Wicked Weekend: Snowstorm and Sinus Sickness… It’s Not Even Halloween Yet!

What the heck is THIS?

We had a few flakes the other night, but I thought people were joking when I overheard them in PetSmart saying we’re getting 10 inches!

It’s not even winter, yet we’re expecting a severe winter storm.

It’s not even Halloween yet!!!

But even this severe weather wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t simultaneously have the sinus infection from hell. My nausea has subsided–thankfully. Apparently my electrolytes were out of balance between the infection, reduced food intake, my prescription diuretic, and running a fever. I thought I was getting enough potassium, but I guess not. As soon as I had a tall glass of OJ the other day, it nearly went away. Since then, I’ve made a conscious effort to keep me intake in check. No wonder I felt hung-over; I pretty much was.

I should have known last week when my ear had that needs-to-pop feeling that my sinuses were going to act up, it was only a matter of time. Since my last post I’ve developed a full-blown sinus infection that Zyrtec is not touching.

I just had antibiotics over the summer, I REALLY don’t want to go that route again, but it seems like it hasn’t really gone away, it just goes into remission for awhile. The congestion is awful! My eyes, head, and ear hurt, on top of wicked stuff flying out of my nose and throat. Total misery. But I am managing it as best I can and finding relief in my home remedies:

1-) Neti pot – helps a lot, but produces unsightly multi-colored “stuff.” I don’t care; just get out of me, infection!

2-) Ice pops – Sugar-free and 100% fruit juice. They are like my BFFs right now. The PND (post-nasal drip) makes my throat sore, so these make me feel better.

3-) Cheater’s Tomato Soup: 1 cup low-sodium V8 juice original (50 cal) microwaved for 1.5 minutes with 1 TBSP (goat) butter (100 cal) and 1 teaspoon grated parmesan cheese (20 cal) = 170 calories of potassium-rich goodness. It tastes DELICIOUS, too! Much like the unhealthy canned stuff sans the funky ingredients. Love it. Sometimes I add a drizzle of honey for some sweetness. I think I’ll have some when I’m done with this post.

4-) Puffs Plus with Lotion – my favorite tissue. Keeps my nose from falling off.

5-) Lip balm – The neti pot and constant nose-blowing dry out the skin around my mouth, so I apply lip balm liberally all around my mouth and up towards my nose like crazy Aunt Gertrude would do with bright red lipstick.

6-) Leaving the heat off upstairs – We’ve been putting the heat on downstairs to avoid the excess air blowing through the vents upstairs. Hot air rises anyway, so we’d probably do this most of the time anyway.

7-) I shut my fan off – Yeah, I gave it up to reduce dust and dryness in the air. I replaced it with a thunderstorm audio app on my iPad. Love it.

Keeping the window open – Just a crack. I need some fresh air.

9-) Hot showers – Makes me feel better all over.

10-) Zyrtec daily – Still taking my daily allergy pill.

11-) Outsourcing everything – I have the best husband and mom EVER! They are always so attentive when I’m not feeling well. They have been taking such great care of me, I don’t know what I’d do without either of them. LOVE THEM PROFUSELY!

After my afternoon Neti pot session yesterday, I had a small window of time where I was feeling better. Not great, but better. I know I’m not contagious, so I wanted to get a few errands done before our trip to Florida and this untimely snowstorm. We went to BJ’s to stock up on supplies. I went pretty exhausted by the time we left. We stopped for dinner at Union Square, all I wanted was a Caesar salad with chicken. No idea why. I ate 3 pieces of the chicken breast, about 10 small croutons, and maybe 1/2 cup of the salad. I was done. I wanted to go home, but we had to stop at PetSmart and Hannaford for a few things. I felt like I had been out for weeks but we were only gone for about 3.5 hours. Sinus infections have always made me feel like I’m on my deathbed. I have a long history of them going back to childhood. Some years, nothing, nada. Other years, like this one, it seems they never go away. This one is definitely one of the worse episodes. Then again, I probably say that each time.

I have Sudafed and Mucinex-D sitting here and I want to take them, but I’m not supposed to. High blood pressure keeps me away from all the cool drugs. I need to call my doc on Monday and see what she says. She’ll probably want me to come in, but we have an important appointment with out attorney on that day. I’m hoping this will get better on its own. Doubtful if the infection is very bad and, but it would be nice. All I know is that I do not want to travel feeling like this!! So I’m going to pull out all of the stops. Oh, I also drank an Emergen-C yesterday. I’ll have another one today. Some more Vitamin C and potassium and other nutrients can’t hurt at this point.

Dustin has been requesting peanut butter fudge for days now and I felt terrible because I just haven’t felt up to the kitchen project. He volunteered to make it himself, but I think he has enough on his plate. He’s running everything on his own right now; I’m just an office nuisance at the moment, lol! Luckily, my mom was willing to take it on and Dustin got his wish!

Homemade Peanut Butter Fudge
(recipe)

The recipe was the very first Google result for peanut butter fudge and it turned out to be a winner. I had a small piece and I think it’s the best peanut butter fudge I’ve ever had. It’s so soft and creamy, you just want to spread it all over… ANYTHING! YUM! Dustin is in his glory. He had it for breakfast. The breakfast of champions, clearly. He totally deserves it though. He’s been amazing since birth. If fudge is what the man wants, fudge is what the man gets. And Dustin always gets what Dustin wants. Determined much? I’d say so.

It’s probably good that my taste buds and appetite are on the fritz. I could do some serious damage to this fudge. It’s SO GOOD!

I’m going to make some more around Christmastime. I think it would make an excellent gift, but who wants to share it once you taste it? LOL Not me. Certainly not Dustin.

I have some mini episodes throughout the day where the sinus pressure lets up and I can breathe freely. I’m hopeful that I’m getting better and not worse.

Since I began writing this post, it started snowing. The yard looks like it’s covered in powdered sugar. But snow isn’t as sweet of a treat. I’ll take a few feet of snow over this sinus infection though!! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Going to have my Cheater’s Tomato Soup now. Yay!

4 days until we leave for Orlando… !!

Tagged as: candy, desserts, fudge, home remedies, homemade fudge, Neti Pot, peanut butter fudge, seasons, sinus infection, sinuses, snow, snowstorm, sugar, sweets, treats, weather, winter