Adventures at the ENT - Part 2

Yesterday was the reading of my CT scans at my ENT specialist. I left work at 1:30 for my 2:10 appointment, CD copy of the CT scans in my hand ready for review. I checked in with the nurse, paid my co-pay, and read some more of "A Farewell to Arms" while I waited for my turn. While I read, I had a simple reminder that I was in an ENT specialist's office was the man sitting next to me making the worst sinus noises ever. I felt awful for him - hopefully the doc was able to give him something to help.

Anyways.

When it was my turn the doctor took the CD into his office and started to look at the pictures of my head and sinuses. Then he called me into his office to take a look over his shoulder so I could also see what was going on. He explained to me what was my nose, showed me where my septum is deviated, and then pointed out my sinuses. I was encouraged when he pointed out that the black was air and advised that "that's what we like to see - a good amount of black". He then pointed out where there were areas of congestion in my sinus walls that were not normal; one of the shots had a good comparison of a "normal" area - then a not so normal one which he advised was "ten times normal size".

After going through about 10-15 of the many shots of my head with me (well over 150) he said that it looks like mild-moderate chronic sinusitis. He was glad to see based on my scans that it is not severe - and I was glad to hear him SAY that it isn't severe. We left his office and went back to the exam room to discuss next steps. He looked over my chart and the notes he had taken over the last couple of appointments, asked if I was allergic to any antibiotics, and announced what the next step would be.

For the next 4 weeks, I will be taking antibiotics (Augmentin) and continue my Flonase treatments. Then I will be off the medication for 2 weeks to see if the symptoms are over, and see him again on April 1. This means that I need to be paying SUPER close attention to my sinuses over the next month so I can see if I notice any improvement or changes during those 2 weeks. It also means that I need to be paying super close attention to my food intake for the next month because antibiotics clean you out - and they CLEAN YOU OUT - so I need to be sure to replace my good bacteria with what I eat and drink lots of fluids to keep me hydrated.

A little bit of a lifestyle change for the next month or so - but - at least we're onto whatever it is that's causing my head to feel like that giant nose from the old Afrin commercials.