Face flossing with Dr. Awkward, retail therapy and Sunday not so fun day

Happy Monday you sexy beasts!

Well Friday I went to my ENT appointment.  I grew up in a family of nurses and I think their complaining about how patients forget some critical pieces of info during exams has always stuck with me because I go in with a detailed list of my illness.  I'm talking a timeline when things started, any symptoms I've had, any methods used to treat them, when I would start to feel better and/or worse, etc.  90% of doctors or nurses always mentioned how incredibly helpful that information is and how they wished all of their patients were as thorough.  The nurse commented on it and thanked me for the info.  She took my weight, oxygen levels and blood pressure.  I told her it would probably be high as I had "white coat syndrome"  (aka nervous) but it was actually 124/77 which is pretty close to my usual 115/70 so I was happy with that.

When he came in, I could instantly tell he hadn't read a thing.  He skimmed and basically thought my one page of info with attached Doctor on Demand notes were a detailed list of the many sinus issues I've had.  Asshat.

*shaking head*

His bedside manner was a little awkward and he seemed kind of like he wanted to shove his theories on me over actually listening to what I was saying and he also talked to the Mr more than he talked to me.  Hello...I'M the patient!  Don't get me wrong he was nice enough but I prefer a doctor who actually listens over asking me a bunch of questions I already wrote down for him.  He packed my nostrils with anesthetic soaked gauze and I didn't even know he left them in there because my nose always felt that way anyway.  He pulled them out and then did the spaghetti scope.  I barely felt anything at all.  It just felt like he stuck a limp swab at the top of my nose but after the fact, the Mr said he put about 60% of the hose all the way in both nostrils.

Glad I didn't know that at the time!  HA!

But he said everything looked good and my nose looked healthy, no signs of infection or polyps or anything.  He did note a slight deviation of the septum on the right side which is likely why the right side felt more full to me.  It didn't seem enough to warrant concern from him but it does explain a lot for me.  For the past 2 years, I've noticed a significant decrease in functionality on my right nostril.  I'm always way more congested on that side and sometimes I've even had to use all natural nose spray to even attempt to open that nostril to breathe and taste especially this past year.  It's really scared me and now that gives me a bit of an explanation for it.  He said since I had sinus pressure, ear fullness on the left side and the diminished taste/smell that he thinks it's due to inflammation that happened when I initially got sick and it just never went away.  So I'm on a week long course of oral steroids as well as a nasal spray steroid which I take until I see him again in a month after I have a CT scan of the nasal cavity done once treatment is done.  I'm assuming if I feel better, it comes back clear and only if I'm still having issues could there either be something more serious or if there is some kind of damage done where I'll have to deal with this long term.  (A possibility he mentioned but he seems to think it's more inflammation related)  I got a little dizzy after the first dose of roids but I'm wondering if it was my ears equalizing because after a month and a half of being all weird in there, it may take a few days to re-orient stuff.  I did notice an improvement with the first dose so it if keeps up like that and I can get the all clear in a month, I will be one happy wench!

Saturday was a good day and my taste and smell were probably about 70-80% depending on the time of day with my right side not wanting to fully open.  We walked and shopped the city for about 3 miles.  I got some stuff to fill a spot in the mantle that needed a little somethin' and we stopped in this closing store on a whim and found this adorable print that we were going to buy in Traverse City two years ago but passed on due to price.

With the going out of business sale percent off, we scored it for $10!!  It'll go in the office to remind us of our pup and the fact it's listening to smooth jazz is a plus since I'm a smooth jazz freak.

Sunday, I was just in a grumpy mood.  At 2:30am (about 10 minutes after we came to bed) we were jolted by the sound of six gunshots right in a row going off close enough to be of serious concern.  We called the police and 30 minutes later they showed up in the area.  Yeah so to whomever kicked the bucket waiting for them to get there...we tried.  It seems like there are so many flags trying to tell us it's time to move on.  Asshole neighbors on either side, barking dogs completely surrounding us so that I now have to blast the TV in an attempt to cover the sound, jerk neighbor across the street, a peeping tom incident was reported a few months ago, the Christmas vandals (kids), the constant traffic where we can't even get out and when we do, we wait for 10 minutes to go two miles.  Ideally, we'd start looking seriously toward the end of next year when we've got a year of mortgage saving under our belt and then pray that something we love pops up.  I'm not moving for anything less than awesome (meaning I can overlook cosmetic but has to be something I love from the outside with good bones) because this will be our last home unless we decide to move somewhere to retire.  I also will not move to a place that will bump up our expenses by more than $200/mo.  We are accustomed to our lifestyle and if that means we have to save another few years to get there, then I'll have to find a way to deal with it.  I'm not going to move somewhere so that we suddenly can't take vacations or anything like that.  Call me greedy...I like our lifestyle.

We had to do our grocery rounds and got to it late so Trader Joe's was a mad house and I feel like I forgot something.  It was sad to pass up my stuffed flounders for the first time but it had to be done.  Quality has gone too far down to be worth the money.  Then when we got back, it was tax time.  We got a refund so there's nothing to boo hoo about but it's just a pain in the butt to get everything together.  I picked up a little organizer for a buck at Target to hopefully keep me on track this year with receipts and such.  I'm tired of throwing everything into the black hole and hoping it doesn't get sucked into the abyss.

Oh yeah, I did hear back from the VRBO place that we liked the best so I think we're booked for everything and now it's time to start planning stuff!  I'm hoping we can meet up with my old boss who lives about 2 1/2 hours from our southern most stop.  She was like a mom to me before the bureaucracy of higher ups got to her just before retirement but I don't blame her for all of that crap.  I'd just be glad to see her and her hubby and catch up in person for once instead of email.  We don't carve out much time with others when we vacation as a rule but I fear this could be my last chance to see her.  Friday I found out the nicest man I ever knew that I used to work with died last year and he was only 51.  I can't live my life in the haze that there will always be another year to catch up, get together, etc.  Someday isn't promised and I want to take advantage of opportunities when I get the chance.

Sorry, this was a rather long winded recap!  If you got this far, pat yourself on the back.

Go ahead...I'll wait.

What did you do this weekend?

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