My thorn in the flesh

My grandma once told me that we all have a thorn in the flesh that is like a trial we have to deal with. It's not easy and sometimes there may not be a solution. For the most part it's something that you have to deal with on a constant basis. Mine are my sinuses.

About 11 days ago, I woke up early on a Saturday morning, with my mind going a thousand different directions, so I decided to get up and get some work done. This was early in the morning and as I was sitting at the computer, I started sneezing. Not just once or twice, but constantly. About mid morning I had run through at least 20 tissues and I kept thinking "I can't get sick, I can't get sick." It felt like I had a cold; I don't get colds very often and wouldn't you believe it that about a couple of days before that, I thought that I should probably start taking my Vitamin C tablets again because Ohio for some reason attracts snow. I got worse throughout the day, using more tissues and my poor family had to suffer through hearing me sniffle, blow, blow-shreek, honk and whimper because I wasn't feeling well at all.

For next 4 days that followed, I spent the day in bed. I could tell my sinuses were the culprit, so I started taking Tylenol Sinus and Vitamin C. I was totally amazed that my sinuses would wipe me out throughout the day - I would nap, and I was only coherent for a few minutes before I felt like I had to go back into hibernation. By Thursday, I had had it, so I dragged myself to the doctor and had pretty much diagnosed myself. When I told him that I really didn't want a prescription because I'm allergic to 3 different antibiotics, he agreed. So he told me a 2 OTC formula that would hopefully knock the congestion out of my body. We are on 4. It's been a slow process especially since I'm not on "real" medicine.

As for work (and thank God that last week we had 3 snow days in a row; and a 2 hour delay) I only missed 1.8 days of work although I did do work during my "sick" days. I built a website. Hey I had to find something in between my "snotting" around (thanks Grandma for the terminology).

Throughout this 11 day journey of self medicating my sinuses, I have found the following:

1. I don't like it when people start having my same symptoms - they may want to start taking my medicine.
2. When you tell people that you have sinus problems, everyone has a story.
3. I can milk it pretty good with my husband. I honestly try not to, but if he is so willing to pamper me, I take him up on it...sometimes?
4. I have blown enough snot out of my nose to equal the weight of a 1 month old baby. No wonder my rings felt loose when I put them back on...
5. I'm the only one to announce that I'm on a Level 3 Tissue Emergency.
6. I panic when someone starts using the tissues for other things.
7. I have grown to hate cold weather.
8. I'm beginning to consider the stay at home job that has been vacant since it had been unfilled once I decided to go back to work several years ago.
9. I had blown into so many tissues by day 7 that I could fill 2 empty tissue boxes with all the used tissues that were laying around my side of the bed.
10. Kleenex tissues that read "Antiviral" are not soft.
11. There is not enough makeup or chap stick to take away or hide the new blush color that appears under my nose from all the wiping that I've done.
12. Not being able to smell does have it's advantages...especially when certain loved ones who like to leave "odors" behind them.
13. I hate it when my ears are plugged. My right ear has not been the same since I've been sick.
14. When I went to the doctor, I was thrilled that he said that my left sinus was swollen really bad. I only say this because to let him know that it isn't just my imagination that I'm feeling like this, it was...can I say "legit?"