Sunday, February 21, 2010

Wherein we discover why doctors no longer return my calls

Hey -- you know what's not funny? A sinus infection. You know what's even less funny? Three in a row.

I can say this with certainty, because I spent the better part of last week psycho-Googling "sinus infection." If there were something funny out there, trust me, I would've found it.

Instead, I found the same three or four medical sites with pretty much the same information, which I kept reading over and over, hoping that somehow, the last 47 times I read them, I missed the sentence that began, "And the guaranteed, fast, natural cure for sinus infections is ..."

Apparently I thought this was a better use of my time and steadily-dwindling energy than (1) visiting someone with an actual medical degree who might confirm I did indeed have a sinus infection, and (2) once I did visit said medical professional, taking the antibiotic she prescribed.

That's right -- I waited two more days AFTER getting the prescription before taking it. Because it is possible I am the world's most stubborn sick person.

In my defense ... the doctor did admit under cross-examination that there is no definitive test for a sinus infection (at least none that she, a generalist, could perform). When asked how she knew this was a bacterial infection as opposed to a hapless series of allergic reactions and viruses, she actually uttered the words, "It's hard to say." I rest my case.

Then she asked me a bunch more questions about my symptoms, which I may or may not have answered truthfully, because ... really? Do you need me to do your entire job for you, lady? As if bringing in all of these printouts from various home-remedy and medical-horror-story websites were not enough?

And now I've been taking these pills for three whole days, and I am still not cured. I think she rigged them.

3 comments:

  1. http://www.neilmed.com/usa/index.php

    As a lifelong sufferer of allergies, I found this worked fairly well at keeping a lot of the allergens at bay. It's reputed to also help make colds milder.

    After you run through the packets they sell you with the bottle, you can make your own up with Uniodized salt & baking soda.

    Good luck with this.


    John
    john.vogel@gmail.com

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  2. I was going to suggest neti pots (similar to the bottle, more effective but not as easy to use). Neti pots are also good practice the next time you have to do drownproofing.

    About all those internet horror stories...did you know that every medical school class becomes hypochondriac?

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  3. This is an area where (forgive the sacrilege) conventional medicine has it all over homeopathic. A prednisone taper shrinks and clears the sinuses. A good ENT can then examine and diagnose. I had a sinus outpatient procedure (your dad, btw, had 11 such procedures) which totally cleaned out my sinuses and they have stayed that way pretty much with minimal care and maintenance for the last 8 years. Why mess with hit-or-miss homeopathic remedies (despite the noise from the non-medical community) when this area of conventional medicine is so very good and well-developed?

    Uncle Doug

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