Xiaoniu 小妞

I visited the ENT doctor once last week and once again this week. My first trip was an interesting adventure. My doctored order an allergy test to see exactly what I’m allergic too. I’m very pleased to know what I should avoid, but the process is not the most pleasant. Fortunately, the woman that performed the test was very patient and sweet.

If you don’t know, an allergy test involves subjecting a person’s body to many, many allergens repeatedly. It took about 1.5 hours to complete my test. It started off where she applied seven blocks of “pins” (for lack of a better word) each dipped in some allergen. Each block had 10-12 pins. These were applied to my left arm, on the skin surface. She measured and came up with game plan for my right arm.

This is where the fun begins. She whips out a tray full of alcohol and about 50 cotton balls. In another tray she has about 25 needles. For the next 50 minutes she injected my skin with different allergens (just under the skin). This was the uncomfortable part. After 10 minutes she would measure and then repeat that set using different amounts. She switched between two different sets of allergens and measured and recorded the entire time. We did chat for a while and I was able to pick her brain about allergens the entire time. It was very informative.

I spent the rest of the day trying not to scratch the itchy spots where my body reacted to the allergens. I look like a very poor heroin addict. I got poked more times in one hour than I ever have my entire life three times over.

The bottom line is that I’m allergic to a range of things that will keep me feeling crappy from Spring through Fall. My most severe allergies are grass pollen, weeds (such as ragweed), house dust and cat. I also have mild tree pollen allergies.

My second trip to the ENT was to have a CT scan and to follow up with the doctor to see how the treatment went. The radiologist mentioned that my sinuses were really stuffed. And when the doctor took a look at the CT scan he made a noise and moved his head in a way that made it clear that things were not looking too good. He taught me how to read the CT scan and we went through the various parts of my sinuses. Fortunately, most of them are not completely blocked, but there is little air getting through. Most of the sinuses are full of polyp material.

He prescribed me more medicine, so I’m back on another cocktail of drugs. Four drugs, rather than three. An oral steroid (which is doing the bulk of the work), Singulair (prevents leukotrienes), some type of antibiotic I never heard of and I’m continuing with the nasal rinses and Nasonex. If all goes well the steroids will reduce the polyps material to a manageable size, the Singulair does whatever it does, the antibiotic prevents bacterial infection and the Nasonex is an external steroid used for maintenance. If all goes well the only thing I will be on long term is Nasonex.

With all of these drugs it is turning into an expensive habit. I’ll be able to save on the nasal rinse since I can make the rinse using my own materials instead of paying $10 for a box of salt and backing soda that will last me a whole month. I’ve been able to use coupons for Nasonex, and have even found one coupon for Singulair. The other two are generics so they are cheap.

Again, if all goes well we may be able to stave off surgery. I’m not eager to have surgery for two reasons. The obvious reason is that I don’t want to do it. The second reason is that it is not a one time thing. Polyps do not go away. The doctor akins dealing the surgery to “mowing the lawn”. You try to maintain, but they never go away.

Reducing the existing polyps is one problem. Keeping them in a manageable state is another. Dealing with allergens is yet another task at hand. It was suggested that I mow the lawn with a mask and to use my a/c as often as possible instead of opening the windows. I’ve been doing that for car rides, but using the a/c in the house whenever it is warm is tough.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we can treat this medically. If not I may have to undergo surgery. Bleh!