...Breathe

I've had sinus surgery twice in a year and a half.  My family has suffered from sinus problems forever and my daughter had terrible allergies when she was growing up in Baton Rouge.  Everyone there has sinus trouble because of the air pollution.  When we moved to Oxford fifteen years ago we hoped that would all end, but it didn't.  It's just different.  Can't tell you how, but it is.  We don't have the pollution from factories and heavy traffic, but we do have a lot of trees here.

My sinuses got so infected last year that medications didn't help at all, so I had to have surgery.  This was to rid my body of the infection so that I could have both hips replaced.  That's another story.  I had the surgery and it was a success.  For a while.  I still had to take medicine, rinse like crazy, use a nebulizer to keep from taking oral antibiotics, and it cleared up for a few months.  Those few months felt like a reprieve.  Then it started again. 

In July I went outside.  I should never go outside.  I got a sinus infection and nothing worked to clear it up, so in October I had surgery again.  This time, all my sinus cavities were filled with polyps.  The doctor got all of those out and told me that polyps are usually caused by allergies.  Nice.  I'd been tested for allergies twice before, but we thought it was worth another shot at it in case I had developed them since the last time I was tested. 

Last week I went for the allergy tests.  They did scratch tests on my back - 20 for pollens and 20 for foods.  Then they did intradermal injections - 12 of them - to test for dust mites, molds, dogs, cats, and some other things I don't remember.  I didn't react to a single thing. Then I had to have blood tests.  The nice lady at the lab took nine vials of my blood and sent it away to get it checked.  The doctor called me today to let me know that I'm not allergic to anything at all.  Nada.  Zilch.  I could have told him this and saved a boatload of money.

So, we're back to the same old, same old routine.  Medications and rinsing.  It's my life.  I'm glad those options are available. Now that it's cold weather I feel like I have cotton up my nose because of going outside in the cold and back inside where it's warm. 
One day I'm going to breathe freely again without taking sinus medications or using an inhaler to clear my chest.  I know this because I have faith that God is going to heal me.  In the meantime...sniff, sniff.