The cold that just wouldn't go away...

Remember this post? It's been 6 weeks since I first went to the doctor for a cold/virus/sinus infection. I had this cold for over a week before I even went to the dr and I just couldn't get rid of it. I was so congested that I literally could not breath without my mouth open. I couldn't sleep and I was having a hard time eating because when I closed my mouth to chew I felt like I couldn't get enough air. My dr had exhausted all antibiotics and eventually sent me to the ENT dr.

Turns out it wasn't a cold at all. I have a deviated septum. It felt like I was constantly congested because the inside of my nose was so swollen that I couldn't get any air in. The swelling had literally closed off my airway. And the 'snot' that continuously ran, that was drainage from all the swelling. And the constant sneezing, that was my nose trying to get the swelling out.

The inside of my nose was so swollen that the dr couldn't even tell how badly deviated my septum is. The ENT dr gave me cortisone and an anti-inflammatory, I have to go back in 3 weeks. Depending on how bad the damage is after the swelling goes down, I may have to have surgery. The medicine is working, I can breathe now, and I've had a few good nights of sleep. I don't think I've slept good since I got the 'cold'. Now that the swelling is going down my cheeks and
nose and eyes hurt.

Oh, and the cause of the deviated septum? The Ent dr says it's pretty common for mothers of toddlers to have this problem. And asked me if I'd gotten hit in the face recently. More like daily... I've taken a hard head to the face quite a few times, sometimes tears have even sprung up and lips were cracked enough that blood appeared. That has happened countless times, and there is no way to figure out which head to face incident caused the problem, or how long it's been that way.


Ah, the joys of motherhood.......