Sorry, Cheryl. That sucks...or doesn't, as the case may be. Get well, whatever it takes and you too Mary Ann..:hug::hug:

Cheryl,
Tim just went through all of this same junk.........he was sick with the whole sinius problems chest thing for 9 weeks...........
He was also sent to the ENT, also had the CTScan also has the deviated septum, had the full blown allergy testing including 40 needle pricks in the back and 25 actual injections in his arm, they were in conclusive...also has cronic siniusittius (SP) they gave him another appt with a dr to see about surgery......
HE ISNT GOING........
My dad had the sugery for the exact same thing..he was misserable after the sugery, had tubes in his nose for week or so...and was none better for the effort afterwards...he said thousands of times..."I WISH I HAD NOT DONE IT"

TIM STARTED DOING A SINIUS RINSE TWICE A DAY AND USED FLONAISE.........
He finally got over it for the most part. He still gets stuff now and again but nothing like he was..........

I dont mean to down the idea of the sugery..If you need it ya better do it. Besides your septum could be worse then his and need repaired. They want to go in and scrape and clean out his sinius cavities...and he said NO FREAKIN WAY!!!!

Sorry FG....gee...I don't think I should of read FFM post...now I am gonna be sick....

Listen to the Dr. and go with your gut!

I hope they get you all fixed up soon FG. Take it easy! :hug:

Hey FG you get yourself all fixed up. We need your humor around
here.

I wasn't going to say anything yet, but now is as good a time as any.
You have to get yourself better because I was going to ask you to teach
me to flyyyyyyyyyyyyy :eek::eek::eek:

I can see it now the both of us up there and flying with the wind and the
birds. HA HA :holysheep:


Jappy :Excited:

Jeez! Hurry up and get better will ya???


( i always knew there was something slightly deviant about her!) :p

Hello Cheryl,
I must have missed this yesterday. This is a very common diagnosis. Often, the younger physicians have been taught to be very aggresive and do surgery. Some of the older physicians are still big believers in utilising medical measures before resorting to a surgical procedure. One of the most common medical measures used is a steroidal nasal inhaler along with allergy testing, and flushing out of the sinus cavities in a non-surgical manner.

I hope you get an appointment soon. It sounds like you have been ill since the holidays started. Keep us apprised of what the docs say. I truly hope you get into see someone soon. I'm amazed at the level of incompetency of the insurance companies in the US. (That's an entirely different thread-I was to have had my annual MRI today, but didn't, due to insurance hassles:(!).

Feel better.:hug:

I have an sinus problems off and on since I was in high school so this really isn't anything new. The deviated septum dx is tho. I have been evaluated by ENT specialists several times and have never been told this so it was a complete surprise!

I am not one to volunteer for surgery. They are going to have to come up with a pretty darn good reason to convince me to have surgery. I don't do well with anesthesia and I have heard this is pretty nasty surgery - both sinus scraping and the septoplasty. Not going there unless it is the course of last resort!

I am doing the saline flush but cannot do any steroid inhalers due to the clinical trial I am in right now.

Yeah Chris, this has been going on since Thanksgiving. I am tired of being sick. This has never lasted this long before.

I am ready for it to be over...and my energy level to return.

I just got home Cheryl and have another round of antibiotics. The Dr said I would have been miserable flying next wk. I had fluid in my ears and sinus infection and a cold. Gee, take your pic.

I had a Sinus CT several yrs ago, and they want me to have another. Gee, what is there, a blue light special on them????

I'm hibernating!!!

Feel better FG!! *but don't tell Joyce when your'e better~ do you really want to get in a plane for lessons w/her?* YIKES!!!

*covering eyes*

Take your drugs like a good little DM and you will be all better so you can fly next week! Flying with a plugged up head is not fun...in fact it is rather miserable!

Blue light special on sinus CTs! LOL! It takes about 10 minutes! Much easier than an MRI and no noise!

Oh no, DM and FG are both sick with sinus problems! :( Mine are driving me crazy from pressure in my head too, I wonder if they're caused by the cold weather? My head hurts as we speak. I just had some Nasonex a bit ago.


I hope you'll both feel better soon. :grouphug:

AWWW~ Thanks Wiz! The Dr gave me some samples of Nasonex spray, but I haven't used them yet.

Cheryl's the carrier, she made me sick!! :Sick:

Yep blame me...I blew on my monitor and spread the virus! LOL!

I'm wondering if the trial you are in, is the trouble. If the Med you are on, could be lowering your resistance to infection.:eek: :confused:

Just a thought, Cheryl. I hope you don't have to jump into the operation either. :hug:

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ghpcscreen.gif

So, I've been doing some internet searching today on deviated septum...they don't just happen. I've either had this since birth or it is the result of a traumatic event. I am thinking I've had this and no one has ever mentioned it before and it has deteriorated over time b/c of the chronic sinus infections I've had.

Ok...so am I being a cyberchondriac? Or internet diagnosing myself? I don't usually do this, but it is bothering me. Maybe b/c I have been so sick since Thanksgiving and I honestly think I do have good medical care. Afterall, I have been seen by doctors every month for the last year (sometimes more often) and this has not been mentioned? Hmmm...gives one reason to question things.

Cheryl, I hope your feeling better soon. My son Nik had bronchitis back before xmas and it took him at least two months and two rounds of antibiotics to get over it. He also used a nasal spray. Jim and I also use nasal spray because of sinus problems. The doctor said he was a day away from pneumonia and also warned about breaking a rib from coughing.

We have great medical care too but I am thinking Nik needs to see a ENT since he's been suffering since he was a baby. I hope you don't have a deviated septum but it is something you should ask about.

I wish it was bronchitis. Doesn't seem to be as simple as that. It's a couple of things - chronic sinus disease and deviated septum. I have had a chronic sinus infection since Thanksgiving. The antibiotics are not clearing it up.

I am sick again (or yet!). Woke up this morning with a sore throat once again. I was just starting to feel better and bam!

I am waiting for the ENT referral approval. It should come through this week. In the meantime, nasonex and saline nasal flush! So much fun!

I guess all these years of sinus infections have finally caught up with me!

Just curious. Do you also have acid reflux? I read there is a connection with acid reflux and sinus issues. I often wonder because I have severe reflux.

Nope, no acid reflux.

Nope,you are not whining; I just feel really bad for you. Do you recall that i'd said I had a similar problem for 3 yrs! I had everything...allergy tests, sinus surgury, a couple scopes.

No pneumonia in my case (they can tell with an x-ray).

To be honest I do not know what caused my problems.:confused: I also had a horrid cough....I think I even broke a rib coughing not to mention what the coughing fits did to my bladder!

I would cough so hard I'd lose my breath:eek:.

Anyway, I am on a regimen of Advair, Astelin, Singular. I just hate taking all that, but it seems to keep me healthy.

Before you do anything else try to get your family doc to take an x-ray. It's simple and usually will give you an answer as to whether you have pneumonia.

Good Luck and keep us in the know as to how you are doing.

Tootsie

Wow FG. I do hope you are feeling better. I too have terrible sinus troubles. Although I don't have a deviated septum as you do, I do have a cyst in my sinuses. They cause blockage and then I get infections.

Surgery??? No way. Not going to happen unless the cyst get really bad.

The cyst shows up on all my MRI's and CT scans.

As for pneumonia - I went through a period of about 2 years where I had pneumonia on and off. I even ended up with pluerisy. OUCH! Most the time I didn't know I had it. The pneumonia always coincided with a sinus infection. Ultimately, I went to an allergist who not only diagnosed the allergies but ran a tither and found that I don't have the antibodies to fight 4 of the most common pneumonias. So, I got the pneumonia shot, take my allergy medicine, Flonase, and daily nasal lavages (saline rinses - not the neti pot). For the most part I do well with this regime.

I wish you the best and am sorry you are feeling so poorly.

hi cheryl,

sorry i'm so late finding out about your sinuses.
i wish i had some advice. the only thing i can think of is that because the infection isn't clearing up it's why you start to get better and then sick again.

make sure too that if you're using humidifiers that you clean them meticulously. the water in humidifiers is kind of pulverized and makes the molecules easier to be sniffed and inhaled. so if there's bacteria in the water...guess what.

sure hope they can finally deal with this and you will be better.

Hi Judy

I use a vick's steam inhaler and I do clean it very good inbetween uses.

I am also on nasonex, singular, mucinex, and a saline flush. DAILY.

I also had a chest x-ray that was clear so I don't have pneumonia! That was done last week.

My CT scan shows the sinus disease!

I just got a call this morning and the ENT referral has been approved! Yeah!!! I called the ENT specialist that I want to see (I am loving TriCare so far!), and his nurse is supposed to call me to set up an appt. I can't wait to find out what's going on...and what the next step is to get this sinus crapola under control.

I am tired of being sick. It is wreaking havoc on my MS...and I cannot deal with this much longer. My next Tovaxin appt is in 2 weeks and I need to be well enough to pass the neuro stuff so my EDSS doesn't decline...again...can't do steroids.

Glad you got an appointment Cheryl! I love Tricare too. I've never ever had any problems seeing who I want to see. :)

There are several ENT docs already in the provider network here. This guy that I want to see is not in the network and he belongs to the biggest ENT practice here in Boise. He is also a friend. He is who I want to see and my PCP asked for a referral approval.

I am still getting used to TriCare/TriWest. So far, so good. The pharmacy coverage is wonderful! ;)

Amen to that! Jim goes to the VA for his care and meds but Tricare allows his VA doctor to prescribe civilian style fully covered if needed. Love that!