MidnightReign.org

I’m trying to write this post, and I end up with an attack of sneezing. I hate it, as the sneezes are usually quite violent, and it hurts that spot in my back that gives me trouble from time to time. Not to mention the sinus attack that follows, so I end up snivelling and snorting. I hate my sinuses.

It also doesn’t help that I’m feeling generally crappy today. I’ve got a persistent headache that I woke up with (what a glorious start to the day), and my stomach is giving me trouble (and that woke me up at 01.30 this morning).

I’m thinking of packing it in and going home… Maybe with a stop at the doc on the way.

I slept with the assistance of my very own CPAP machine. It’s a top-of-the-line Fisher & Paykel HC608 (Linked in the last post), with humidifithingymabob and heated hoojakawhatsit. Since I tend to get sinusitis on a regular basis, I need the moistened air so that my sinuses don’t freak out from a constant air flow (which, I must say, is a breath of fresh air) (smirk). It’s quite nifty, since the air pipe is heated (Not so you’d notice), it prevents condensation building up inside the tube, thereby avoiding an apparently annoying gurgling noise. I’ll have to take their word for it. The problem with that though, is that condensation forms inside the mask, and I spent the night (unsuccessfully) avoiding the icy cold puddle of moisture that had formed in the bottom of the mask.

It’s really crappy — you’re too deur die blare to actually wake up and take care of the annoyance, so you live with it. sigh, maybe one day I’ll learn.

It’s a bit premature to tell if the therapy is working or not. Admittedly I wasn’t feeling so bleh (Technical term) this morning when I woke up, but I’m feeling darn right sleepy as I type this 2 hours later. Time will tell. (The damn thing had better work. The whole kit and caboodle cost over R7k. Gotta love medical aid.)

I am not alone! Thank god.

For awhile now, I’ve been coughing up these little white stinky balls, and it’s been driving me nuts.

My doctor gave me a funny look when I mentioned it, so it was just one of those odd quirks that I lived with. Until I decided to ‘Google’ it.

They’re called tonsilloliths (or commonly, tonsil stones), and it appears to be quite a common affliction. Funny though, I’ve never ever heard of anyone else until my wife mentioned the other day that one of her students seems to have the same thing. Now it seems that the whole world has it.

I’m glad now that I have a name for it, and know that I am not alone.

I’ve lived with it for years — I used to get them when I was much younger, pre-teens, then it went away for awhile. It came back a few years ago.

I started noticing it particularly when I had a sore throat, and it was a complete revelation to me to find them growing in my tonsil cavities. Digging them out got rid of the sore throat in less than an hour. It was friggin’ amazing. So every time I have a sore throat, I check for tonsilloliths.

After doing a bit of research, it seems that they are formed from nasal mucous (and other debris) and bacteria… which kind of figures for me, since I have bad sinus problems, and have a permanent (just about) post-nasal drip.

Go here and here for more information.

God, I don’t know how anyone can function even semi-normally when you feel like this.

I’ve had a headache that just won’t quit since (I think) yesterday morning. At the moment it feels like I’ve had it forever. It’s one of those bastards that sits there dormant, until you do something silly, like breathe. Then it wakes up and slashes you across the top of your head with extremely sharp claws that leave scores that ache away into stillness.

And it happens in your sleep, too. You end up dreaming about this large purple dinosaur that does this “I love you” dance on top of your head…and every time his foot connects with the top of your skull, you feel it way down in your soul.

And for those of you who think I’m possibly a furry fetishist, I’m not, okay? I have two young kids, so sue me.

Yeah, that’s me.

Caught a nasty throat infection from my daughter… and just as I finished the round of doctor prescribed antibiotics, another bout of bugs caught up with me. Sheesh, I can’t win, I tell ya.

Been feeling horribly ill since Friday, took the day off today, went to see the doc, and now he’s booked me off til’ Thursday. Fun fun. It’s funny though, he always writes it up as ‘sinusitus’, no matter how bad I happen to feel. Oh well, gotta blame SOMETHING I guess.

I can only hope that a different climate will sort my sinus troubles out.