Respiratory Issue
So I saw my Primary Care Physician on Thursday (okay, he was out of the office, but I saw another general practitioner from that office). She listened to my lungs and said 'good news - they're clear'. But she could tell from the sound of my cough that something further up (throat area) was happening, and after discussing a few things, she said she thought it was a bronchial issue, set off by allergies (ragweed is particularly bad here in Minnesota right now).
Okay, a couple of things. I was diagnosed with several environmental allergies decades ago - pollen, ragweed, mold, and dust. For 2 years in the late 70's I took monthly shots for them, but I became acclimated and didn't need the shots after that. When I moved to Arizona, my pollen allergy came back with a vengeance. Desert cactus bloom all year-round, and that, combined with the dry air, means pollen's always in the air, and in your nose. I treated it by over-the-counter meds like Claritin when it was particularly irritating. I wasn't bothered with ragweed there, but I did have some bronchial problems post-transplant. In a post written last year I discussed a lung issue I had for several weeks. When I stood up it was like my bronchial passages just squeezed closed. Even walking a few feet was exhausting, because my breathing immediately became labored.
Since shortness of breath is something all cancer patients watch for, my oncologist ran all the normal tests (PET scan, etc.) but they came back clear. Finally he said he really couldn't account for it, with perhaps one idea - a very small percent of infants sometimes exhibit diffused respiratory problems in their first few years, and usually they were attributed to their new immune system, and cleared up on their own. Of course as a stem-cell transplant recipient, I have a new immune system, so he thought it was possible I was falling into that rare-infant category. He gave me a script for anti-biotics, and within a week, the symptoms were gone.
This sort of feels like that, but it also feels like allergies. I think there are definitely allergy things going on, but am also wondering if I've just developed a tendency to bronchial issues as a result of either the transplant or the chemo itself. I'll be meeting with my Minnesota oncologist this Thursday and will review with her.
But here's what my PCP prescribed:
1. A topical nasal steroid spray (one spray in each nostril, 2x daily).
2. 24 hour, non-decongestant over-the-counter allergy pill (like Claritin - 1x daily).
3. Albuterol inhaler (two puffs, 4x daily).
4. Nasal irrigation (1-2x daily).
I've been doing all of the above now for 3+ days, and the symptoms have been reduced a bit, but are not gone. I did manage to swim my laps yesterday, and again it took me about 5 minutes longer than usual (I had to stop at the end of each lane to get the coughs out of my system). If indeed the ragweed allergy is the primary cause of all of this, that should end with the first freeze, which should come sometime within the next 4-6 weeks. For the first time in my life I'm hoping for an early winter, or at least the end of the ragweed season.
I did ask about the steroid, since I absolutely didn't want any of side-effects of the steroid meds, but she told me it was topical, and had no internal biological effects. It's supposed to dry out any pockets of mucus in your nasal system. Nasal irrigation does the same thing, and I used to do this regularly in Arizona, but hadn't been doing it much in the last year. I was prescribed an albuterol inhalant back in Arizona, and she rewrote that script for me again. I did it in an earlier post, but I think I'll review nasal irrigation again in my next post - perhaps tomorrow.
I'll post again, maybe twice in the next week or so; once on nasal irrigation, and an update after my oncologist appointment.
eta: I added a 20th country to my viewers list - Japan. It's funny because I was just telling my mother how I had readers from the far east, the middle east, eastern and western Europe, as well as North America, but hadn't seen any from Japan. Now they're on the list!
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