Pharmacy

Since some time in February Scharae has had sinus infection after sinus infection. I think she's had no more than 2-3 weeks "off" and come to find out she really probably wasn't actually "off" but rather just not showing outward symptoms. This has coincided with a sharp upswing in her inability to "handle life" as we tend to put it around here. Getting dressed every morning is difficult, forget trying to hurry her along on any routine. I'm pretty sure that's connected to the fact that she probably hasn't really felt GOOD in at least 5 months! When she hasn't been on meds for sinus infection it's been for an asthma flare and/or ear infections probably caused by the sinus problems.
Last month we went with a 2 week course of antibiotics to try and kick this. And within a few days she was really seeming better. But then 3 or 4 days after ending the meds it was all back. I let it alone for 10 days thinking maybe it was a regular old cold but eventually when it wasn't getting any better and she was just miserable I called for an appointment. We had that appointment today and of course everything seems to have been all cleared up since Friday or Saturday, right? Apparently not. Even when she has appeared to be fine she complains of a headache in her "fourth head" (forehead) every day, most the day. And her stomach has been touchy and her throat sore on and off. Dr Rey-Rosa took a good gander today and says that other than the fact that she isn't currently having nasal drainage, she's got all the typical signs of another sinus infection. her throat is having a constant post-nasal drip which is irritating her throat and causing an upset stomach. Her sinuses were "full of infection" that just wasn't making it to the outside.
So here is a look at what Scharae's day is looking like now:

She has a morning routine of Vantin (for 3 weeks this time and luckily she is big enough to have 1/2 a tablet and no more liquid stuff), Flovent (asthma), Flonase (nasal spray), and Zyrtec. The Albuterol is whenever needed which means before swimming this time of year. Then in the evening she's got another Vantin, more Flovent, and we are now doing a nasal rinse. We'll start with just a saline rinse and hopefully all this together will get things under control and we can then drop the Vantin and just maintain with the rest. She had a blood draw today for an updated allergy test so the Zyrtec may change, depending on what that shows.
The Flonase is new starting today. John uses this and I HATE the smell. Really hate it. But she seemed to be fine with the stuff. And tonight when doing the sinus rinse she was a trooper. She's used to me making her use the Neti pot and seems to like this much better...we'll see how long that lasts. The good thing about all this is that all of this stuff seems to be meds she can manage on her own, with just a little direction from me. Which is great if this is going to be her long term life. We talked about options. He hesitates to send her to ENT at this point because they will most likely want a CT scan of her sinuses and suggest surgery. We aren't at a point where we will want to consider that yet so then we end up with all that radiation for no new plan of treatment. His experience with sinus surgery in kids her age for similar conditions is that at best 50% have any improvement. And of that 50% they go on to have the same problems and another surgery, repeat. But if you manage and leave things alone he has seen many kids have a sudden and drastic improvement as they go through puberty. Maybe something about the hormones shifting things? I don't know. But I definitely don't want to jump right to surgery for her! So for now, we wait and see how this all works for her.