Good thing I’m single…

“It’s probably a good thing you’re single right now,” said the Tall Blond on the phone from France.

I’d just finished telling her all of the medicine I was on…including a description of how I’m to take one of the meds…a process that has me laying in my bed with my head upside down while “gravity does it’s thing”…as I try to manoeuvre a liquid from my nostril to my sinus cavity.

I swear, if I wasn’t vain, I’d record the process just for the YouTube hits!

Suffice it to say…I went to the ENT specialist this week and…first the good news, he thinks we can avoid surgery. The bad…my sinuses are a wreck and it’s going to take several months of a nightly freak show routine to get things under control as he says it’s one of the worst cases of acute sinusitis he’s seen! (However, he’s a fairly young doctor so…seriously…how many cases can he have seen!)

The fact that surgery can potentially be avoided is a fantastic thing so I’m not really complaining too much except that I’m a little annoyed it went on with so many visits to the doctor, so many boxes of tissues, so many nasal sprays, so many antibiotic…and a neti-pot that had me turned into a human water fountain…before I got mad and said I wanted to see a specialist.

I’ve two people to thank for that.

1. My mom. I don’t know how many times she said I needed to see a specialist but every time I went to the doctor for another infection they treated the infection and things seemed to get a little better…until the next time. I know Mom kept saying I needed to see someone but the doctors kept reassuring me and…well…let’s just say Mom was right. There was always this little nagging in my head when I went to the doctor that this wasn’t quite normal…but no one really likes to kick up a stink do they? Finally…I couldn’t take it anymore. Which was about three sinus infections past when my mother couldn’t take it anymore. So kids, here’s my advice…listen to your mothers…and your body…but mostly your mothers.

2. Paul Lamb. If he said “do you have allergies” once he said it a hundred times. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I. SAW. HIM. I got the, “your voice sounds thick” or “do you have a cold” or “you don’t sound well.” I could count on Paul to point it out even on the days I actually thought I was feeling rather well…which were the times I went out and had a drink at the pub which…over the last year…hasn’t been that many times! I get that Paul, as a musician, is probably in-tune to people’s voices and I’ve had that “sinus voice” for quite some time now…so that’s probably been part of it. He’s told me what vitamins to take, what foods to try, what allergy it could be…and not because he’s being nosy (pun)…but simply because he genuinely cares. Paul was part of the reason I finally LOST it when I went to the doctors…and insisted they send me for further testing.

Thanks Mom…and Paul…for constantly being on me about my health.

So…for all of the men who are banging at my door trying to whisk me away to fabulous dinners and vacations…I’m currently off the market and taking care of myself for a bit…which includes a nightly routine that no one needs to see!

By Spring…I should be able to both breathe AND smell again…AND…with any luck, my voice will lose that “sinus sound” and I’ll be able to head back to the Lower Deck to listen to a little Paul Lamb music…and maybe even sing along without sounding like a freight train!