An update in my life

It has been a while since I last posted and my post was an acknowledgement of another blog, where a sinus sufferer is detailing some strategies for improving sinus health: http://sinusofthetimes.blogspot.com/ .

The purpose of this post would be an update on my book success and life in general. I just spent an hour writing a post on my experiences with diet at the empty nose syndrome only to have the computer kick me off and lose the information that I wrote. I don't plan to write it again and maybe it was not meant to be, I don't know. But now I am rather hungry and consequently will keep this post brief so I don't become delusional!

Life has kept me quite occupied and I have much going on between a father of 4 young children, being a full-time school psychologist, continued seeking of direction on my own health, and, heck, chasing the mice out of my home!

It has been two years since my book entitled, "Having Nasal Surgery? Don't You Become An Empty Nose Victim!" was published. The book reached all its aims, in my opinion, between winning an award, selling steadily on Amazon, and most importantly, helping people to finally have a resource they could share with their friends and family regarding ENS. Now these folks can be understood. I have also communicated with countless ENS sufferers and this experience has been rewarding. The pinnacle of this experience was my visit at Mayo Clinc physicians where I had an opportunity to share concerns on the hearts and minds of ENS sufferers, which would thereby facilitate the current research study at Mayo, while also getting opinion on my own health in the process. This has been a totally rewarding experience.

In my own life, I have tirelessly sough appropriate medical help for my situation, and have been able to enjoy great care. Three of my health goals for the year were to

#1: treat the chronic pressure/pain in my ear. After a misdiagnosis by a local doctor, I ultimately figured out how to treat it by myself as I recognized it was an issue of neuromuscular significance and then, recently, was properly diagnosed as having TMJ by a leading expert in the ENT field.

#2: enjoy quality sleep. I just could not wake up feeling rested. Finally, after undergoing sleep studies and through proper treatment using a CPAP with humidity (and I may soon try an oral appliance for apnea), I have been sleeping better and this has helped everything - my mood, my immune system, and my energy level.

#3: fight off sinus infections and treat them effectively. Of course, I have done many things on this front including diet, exercise, detox, steam inhalation, irrigation, improving vitamin D levels, and this is the only issue that still exists for me. (Do keep in mind I work in a school and have 4 children of my own). But I am plugging away and making progress, as I went for 3 1/2 months without a sinus infection this year and a doctor recently declared my sinuses free of "sinusitis" based on a CT scan. Now, as the prior two issues have been treated, I believe this issue will also be treated in due time.

I do need to be clear in that my nose is NOT fully functional, but I can cope with it. I don't have perfect mucociliary clearance system, there's still dryness, air is not being warmed or humidified properly. But I deal with it and I attack the most challenging health issues and move on. And I have made huge dents in improving my health in recent years. But I'm not cured. Through past surgeries I have had (implants, maxillary antrostomy), it is as functional as it can get it. And through good health practices, I have made gains.

I also have been reading endlessly about proper diet and nutrition through research, natural health, and high-quality websites, such as (http://www.mercola.com/), and this has all been helpful. I hope those who read this blog will take a journey to Mercola's website - it's an outstanding resource. But now I need to go and get some food because my stomach is speaking to me.....