We all know it’s a bad idea to google symptoms, right? I often joke about how my primary physician is Dr. Google. Well, after my big stomach troubles that took forever to get better, then the little cold a couple of weeks ago, I had a glob of yuck in the back of my throat that wouldn’t leave, and on Friday, my ears hurt when I swallowed. Great.
Friday night was very restless. I went to bed super-early but woke up every hour the rest of the night. (Lloyd was up with pre-sale adrenaline.) The pain was bad enough that I looked up ‘urgent care’ at 4 a.m. I was going to be busy at the sale until early afternoon, but I found an option to have a virtual visit mid-afternoon, so I booked it. I entered all my information – insurance, drivers license, address, phone number, symptoms, blah blah blah. It was all done and I realized….. they were going to try to have a video call on my flip phone. Oops.
As it turned out, I could have the visit on my iPad. The lady (she was in Grand Island, I was in Lincoln) was very nice. I told her I was pretty sure it was a sinus infection and she hooked me up with medicine and some other information.
I had already been gargling with salt water, and she asked if I knew about nasal rinsing. I did, but not about the cool device she recommended. My friend Stephannie is a big fan of the neti pot, and I’ve used a regular teapot (sorry) to pour salt water through my nose before. But this squirty bottle? It’s a game changer. You don’t have to tip your head to the side – just load and squirt. Gross, but effective.
So, I am incredibly happy that I can swallow without wanting to carve my ears out of my head.
In other medically-related news, my sister Keren just had hernia surgery yesterday and my brother Phil is waiting on some tests, so prayers for them would be very welcome!