The Road Home

The Road Home
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Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Sinus Dilation & Other Stuff

Last Friday, five days ago, I had a sinus dilation procedure in the office of my ENT (ear, nose & throat doctor). For about six weeks prior to the procedure, I had terrible headaches almost everyday that nothing would help. Not nasal steroids, sinus washes, antibiotics, Tylenol, pain pills, nothing. You should really feel sorry for Frank. One, for having to put up with me and two, because I have just not been myself. I have never been one to have headaches, especially not ongoing, seemingly never ending, headaches. Am I healed? Not yet, but I am well on the way. Has this procedure taken care of my sinus problems? The verdict is still out since I still have some occasional pain from the procedure, but the never ending headache seems to be gone, for which I am truly thankful.

Until recently I had never heard of sinus dilation. Here is a site that explains what it is and how it is done. We have a neat doctor that let Frank stay with me and watch the whole thing. Some things hurt and some didn't. The doctor dilated both of my frontal sinuses and both maxillary or what I call cheek bone sinuses. He calls it bone cracking, and sometimes it sounded like that was the case. When he got to the left maxillary sinus he poked and prodded and poked and 
prodded and couldn't get in. He said something about a flap in the way, so he cut it out. I think he actually had to cut a hole to get in and when he did, a stream of white, creamy ick came out, which he expected. The CT scan they did prior to the procedure showed the left maxillary as solid instead of with any air in it. He cleaned everything out of there he could.

So now I am healing. It is still uncomfortable to bend over to do much so the garden is patiently sitting out there waiting for me, just doing it's thing all on it's own. I think the aphids are having a hey day. By next week, I hope to diminish their population greatly. We have made cheese a couple of times, it doesn't take much physical effort, I just had to concentrate more to make sure I didn't skip a step.

The new online program I am using for my contract work with the school district, which is statewide, is really taking a lot of time. Since it is new, there are many, many data fields that have to be populated for each student, and of course with school starting and families moving around, there are many new students to contend with as well as the ones that are returning. I have spent so much time on the computer today, at one point I had this picture of a ball and chain coming out of the laptop attached around my ankle. Silly, huh? It's not hard work, just time consuming. 

It's always good to use your mind to learn new things, but right now it would be more fun to research greenhouse plants for winter. Soon enough the school work will calm back down and I will do just that. Frank and I are already talking about the plants we want to experiment with over the winter. It will be exciting to be able to walk out there and harvest fresh food for the table in December or January.

Since I have been in recovery mode and busy with school work, we are behind on answering the comments and emails on the blog. Please bear with us, we will respond, it just may not be quite as timely as it has been. We really do enjoy hearing from you and appreciate the time you take to share with all of us.

I know you are watching the financial news, the news of yet more hatred and murder being splashed in our faces, the news of countries flexing their military muscles and the news of natural and man made devastation around the globe. Ponder long and hard what you need to be doing for the near and far future. We sure are. We think about it, talk about it, and pray about it every single day. 

Until next time - Fern

15 comments:

  1. Prayers for a speedy, successful recovery. Pace yourself.

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  2. You'll be surprised at how much better you feel once you're completely healed. My sister had it done about 5 years ago and said even her memory was better - she thinks it because the headaches took so much out of her.

    Planning for winter crops in the greenhouse must be exciting. Since the British have so many greenhouses maybe a Youtube site would give you some ideas. And, of course, there is Eliot Coleman with his "Four Season Harvest" for ideas.

    We're still waiting for temps in the mid 80s to start planting - it's been mid 90s with heat index in the low 100s, like your weather has been. Better times are coming, but not soon enough for me.

    Happy gardening!!

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    1. The news about your sister is very encouraging, Bellen. I'm doing better today, and hope to every day here after.

      I have the Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman. It was one of my first 'greenhouse' books. I also have several others. I discovered frost cloth in Coleman's book and have used it out in the garden. Now I will experiment with it in the greenhouse when it gets too cold. I am really looking forward to it.

      I picked tomatoes, peppers, okra and few yellowed cucumbers today. The cowpeas will have to wait a few more days. They involve too much bending over. I hope your weather cools off soon and you can start playing in the dirt. There's just nothing like dirt for the soul. Thank you for sharing.

      Fern

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  3. Dwight at Lively Creek farmsAugust 27, 2015 at 11:59 AM

    Praises for the headaches lessening. Speaking of praying - we were able to preview the new movie "War Room" with our church last night. It is an awesome movie about waging war from your "prayer room." It opens in theaters nationwide this Friday night and is well worth watching.

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    1. Thank you for the kind thoughts, Dwight.

      We haven't watched a movie in about five years, and I have to admit, I haven't heard of this one. It's just not something we keep up with anymore. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about it with our readers.

      Fern

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  4. Sending prayers your way for a full and complete recovery - and no more headaches! I have been dealing with spider mites on my green beans. It seems like there is no end to the "critters" trying to eat the food I have been trying to produce for myself! Hopefully your aphids won't be as hard to get rid of as my spider mites! Have a wonderful weekend!

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    1. Thank you for the prayers, Vickie.

      Competition is supposed to keep us all up on our game, right? Another gardening friend and I were talking about the challenges of growing food in the garden the other day. Between the weeds, bugs and critters, sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Then we always remind each other, "By the sweat of your brow will you eat your bread." That means it's time to get out there and keep at it. Good luck with your spider mites. I try to pick off as many leaves, stems or cowpeas as I can that are covered with aphids and feed them to the chickens. I will add DE to the mix next week after I see the doctor again. Thank you for sharing.

      Fern

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  5. get well soon, Fran! We need your wisdom and inspiration!!

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    1. Thank you for the well wishes, Wendy, I do appreciate it. I am doing better everyday.

      Fern

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  6. Yuk, Fern! Heh.

    You and I are a fine pair right now. But sounds like you're going to be really glad you had this done, and I know I'll be really glad I had my thing done.

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    1. I know I will recuperate faster than you will Ilene. I hope your knee is doing well and you continue to get around better everyday. I am breathing better and having less pain all the time. I'll just be glad to get back to normal. Not that I've ever been normal, but you know what I mean. (-:

      Fern

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  7. Fern - from everything said here by others, it looks like you'll be feeling right as rain very soon - AND with no more headaches!! i wish you a speedy recovery! however, i know that you are a hard worker and probably won't allow yourself too much time to rest and heal before you are back out working hard in the garden...but please be good to yourself and don't overdo it. we need you in tip-top health to follow your adventures with your greenhouse-winter gardening.

    sending healing thoughts and prayers. your friend,
    kymber

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    1. Thank you for your kind thoughts, Kymber. Actually, I am still putting off the bending over kind of tasks for a few more days. I go back to the doctor Monday for a recheck and hope to be in good shape by then. We need to get some roosters butchered. They're getting big and will be getting tough before long and besides that, we want some fried chicken! Thanks again.

      Fern

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  8. granddaughter had sinus surgery, did not help a bit, she still has sinus infections all the time.... I told her she would have to move to the ocean.... or dryer air, like Texas.she suffers...

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