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Fatboy Does His First Sinus Rinse

For a rundown of my stay at the hospital for my surgery, please visit Beautiful’s site because I won’t be writing about it for another day or so.

Sunday – Checked In
Monday – Recovery
Tuesday – Home at Last

I HATE wet things on my face. What do I hate more than that? Saltwater UP my nose! However, I was so uncomfortable last night, it was time to use my new NeilMedi sinus rinse bottle with Dr. Seper’s recipe for hypertonic saline: 1qt water, 2tsp kosher salt, 1tsp baking soda.

We heated the entire thing for 30 seconds to warm it and put it into the bottle. Now… I didn’t follow the instructions exactly because, well, I just got out of surgery and have stuff in my nose that doesn’t belong to my anatomy that will be removed tomorrow. I didn’t want to waterjet it up or anything, so I squirted gently until I wanted to stop.

A TON of stuff came out, so this video embedded below is censored with back boxes for those of a weak stomach. This is also a site for education, so the full, uncensored version is also available if you click here, but I didn’t want anyone to unexpectedly be exposed to it.

I will be posting more about my weekend, surgery, and recovery over the next few days. Enjoy the video, taken with my iPhone 4. (sorry, but I had the bathroom fan on in case I started screaming, lest I tick off the neighbor)

Sorry, the video had a censored box in the wrong spot… going to re-upload and then it needs to process… AGAIN.

Fatboy’s Nebulizer Life

Inhaled MedsOwing directly to my eFlow nebulizers (Why you NEED an eFlow a.k.a. Trio and Altera), there is no way I would be able to function with all of my responsibilities without being able to do speedy breathing treatments. They allow me to break down a dose into 90 seconds to 3 minutes, depending on the med and how much is in the vial. Look how darn portable they are, too!

Here is a run-down of what is in the photo, why I take it, when, and etc.

Left side from the back

Advair Diskus 500/50 – a steroidal control bronchodilator med that I take twice a day. It’s a dry powder that gets sucked in when a blister inside pops.

Albuterol – my first dose I take with my Trio in the long chain of meds. It’s, of course, a long-time friend of CFers and asthma patients as a bronchodilator. Twice a day again.

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Hypertonic Saline (7%) for Cystic Fibrosis

I’ve fought tooth and nail to not do 7% saline aerosols, basically since the first time I sucked it down at least 2 years ago. It’s nasty! I’ve never been able to do a saltwater rinse after oral surgery, sinus rinses, or swallow seawater. I have a very strong reaction to such a high concentration of saline, almost a gag-reflex. My chest tightens, I start to salivate like there’s a porterhouse in front of me, and my chest tightens some more.

I decided it was going to be worth the effort and discomfort after reading this article over on RunSickBoyRun.com: Hypertonic Saline Solution (7%). Come on back after reading about the empirical evidence that it works and check out my personal experiences in the last few weeks.

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