After the horrible night last night, I woke up with even worse sinuses.

I did not want to wake up but my mom left Jonathan with me.

I’m not going to class today, I’m not up for it at all.

I have my last evil class on Thursday and then one more next Monday and I will be done. I am quite grateful for that.

I don’t want to talk about last night. Not now, not ever.

I had fun in Vegas and left with a $5 gain. Pretty cool to go and not loose any money! Now I’ll use that money to buy a case for my laptop so it doesn’t get scratched up.

My sinuses make me sleepy and headachy.

Inspired by the swine flu pandemic, Hoorshnias early warning systems”for other people, at least”span the design gamut, from the traditional medical mask to a rather fetching wrap-around scarf.

In addition to full-face sinus masks that detect temperature increases around the forehead or mouth.

Source:
http://www.ecouterre.com/6805/color-changing-temp-sensitive-textiles-flu-masks/

Okay, I’m just going to disclose that I’m writing this to purely rant and vent. I really don’t have a person I can just talk to and vent this too, other than my mom, but I’d just feel like I’m preaching to the choir. I do have Marissa, Nora, Michelle and them, who I’m sure wouldn’t mind having me vent to, but I would feel bad to just dump this all on them, so what do I do? I turn to my rarely used blog, for reasons I don’t even fully understand.

So with inflation, and the economy, everyone is struggling to make ends meet, don’t take that as I think I’m the only one struggling, but when it happens to you, it’s just so more real, no matter how selfish that is.

My family (my mom and me) gets insurance through my mom’s work. We have gotten 1,150 dollars since I was in fourth grade to use for everything, doctor appointments, physical therapy, lab tests, x-rays, medicine, ER visits, you know, everything medical affiliated it. At first that was enough, but with inflation the last 2 years we have been coming dead even with it. If we go over then we pay the rest out of pocket until we get to 5,000 dollars.

Now we have come to our max this year, so we are putting off my sinus problems until next year, when our balance refreshes. Now this week we got a notice, saying that our insurance is being cut to 750 dollars. That’s about 2/3. That is 4 doctor appointments worth, for 2 people. If we went to the ER we would have to pay 50 dollars out of pocket, not including X-rays, or any other tests.

With my sinuses we need to get a CAT scan before we can now how to proceed with treatments, if it be medication or surgery. We haven’t been able to find out how much that will cost, but if our insurance can’t cover 1 visit to the ER, how is it going to cover a CAT scan AND treatment?

I have been having sinus head aches regularly since fifth grade, from October until April, each year. I have been on countless medications, been to 2 special lists, and about 4 family practitioners. I just finished with 14 days of Antibiotics, the 2nd time I’ve been on antibiotics since October. The doctors don’t even know they work, since we can’t afford a CAT scan to see if they do. So far they work while I’m taking them, but once they run out, I start up with problems again.

We’ll get through this. We’ve decided we’re doing whatever is needed to get my sinuses to full health, or at least so I don’t have a constant head ache for 7 months of the year. But it will come at a cost, which is something I don’t think is right. A 16 year old should not be worried about medical bills, or is this just a world we have come to live in? Just GAH! I guess I should be grateful that it’s just sinuses, not cancer, or something that can’t be put off, but it’s hard to when you’re getting constant sinus infections.

Okay rant over. Sorry to put that all on your shoulders, after leaving you for so long.

-The road to success is always under construction.

p.s. I’m not meaning for this to be a political thing, I’m just sick of being…. well sick.

Right after I got my Hep B jab on 13 Nov, I had an appointment with Dr Prepa on the following Monday, 16 Nov.

Last Thursday I faxed my appointment card to ING and requested a letter of Guarantee. ING had to request Letter of Assesement from UMSC before they can issue me.

The following Monday, I printed out my Letter of Guarantee, and left my office at lunch break. I went to my condo first to check on the renovation and to bring lunch to my BF. It was pretty hectic in the condo. Imagine 3 teams of contractors working in my 910 sq ft apartment. They were Bok and team who did the ceiling fans + lighting + water heater, Mazlan and gang who did the windows and the guys who did the kitchen cabinets. The toilet bi-folding doors were installed last Saturday, if I remember correctly, they were too many of them…

I just stayed for 30 mins and off I went to see Dr Prepa at UMSC.

As normal I registered myself and waited for my turn. Dr Prepa seemed pleased to see me, other patients were curious about that. Dr Prepa told me many patients have they sinuses worsen due to the raining season now. He checked on my nose and told me they were white color and that it has gone back to the previous state before I had any medication on sinus. I told  him about my hep B jabs, and he offered me MC for that day, and the next day too! Yeah for Dr Prepa!!!  I also asked for a better ear drop, because Sodium Bicarbonate can’t remove my ear wax. Dr Prepa responded, “Sodium Bicar is useless!!”. But he couldn’t give me a better ear drop because that’s what the pharmacy had for ear drops. He was thinking about writing me a prescription so that I could get it from pharmacy outside. But he changed his mind and decided to use his canggih/sophisticated microscope to check my ears. And he used a mini vacum to suck out my ear wax too! Double Yeah for Dr Prepa!! Now I won’t have block ears anymore for awhile! Yipee! I thank Dr Prepa and went home, but not before setting the next appointment on  28 Dec 2009, to coincide with my next hep B jab, so that he could offer me MC,haha… Well not that I can take advantage of it because my Hep B jab is set on  18 Dec, well maybe I can if I delay my Hep B jab until 25 Dec, which is a PH… Damn!!! Oh well… Maybe I should give Dr Prepa a nice Christmas present, but will he accept it?

My internet has gone, I don’t know where its gone, its just gone, I was online around 4:00 am this morning, it was working then, I tried to go online around an hour and a half later and it wasn’t working, its now 11:30 am and its still not working, I’m getting withdrawal symptoms, I can’t check my e-mail, my Facebook or my blog for comments. I’m assuming that its something to do with the weather, we had storms, strong winds and non stop torrential rain all yesterday and last night, many parts of Cumbria have had flooding, the weird thing is that my phone is still working but my internet isn’t, I guess this is something to do with the fact that they are different types of signals with (perhaps, I don’t know) different lines, anyway my internet isn’t working so I can’t post this until it is, I wonder how long that’s gonna be.

Ok so in the meantime I had my doctors appointment this morning, I just got back, if you remember I have gone a couple of days over my allowed self certified sick leave (I’m allowed 5 days) so needed a sick note from the doctor to cover me, he has given me a sick note to go back to work on Monday, he said my cold had developed into a sinus infection and although I can’t read his writing too well he appears to have put something of the sort on the sick note. I’m still continuing to improve, my cold is a lot better and the infection seems to be clearing up nicely, I didn’t sleep last night so I’m tired and a little headachy but other than that I seem to be getting better.

I have just been on the phone with BT and apparently there is a major fault affecting the internet access of some customers for my dialling code, they are saying they expect it to be fixed within 24 hours, so there you go, the weather has hit BT, perhaps my exchange is under water !!

Its 11:00 am on Saturday morning and my internet has returned, HURRAH, I had heard a tale of a fibre optic cable which crossed a bridge and after the flooding the bridge was no longer there, the story was that it could have been the middle of next week at least before we got the internet back. Well if the bridge story was true then very well done BT for getting us back online double quick, if the bridge tale wasn’t fact, well still well done BT for not dragging my absence out further than it has been.

Anyway I’m back after a mercifully brief gap in my service, hi folks.

by Dr. Brent Lipke DC

Do you wake up with a stuffy head and mucus in your throat or nose ?  Do you feel as if you always have a cold ?  If so you  probably suffer from sinus trouble.

Typically decongestants, antibiotics, or antihistamines are given to treat the symptoms of sinus congestion but these may have unwanted side effects; such as insomnia, nervousness or high blood pressure.

Chiropractic works to relieve stress on the nerve system which controls your immune system, allowing it to function normally.  This proper function opens the sinuses up allowing them to drain, handling the cause of the congestion and pressure.

To learn more about how a safe, gentle and scientific, Chiropractic adjustment could TRANSFORM your health contact your chiropractor.  If you are interested in a complimentary consultation, CALL  The Family Chiropractic Centre, 519-837-1234. 

I’m Dr. Brent Lipke, educating you to help you educate others !

Before making your final decision, you may want to ask some questions and think of some consequences to taking the H1N1 FluMist nasal spray.

The H1N1 FluMist is made with “live” virus. This means that the H1N1 flu will be a part of the nasal spray formula. It’s supposed to be just enough to start your immunity to build defenses to it. The shot is supposed to be a killed virus.

If you take the H1N1 FluMist, you will in fact become a carrier of the H1N1 flu. Information on this drug states that you can and will shed the virus for up to 21 days. That means as you are visiting with your elderly family members, or shopping in the isles of your grocery store or sitting in church with young children and people with immune problems, YOU are going to be shedding the virus H1N1 germs.

If you are a person that cannot tolerate the shot or the FluMist for the H1N1 flu, you are a sitting duck when it comes to being around people who have taken the FluMist. The use of FluMist is for people ages 2 – 49. How many people do you come into contact each day that don’t fit the age range?

Drugs.com says that you should be careful when coming into contact with “FluMist with anyone who has a weak immune system caused by disease (such as cancer, HIV, or AIDS), or by certain medicines such as steroids, cancer chemotherapy, or radiation treatment. A person with a weak immune system can become ill if they have close contact with you after you have recently received a an influenza vaccine.” Pregnant women are also on this list of people who should NOT use FluMist.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2205843/h1n1_flumist_the_nasal_spray_that_keeps.html?singlepage=true&cat=70

According to Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, somewhere between 10 million and 100 million swine flu viral particles are injected into the nostrils of the patient when the FluMist vaccine is administered.
If you are a parent, how would you feel about someone injecting 10 million live viral particles of the swine flu into the nose of your child?
Not only that, but the truth is that the millions of Americans who receive the FluMist vaccine over the coming days will be potentially shedding it wherever they go.
Doesn’t that sound wonderful?
And according to the package insert, anyone who receives the FluMist vaccine can spread the flu for up to 21 days.
http://organichealthadviser.com/archives/400000-vials-of-flumist-vaccine-containing-live-swine-flu-are-on-the-way-to-california

I found some safe homeopathic remedies I would like to share with you.

Oscillo http://oscillo.com/promotions-and-coupons/default.html and $2.00 off coupons with store locator, and I like olive leaf capsules available at health food stores, if one works, don’t bother with the other, but if not, yes if it were me, I would get the olive leaf since it has worked for my family when nothing else seemed to.

Imagine these little microscopic ugly alien creatures who fly at the speed of a sneeze, have a brain to mutate and search and destroy humans. I keep canned pineapple in the house and eat it just about daily, but when cold or flu symptoms start, As soon as I feel a cold or flu coming on, I dash out and pick up a raw pineapple and fresh lemon or lime and eat that a few times a day. I simmer redskin potatoes and after draining, I throw chopped garlic, seasalt, cider or red vinegar and maybe some dill on them with virgin olive oil, and put the lid on, no more cooking, just put back on hot burner; delicious! I eat vinegar on any food that can take it in the cold and flu season, since lemon and vinegar cuts the mucus and breathing helps. This is no time to mess around, the big guns must be brought in. I chop raw garlic and eat it on my salads upon my first winter cold, and wonder why I don’t get sick in the summer, is it the lack vitamin D from not being out in the sunshine? I take an antihistimine since I know I have allergies to leaves and I get a good cough drop like Fisherman’s Friend. In wintertime, I make sure the room humidifier is on with some nice eucalyptus oil in it, keep that puppy clean and full, it probably would not hurt to put a little pinch of mineral seasalt in the water, just a little. I am not prescribing, just what I do. Gezundheit!

I think I’m going to die.  Took yesterday off from work because of this wicked bad sore throat.  Most of the time I can deal with what ever ailments I have to continue to go into work so I don’t need to burn a sick day.  Have a cold?  Just pop some pills until it clears up.  Hacking rough Cough?  They make cough drops in every flavor of the Willy Wonka candy rainbow.  Clogged up sinus?  Tylenol makes a hell of a good sinus with headache combo to treat that.  Flaming diarrhea?  A bottle of pepto and a wadded up piece of toilet paper clenched between the cheeks to catch any excess run off will fix that messy problem.  See?  Any ill feeling I have a solution for.  Just not a quick fix for a sore throat.

A aching scratchy throat is the one thing that I’ll break down and take a sick day for.  Mostly because there’s no quick easy Walgreen’s inspired cure.  Sure there’s the throat sprays and drops but those have never worked that well for me.  The lozenges that numb that back of your wind pipe work some what but the direction says not to use more that six throat drops in a 24 hour period and here I am downing six every fifteen minutes.  When your meals consist of throat lozenges for breakfast, a sensible lunch, more lozenges for dinner and hit of sore throat relief spray for dessert the farts you lay down are amazingly potent.  I made the mistake of “beefing” in the car driving home from work Thursday and almost rear ending a pickup while I was gagging.

Yesterday on the “Eric Get Well Tour” I did three things.  Sleep, drink liquids, and Piss.  Sometimes all at once.  No, I didn’t wet the bed.  I almost fell asleep filling the great  porcelain temple with golden holy water.  Seemed as if I was standing there for hours going….and going…………and going and going some more.  Guess when you choose drinking liquids to quell your burning throat over traditional medicine your bladder will suffer.  My urination has turned into such mammoth proportion I was going to take a ”should I” pee and end up sending a ropey jet of urine that almost over flowed the bowl.

For those that don’t speak Eric a “should I” pee is when you think you might have to take a small leak just because you don’t want to be in the middle of something later when the urge to go strikes you.  You might not even have to go that bad but just do it to clear the tank. A mercy piss.  Here, let me use it in a sentence.  “I’m going to play my video game for the next few hour but Should I go to the bathroom now so I don’t have to go later thus interrupting my gaming session?”  A more common application for a “Should I” pee is on a long road trip when you stop at a dirty rest stop.  You’ll hold your breath bearing the brunt of the stinky urinal because you don’t want piss pangs a few hours down the interstate when there’s no way to relive them except filling a empty gatorade bottle with the latest sports drink flavor……Urethra thunder.

My goal today is drink enough icy cold ginger ale so when I used the bathroom to relive my aching bladder I can belt out the entire classic hit Young MC’s Bust a Move from start to finish before I’m doing peeing.  Lofty goals I know but someone has to set the bar high. 

Wish me luck.

This is a product I have used for a few years now in the Fall. I use it for itchy, sneezing nose. It is herbal, veggie caps, very mild, but effective.

http://www.pennherb.com/cgi-bin/herbstore.cgi/go?;4004

As one isn’t enough to suffer from! Right now I wish I could just push a delete button and off the headache goes!

MedPage Today (11/11, Smith) reported that, according to a study published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and presented at an allergy conference, “the combination of azelastine (Astelin or Astepro) and fluticasone propionate (Flonase) gave significantly better nasal symptom relief than placebo or either drug alone.” Investigators “enrolled 610 patients with moderate-to-severe allergic rhinitis,” randomly assigning them “to get either azelastine, fluticasone, the combination nasal spray, or a placebo nasal spray twice a day for two weeks.” They discovered that “the combination was significantly better than either drug alone or placebo at relieving nasal symptoms,” but “the two drugs delivered together — a combination dubbed MP29-02 — were not significantly better than either drug as monotherapy for ocular symptoms.”

I am thoroughly amused by advertisements designed for morons. The “healthy” snack franchise Smoothie King wins a special prize in my book. Every morning as I’m driving to work I have to look at their lame sign with a weekly message for passers-by. Every year during the first week of May their marquee reads, “Slim down for summer with a healthy smoothie for dinner”.

Yes, because drinking a smoothie with more sugar than two sodas is going to help the situation. Like having a syrup-based smoothie instead of balanced dinner is going to magically melt the pounds away. Simply hilarious.

But this week’s sign literally made me laugh at loud in the car, looking like a crazy man when seen by the cars next to me at the red light: “Flu season? Not this year! -Immunity Boost”.

Are you Efron kiddin’ me? While Smoothie King’s Echinacea-based “immunity boost” in their smoothies has to do some good, it’s asinine to trust that this $2 shot of an herbal supplement in itself will prevent the flu. So lame.

I’m of the old school of belief that says to let nature just run its course. The more I am exposed to what’s out there, the more immunity my body builds.

While I do catch something more serious every five years like strep throat, in which I have no choice but to visit a doctor and get a prescription to fight it off, I’ve learned in my 28 ½ years that pretty much every week of October 14th, March 28th, and sometimes January 15th, I suffer from major allergic reactions. To the air, I guess. And usually when that happens, it turns into a mild form of sinusitis.

I have encountered this so many times that it’s just a part of life to me now. Being that I get around five sick days a year from my employer, I use them for the days of the year I have the most severe symptoms: migraines, toothaches, oversensitive skin, body aches, depression, lack of appetite, inability to focus, foggy short-term memory.

Since I have dealt with allergy and sinus issues most of my life, I know that what many people call being “sick”, I simply call a “bad allergy and sinus week”. Unless I have a lasting fever or am unable to swallow food and keep it down, I am not sick. And I’m definitely not wasting my time and money to go pay a doctor to give me a prescription to weaken my own body’s ability to fight off what I can become stronger by suffering through.

If I’m gonna be “sick”, I might as well enjoy three straight days of Netflix online streaming without the interruption of a doctor visit.

(Bx)

(Sinus Sociovision – Grafiken der Milieus gibt es hier und hier!)

Wie unterschiedlich die ca. 15 Millionen Migranten Deutschlands (mit und ohne deutschen Pass)  sein können, wenn man mit Soziologenaugen auf sie schaut, zeigt eine Sinus-Studie. Sie unterscheidet nach acht Milieus:

1. traditionell:

Das religiös-verwurzelte Milieu: archaisch-bäuerlich geprägt; Glaubensgemeinschaft und Herkunftsnation als wichtigste Bezugspunkte; Wunsch nach Rückkehr in die Heimat; große innere Distanz zu Staat und Gesellschaft in Deutschland; schlechte Sprachkenntnisse; unteres Einkommen.

Das traditionelle Gastarbeitermilieu: erste Generation der Einwanderer; Traum von Rückkehr ins Heimatland aufgegeben; traditionelles Arbeitsethos; Anerkennung deutscher „Tugenden“; materiell gesichert; defizitär integriert; schlechte Deutschkenntnisse.

2. prekär:

Das entwurzelte Milieu: Flüchtlingsmilieu; stark materialistisch geprägt; ohne Integrationsperspektive; geringe Bildung; oft angewiesen auf staatliche Hilfe; fehlende Sprachkenntnisse.

Das hedonistisch-subkulturelle Milieu: zweite Einwanderergeneration; jung; mittlere bis gehobene Bildung; meist noch in Ausbildung oder in prekären Arbeitsverhältnissen; meist kein eigenes Einkommen; Identifizierung nicht mit Mehrheitskultur, sondern mit Subkulturen; häufig Ausgrenzungserfahrungen.

3. bürgerlich:

Das statusorientierte Milieu: erste und zweite Einwanderergeneration; Wunsch nach Integration sowie sozialem, materiellem und beruflichem Aufstieg; mittleres Einkommen.

Das adaptive Integrationsmilieu: pragmatisch; Streben nach Sicherheit, individueller Selbstbestimmung; mittlere Bildung; mittleres Einkommen; Wunsch nach schneller Integration.

4. ambitioniert:

Das multikulturelle Performermilieu: jung; flexibel; leistungsorientiert; aufgeschlossen; höhere Bildung; mittleres bis gehobenes Einkommen; schnelle Integration; Selbstverständnis als Weltbürger und oft bikulturelle Identität.

Das intellektuell-kosmopolitische Milieu: Streben nach Selbstverwirklichung; hohe Bildung; mittleres Einkommen; schnelle und aktive Integration; Kritik an fundamentalistischen muslimischen Strömungen.

Franz Walter analysiert Studie und Ergebnis auf spiegel online.

Die Caritas bietet alle Links zu den einzelnen Teilen der umfangreichen und sehr detaillierten Studie.

Der Stern lässt uns in einem Fotoalbum blättern: die zehn deutschen Milieus werden hier anschaulich charakterisiert. (Ich selber gehöre mit Haut und Haar zu Milieu 7 – den 9% “Experimentalisten”.)

Hier eine grafische Darstellung!

Benefits Reported Using the CD

I get extraordinary energy after a long and hard day at work – Rajesh

My mind gets peaceful if I feel stressed out. It is thus a good de-stressor tool for me. When I feel lethargic in the morning, it gives me the required to energy for me to get up and do my day’s work without any problem – Tom.

Before any class, this CD simply rejuvenates and prepares the students to get ready for the class, especially for a Reiki class – Shobana

My sinus gets increased if I am emotionally upset. Thanks to the CD I could handle my cold without any medication. I guess it clears up any congestion in my Chakras – Harish

(To buy the CD contact  Shobana at 9884301634 (Chennai, India) or please send an email to REACHNARAN@GMAIL.COM)

Colours Effect on Chakras

Colour can offset negative stuff/situations. For example during Ragu Kalam (time) – the time when Ragu has a bad effect on us, if you wear a green dress then it can’t affect you.

Any problem in life indicates that one or more of our seven Chakras are imbalanced. Each of these Chakras emits certain colour and when there is a problem, the colour that is emitted from the Chakra will be less. This shows that the Chakra has less energy.

Let us see an example. A person weak who is weak willed and less assertive will have less energy in his Solar Plexus Chakra. If he prays to Sun God, to get the required colour Yellow and inhale it – visualizing the colour from Sun, then he can develop a strong will power.

Please refer to know on Colours effect on Chakras and Benefits Derived: http://colorhealing.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/colours-heals-chakras/

How do I know which Chakra is affected?

My life is in doldrums and how do I know which Chakra is imbalanced? You don’t have to know. Listen to the Solar Energy Meditation CD. It heals all the Chakras with least effort from your side.

How do Colour Meditation Heals the Chakras?

The relevant colour for each Chakra is generated by doing the solar energy meditation. The Chakras then gets stimulated, activated, expanded (then they can receive more energy) and balanced.

The CD is programmed to generate alpha waves to the listener. So you will go into a deep meditation automatically. Though, you need to concentrate on the words uttered in the guided meditation.

The affirmations in the CD prepare the Chakras to get ready to receive the healing energies from Sun God. You will get the colour you require for the need of the hour.

The Chakras are stimulated. Therefore, they are activated and will start performing to the optimum. Relevant colour prana is increased for each Chakra. The Chakras gets totally and fully energized. You will feel refreshed in the end.

How should I listen to the CD?

You don’t have to do anything. Sit and just listen to the CD. Your subconscious mind will follow the instructions provided in the CD.

When do I need the Colour Meditation CD?

If you are not a morning person

You get tired in the evenings

You stress out easily

You are emotional and have stress related diseases like cold, fatigue syndrome and heart disease.

You want to balance your Chakras.

You feel tired after so many night outs or night shifts and sleep during the day, but you feel lethargic.

After an extensive examination, the doctor concluded that my wife wasn’t right in the head.

Aside: my wife is glaring at me with a look that could blister the paint on a battleship. In the interest of avoiding incineration, let me provide a some context.

The doctor in question is my wife’s oh-toe-lair-in …. auto-lauren … octo-linen … ear, nose and throat guy. He decided that she was having trouble with her sinuses, but he said he had a fix for that.

I looked up sinuses on-line to see what he might be talking about. Guess what? Sinuses are just holes in your skull. Sort of like damp, gooey caves hidden behind the bones of your face. So, in essence, the doctor was saying that my wife had holes in her head and that was the problem.

Aside: my wife is staring at me with the same frightening intensity of a buzzard watching the slowest wildebeest in a migrating herd. Let me continue in a more scientific vein.

Sinuses are cavities in the skull which serve three primary functions; they warm and moisten the air we breath, they reduce the overall weight of the skull, and they provide employment for a whole bunch of medical specialists including pharmacists, general practitioners, and (most importantly) surgeons … like my wife’s ear, nose and throat guy.

The whole thing seemed a little suspect to me. Let me review the facts. The sinuses are little cave-like openings in the skull. There was a problem, but the doctor was sure he could solve it by operating. How do you operate on a hole? Did he plan to fill them in? Reupholster them, maybe? Should I have advised my wife to go with a conservative striped fabric or the flashier-but-more-likely-to-look-dated-sooner paisley print?

Aside: my wife is gazing at me in a way that puts me in mind of Cyclops from the X-men. I’ll just get back to the topic at hand, shall I?

Although he presented it in a highly technical manner, the doctor’s plan was that he would shove some kind of flexible device up my wife’s nose and clean out the offending sinus. He didn’t call this surgery, he called it a “procedure”. As far as I’m concerned, a procedure is a set of instructions for doing something straightforward like assembling a spacecraft or disassembling a bomb or unblocking a sink. Speaking of which, it occurs to me that I have a small plumber’s snake and recently performed a similar “procedure” on our kitchen sink when the drain backed up. Maybe we should have saved some money, skipped the surgery and I could have solved the problem with some good, old-fashioned DIY.

Aside: My wife…never mind. On with the story.

The first step to performing surgery is breaking down the patient’s resistance to the idea of willingly subjecting themselves to the “procedure”. The usual approach is to deny the prospective patient food or drink for at least twelve hours. At the end of that time, they’ll be positively anxious to cooperate if it means they’ll eventually be allowed to eat again.

Of course, some patients come back after the surgery — once they’ve been permitted food again — and claim to have had a change of heart. They didn’t really want the surgery, they were just hungry and collaborating with the medical personnel seemed to be the easiest way to get food. To prevent any messy legal entanglements, the healthcare community now requires patients to sign a ream of documents covered in dense gray text printed in a font that would seem small to cockroach.

With all of the formalities taken care of, the patient is whisked away to the humiliation room where they are forced into an unfashionably loose cotton garment before being examined, inspected, poked and prodded. If they’re healthy enough the surgery is declared a “go” and the countdown begins.

In my wife’s case, just before the surgery the anesth …. unesthat … annie-this … guy with the knock-out medicine, came in and told her about all of the drugs he’d be using to make sure she didn’t feel sick when she woke up. He threw around names like Decadron and Zofran. I recognized them both from my years of watching TV. Optimus Prime ordered the Autobots to capture Decadron in the second season. And I’m pretty sure that the Power Rangers had to battle Lord Zofran after he threatened the town of Angel Grove.

Aside: my wife’s giving me “the look” again.

The knock-out doc promised my wife two things; 1) the procedure would almost certainly go well and 2) she’d be in some discomfort when she woke up. I give him points for honesty, but now I know why he went into medicine instead of marketing. I can’t imagine him successfully selling a service with the slogan, “It’ll make you better … but it’s gonna hurt!”

Finally it was time for the actual surgery. My wife handled her part perfectly, falling asleep on cue and then lying quietly. The doctors did a good job too and a couple of hours later I was reunited with my wife in the recovery room where she looked … pretty much the way she had before the surgery. Sadly, sinus surgery isn’t one of those operations where you wind up with a cool scar to show off. The best you can do is point vaguely up your nose and say, “It’s up in there.”

For post-op instructions they told me to take over the routine housework and let my wife rest for a week or so. They also added that she was to avoid lifting heavy objects for a month. Oddly, the definition of heavy objects included such things as toilet brushes, feather dusters, and dish rags. Still, I didn’t mind. I was just glad she was finally going to be right in the head.

One Pack - Citrus Spice Shower Steam Disks

Notes from the Artist:

Our Shower Steam Disks are infused with ginger, peach, orange, clove, cinnamon and vanilla! Also available in Lavender Peppermint and Eucalyptus Peppermint … great for stuffy noses!

Simply place one disk in the bottom of your shower (away from the direct stream of the water). The moisture from the shower will activate the disk. As the disk begins to fizz and dissolve, it will release it’s all natural vapors and relieve sinus troubles and soothe cold symptoms.

These can also be used in the bath tub – we recommend dropping two disks into bath water for optimal therapeutic effect.

Each pack contains 3 disks, weighing approximately 2 ounces each. At just $4 per pack, these make great stocking stuffers!

So now I’ve felt the effects of the H1N1 virus for about two weeks. I was able to get out of bed for the first time a few days ago, but I still feel fatigued and extremely sore. Supposedly it hits teenagers harder than little kids, because I have toddler brothers who got over it in a snap.

However, my sinuses keep getting worse. This is probably due to the virus as well as the numerous allergens at this time of year, and my school is in a mansion and gets VERY dusty and moldy. So I decided to try a neti pot.

I don’t actually have a neti pot, so I used a dropper, and it worked WONDERS. I’ll write more about this later.

Woohhhhh! I am SUPER excited about this new product from the Himalayan Institute! Can’t wait to get my bottle.

Their blurb:
Neti Mist™ Sinus Spray is a new 100% all-natural spray uniquely formulated with ingredients to help soothe and decongest your sinuses.

Helps relieve:

* sinus congestion & pressure
* cold & allergy symptoms
* stuffy cold symptoms
* thick mucus & phlegm

https://www.himalayaninstitute.org/store/product/3f2832da-70ed-4474-b884-3e27f7af0501.aspx<a