Nasal Nightmare

Typically, I avoid discussing my other health woes here, both because they are minor in comparison to my narcolepsy and because I rarely can do much about them, so I avoid dwelling on them. That said, my sinuses threw me a curve ball today. I have had chronic sinusitis for years. I actually think that it is connected to my compromised immune system (and thus my narcolepsy), but I have been "dealing" with my crazy nose for years longer than I have been managing my narcolepsy. Every day, I rinse my sinuses in the morning and at night with a saline solution (SinusRinse made by NeilMed) and with an antibiotic solution. Things have improved since I started that routine in 2004, but I still have regular swelling and inflammation throughout my sinuses.

Every month to two months, I go see my ENT. He is great and I appreciate his candor. Typically, he cultures my sinuses on the left side (which is often worse) and then literally vacuums out my sinuses. In the last few years, I have not had many infections, and my sinuses have looked "better." They are still constantly swollen, but it is less than in the past and they are usually limited in their inflammation.

Today, I was expecting things to follow the usual process. I had a horrid cold in March, and I know that it took me weeks to shake it. I still have had a lot of congestion, but my nasal discharge has looked better recently. While I never feel "great," I knew that I was on the upswing for my sinuses. When my ENT looked at my left side, he thought my sinuses looked better (still swollen, but not inflammation and clear mucus). He was actually considering NOT doing a culture. Then, he looked at my right side. Apparently, it was awful. He vacuumed some, then cultured, then vacuumed more. THEN, he switched tips to "get around the corner." Less than fun, I assure you.

The silver lining in this is that I likely do have a sinus infection. We will see what the culture says, but the infection is probable to say the least. That means that some of my current struggles with energy are a result of my body battling a bacterial infection. It sounds bizarre to be "glad" about that, but I have been so wiped out this break that I was worried that my narcolepsy was getting significantly worse. That still might be the case, but learning that my immunue system might have been in overdrive for other reasons does give me a bit of hope. If I am indeed infected, the ensuing antibiotic will likely perk up my system. I could definitely use an infusion of energy. I will say that it is the first time I was genuinely excited about a possible sinus infection. The other bright spot is that I am managing my narcolepsy well enough that if this is a sinus infection, it did not completely knock me out as sinus infections have done in the past. Apparently, I am just giddy about bacteria growing in my right ethmoid sinus! Yippee!