Wednesday, September 10, 2008

[9-10-08] ENT

[3:03pm]
     I always thought ENT stood for some really long and obscure medical speciality...like Enteroscopinology. I just figured it out: Ear, Nose, and Throat. Duh!

     Anyhow, my throat is still driving me crazy. The worst part is the coughing at night. For some reason (i.e. some deity playing a cruel prank on me), whenever I lie down to begin my blissful drift into slumber, I start coughing. It occurs because I lie down to go to sleep -- isn't that vicious?
     Another cruelty: my only cure to the coughing is the numbing mouthwash. I have to take two full gulps to start the cough. So what's the problem? That stuff makes me feel sick! It takes effort to hold down the two gulps. So I have the pain/coughing on one side, and nausea on the other. I have to choose the lesser of two evils. Sometimes the treatment is worse than the disease. :P Sometimes not.

     Yesterday, I promised to call the nurse if the problem persisted the next day. So I called her today. She studied my symptoms, discussed them with my doctor, and got back to me. The diagnosis: a referral to an ENT doctor is needed. She strongly wishes this to be resolved before I begin BMT chemo.
     So, I've been scrambling all day to make an appointment with an ENT doctor. It is very hard to schedule around the BMT schedule... especially if I need a ride from someone to do so. Bah.

1 comment:

Veronica said...

Geez - sorry you've yet another thing to deal with.........persistent coughs are truly annoying. Hope you get your ENT appointment asap and get this all resolved!
And thanks for making me feel good - I knew what ENT stood for - I actually knew something that superbrain Austin didn't know!! :p .........Vx