Next Steps... Lung Spa Day!

I saw my pulmonologist yesterday. I have been SUPER GOOD AND COMPLIANT with my airway clearance, but I'm still not feeling great. The pulmo thus decided that it is time for me to have a bronchoscopy. I'm not thrilled with the prospect, but it makes sense given my situation. We want to see what's in there and what the best approach will be going forward.

I go in on Thursday morning to have my lungs scoped and basically washed out. I've taken to calling the lavage portion a spa appointment for my lungs. Friends tell me this can be pretty miserable feeling, but that it can help you on the road to recovery and to feeling better in the long run. I am hopeful it is that way with me, so my lungs can get rid of the gunk in them and the airway clearance can help keep them clear.

Not that I really want to have a bronchoscopy or lavage or any of this. Sometimes, we just don't get a choice. Sometimes, we just keep moving down the path because we're supposed to and because, in the end, it's what is best for us. Still, though. This stinks. Another thing to add to my list of surgical procedures. ARGH.

I am quite thankful to have a treatment team that I trust. This is one of those times that I have to remind myself of that. I would rather not need them, but I'm so glad I have them when I do.

Choosing Wisely

Today is the day. Choosing Wisely is releasing the lists from physician organizations regarding the "Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question." As a patient, I question a lot more than these things, especially when it comes to procedures and testing. At some point, you have to be aware enough to realize that there has to be a line drawn somewhere.

One thing I find very interesting is that two of the lists invoke the recent study about sinusitis and antibiotics. I really hope the general public can and will seize on to this idea of waiting to get antibiotics. It will improve outcomes in the long run and help prevent secondary problems like antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria and gastrointestinal infections that can come from antibiotic exposure.

It's also interesting about the timing of difference high tech scans. I think that people are given far too many of these tests because they insist on them. They raise Cain until someone gives in to them and gives them unnecessary testing. I'm all for being thorough, but I believe that people in this country are far too quick to demand more and more intervention for silly things, like the common cold. Even with healthy immune systems, good musculature, solid bones, you won't be healthy all the time. Sometimes, things need to run their course. Obviously, this is different for people with chronic conditions, but I think even in our community we need to consider what is going on.

Antibiotics and Sinusitis

Today, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology linked to a study recently published by physicians at the Washington University School of Medicine. I'm sure the study will cause a lot of hubbub among doctors and patients because it essentially recommends just symptomatic treatment for most sinusitis, siding with a recent CDC panel's recommendations.

I, for one, am glad to see that serious work is being done to discuss what works and what doesn't for the average patient with sinusitis. Overusing antibiotics puts patients with chronic problems at higher risk for complications from antibiotic resistant bugs. Further, I think that most people go running to the primary care doctor for antibiotics at the first signs of discomfort. I think physicians should be much quicker to recommend symptom relief and much slower to dispense antibiotics. It would be better for people in the long run. People should also realize that it takes time for their immune response to fully kick in and remove the pathogens. In this study, patients treated with amoxicillin and patients treated with placebo had the same results 10 days out.

The study's authors were careful to exclude those with chronic sinusitis, ear infections, chest infections, and other complications to get a better picture of what the average person with a normal immune system and normal sinus presentations would experience. I am hopeful that the next stages of the investigators' work will yield some positive outcomes and treatment procedures for those with sinus infections... hopefully, they'll be antibiotic free.

Side Effects

Wow. So I started a new drug I've never had before last night. Um. Yeah. These side effects are not fun.

Side effects are not usually a picnic, but I will troop right on through them. I'll do that with these, but yikes. Maybe they'll subside after taking the medicine for a couple days, but the label indicates that symptoms could last for a month after ceasing the drug.

There are lots of things that people with chronic illness put up with, and medication side effects are a big one. This med makes you sleepy, this one keeps you awake, that one makes you fat, that one makes you want to tear your eyes out, this one will keep you in the bathroom until the rapture. Every medication is different and they all seem to have their own attendant problems. Some more than others, I'll admit, but sometimes you're on enough of them to make it seem like it would be better to just be sick. Luckily, I'm not yet to that point.

Most healthy people just switch medications when there are unpleasant side effects. I usually just suffer through, stiff upper lip style, because I know there are limited options and that the options grow increasingly limited as bacteria builds resistance.

I just wish I didn't feel so awful right now.