A stuffy nose... That is what I have had for basically the last year. Sounds innocent enough but it's unbearable! It started with my first ever sinus infection last May. Things got better but never when away completely, and as most Mamas know, you're often the last person who gets taken care of. In the fall I realized I could not smell a thing. As in ZERO smell. Saw a specialist, got things taken care of but after a really bad flu bug at Christmas, it was all back full force.
By then we were moving and I had to start all over. And let me tell you I have been M.I.S.E.R.A.B.L.E. Talk about a quality of life issue. After different medications, lots of allergy testing, a ridiculously large course of antibiotics and finally a CT scan that revealed nothing but bad news. Every single set of sinuses in my head is completely blocked. This means surgery. My first reaction was, "Uh what?" But at this point, if they told me they had to use a stick of dynamite to clear things up I would not be opposed.
Saw the surgeon today and because of the involvement of so many sinuses, particularly small ones by some pretty important parts, he wants to use a hospital that has what is called: Image Guided Surgery. This uses a machine along with special CT scan images during the procedure so the surgeon knows exactly where he is in relation to your specific anatomy. And, of course, the hospitals that have this ability are out-of-network. He is absolutely confident that they will approve it but meanwhile we have to wait. Plus, getting approval from my thyroid doc and a few extra tests because of the Graves.
My answer was, of course, I wanted everything to be done in the safest manner possible but I need some serious relief. NOW. That means steroids which are not a healthy thing. I have done them once already for a week and they did provide significant relief but I am not happy about having to be on them for too long. One side affect, especially in the beginning is insomnia. I've been up since 2:30am. This should get better as the dose gets lower over the next week.
So pray the insurance company does things in a timely manner and we get this taken care of. Can you believe I WANT to smell poopy diapers?
