. The study is only 8-9 hrs.
Re: sleep study
Date: 2006-03-31 08:19 pm (UTC)Yeah, I'll ask about the hubby hanging out - you know me, I'm miss paranoid. I don't sleep well (if at all) knowing people are watching me, and then if you wake me up wrong, I get all violent until I know what's up. I mean like when Prather slept in the same bed with me for a con - when he came in and sat on the bed I apparently (in my sleep) sat up, clotheslined him to the bed and held a pillow over his face for a bit, then laid back down and slept. He didn't move for the rest of the night and wouldn't ever share sleeping space with me again. And I knew he was going to be sleeping in the same bed, it shouldn't have been a surprise.
I'm just worried in general. Will I hit somebody, will I sleep at all, will I have scary EKG readings and end up in somebody's lab? I'm going to do it, I'm just not happy about it. I will however discuss all of my..peculiarities with them though, and hope I don't take out a Dr or intern. :)
no subject
Date: 2006-04-02 08:05 am (UTC)Well, of course you are. It's one of the things I like most about you. :)
So is this third sinus anything like a third eye? Can you smell things that no one else can? :)
Sorry you are freaked about the sleep study, but remember that CSI is a TV show... most of the stuff you see on that show is completely impractical and overly dramatic.
Oddly enough, I don't think I'd have any issue with going on a sleep study... but then, I've amply illustrated how easily I fall asleep ANYWHERE :).
Glad to hear you are going back to hula.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-03 04:49 am (UTC)