I want to do this

This is my kid.  Check out those guns!  She is learning aerial silks.  Once I lose enough weight I am going to try this too.  The workout is intense, but looks like so much fun!

Peroxide Follow up

It's not perfect but I am so much improved after a couple of days that it's like magic.  For over a decade I have struggled with awful sinus problems.  It's simply amazing to be able to breathe!!  I do still have some mucus, but not like before. I don't feel the need to always make sure I have a dozen napkins handy for blowing my nose and there isn't blood in it anymore.

I didn't do peroxide yesterday, just saline.  I will do it today though.  Just have to brace myself for the pain.  I'll post again a week after the first treatment.  I have hopes that it will really help.

Fungal Sinus infection and Hydrogen Peroxide

Warning!!!  The next photo is gross AND more importantly - I AM NOT A DOCTOR AND AM NOT RECOMMENDING ANYTHING.  THIS IS JUST WHAT I TRIED.

I have suffered from an ongoing sinus infection for over a decade.  Sometimes it's worse than others, but it's never gone.  I don't have insurance but I have braved the clinic a few times and gotten antibiotics.  They didn't work.  Sometimes the infection would be so bad that I would have nosebleeds coming from my sinuses.  It was frustrating.  During that same time I started sneezing up these green balls of mold. I tried to talk to the doctors about it maybe being fungal instead of bacterial, but nobody would listen to me.  It was always a two week treatment and then a return visit - sometimes with more antibiotics that still didn't work.

I have tried a few home remedies with various results.  I couldn't do a nasal wash because generally I couldn't get anything through the sinus cavities.  It was a little helpful, but not super effective.  The same could be said of allergy medication, sinus medication and nose sprays.

I have read about using a wash made of hydrogen peroxide and saline water.  I was a little leery about trying it because the bubbles in my sinus cavity sounded terrible.

This week I was in pain, having some blood (not a full nosebleed) and sneezing up the largest mold balls I have seen in my long history of sinus problems.

I decided to give the peroxide thing a try.  I got out my nasal pot, some saline packets and hydrogen peroxide.  First I added a few drops to the water and while it foamed a bit on contact with my nose, it didn't seem to have much effect.  Then I decided to bite the bullet and make add about 50% water and 50% of peroxide.  That made it a 1.5% ratio I think. 

At first it didn't have much effect. My sinuses were pretty badly blocked.  Then it started getting in and OUCH! it burned.  I didn't want to swallow anything so I spit out anything that went down my throat.  I didn't clear up enough to get water coming out of the other nostril, but it seemed to have some effect.

I took an allergy pill and a hit of nasal spray before bed.  In the past these methods have kept me clear for about 2 hours - long enough to get some sleep in.  I was still clear when I woke up this morning.  Better than I have been in ages.  I'm still having some colorful mucus, but no mold balls so far.  I can smell stuff now too.  It's been awhile since I was able to smell things this well.

I did a second hit of the peroxide wash.  This time with clearer nasal passages I was able to get it in there good.  OMFG! I didn't abbreviate when I yelled it.  Burn, pain, fire!!!  SOB! was yelled a few times too.  It hurt.  This time it did come out of the other nostril though.  Again I was trying not to swallow peroxide so I spit out anything that went down my throat.  It was gross and full of crap, but that's crap that wasn't in my sinus anymore.  This afternoon I think I am going to try a nasal wash without the peroxide to keep things flowing clear.  I'll decide tomorrow morning if I am going to do another treatment with hydrogen peroxide.  I probably am, but at least this time I will be braced for the pain.  

I'm sure there are other methods of treating fungal infections, but I won't have insurance until Friday and I can't afford the duductable anyway, so I hope this works.  If it doesn't I will try to get some surgery to get all the stuff out.  Provided I can find a doctor to listen to me.

Market Report - April 12

I missed last week's posting, but rather than playing catch up I'm just going to go on with life.

$39
2 yellow honeydew
9 oranges
6 medium heads broccoli
3 red onions
9 lemons
10 limes
14 tangerines
6 yellow grapefruit
2 lbs globe grapes
2 lbs black seedless grapes
2 lbs jalapeno peppers
6 mango
Green grapes

Staying on track to spend $300 this month too.  It can be more of a challenge when I don't spend the time to plan a bit.  Not a lot.  I'm not a planner, but sometimes even I have to give in and write things down.  The biggest challenge I face right now is my teenager wanting stuff that's not in the plan and complaining that she's "hungry" when she had the opportunity to eat dinner.  She also doesn't want to fix anything herself right now - a bit of a princess period going on.  What she means when she says she's hungry is "fix me something because I didn't like the last thing you fixed"  It doesnt' happen.  She's the youngest of 4 and I quit being sympathetic years ago.

Another challenge that's just starting is keeping up with meals on the weekends. We have a job that requires us to be out of the house a lot and it can be difficult to plan sometimes.  I'm determined to get better at it.  A new cooler is probably going to be needed since during the hot part of the summer anything we take with us will spoil.

I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Planet Fitness - my review

I don't know why this place gets such a bad rap online.  My experience has been nothing but positive.  I have really enjoyed myself.  I'm happy to have one close by that I can use.

The red light therapy is working wonders on my loose skin.  It also feels nice to get warm and toasty after a good workout.  I come out feeling energized.

I went from 5 minutes killing me to 30 min being ok Plus I can now do that AND 25 on the bike.  That's a huge improvement for me!  I've lost 5lbs and I've gained quite a bit of strength and muscle.

Our PF is clean and well maintained with a super friendly staff that I enjoy being around.  I don't know if others are the same, but I'm nothing but satisfied with my experience.  

Kicking The Creamer Habit

I love good coffee.  For a large part of my life I didn't know that.  I grew up in a home where "coffee" often came in instant form.  Instant is something but it's not coffee.  Even when my parents were brewing coffee it came from a can and was old and bitter.  I didn't know coffee came from beans or could be a delightful treat.  I saw it as a hard tasting medicine that adults drank to survive the work day.

As I grew up and tried to "adult" I drank coffee.  With lots and lots of sugar and milk.  That is to say  I had some coffee with my milk.  As flavored creamers became more and more interesting I switched to these.  They are pretty sweet and I didn't need more sweetener, so I dumped the sugar from my cup.

Eventually I found my way to small batch roasters and artisan coffee.  I still used some creamer, but much less of it. I started learning more about coffee and all the various tastes that it can have.  How beans from different areas have different profiles.  I started drinking a shot of it black before adding my creamer so I could begin to taste these and it was so cool to learn how complex coffee could taste.  Coffee is naturally sweet!  Who knew!!

Eventually I got ahold of a bag of beans from Onyx Coffee Roasters and another from Bespoken.  Both were Ethiopian beans that had been roasted to the exact point where they were at the height of sweetness.  Creamer was too much.  It just overloaded the coffee.  I drank those black and started drinking more and more of my other coffees black as well.  It opened up a world of flavor that exists without fat, calories or manmade whatevers in it.

It's been ages since I have added creamer to regular coffee.  I do add it to super dark beans and I have milk in my latte or cappuccino.  I just have plain milk with those or occasionally some chocolate for a mocha.  I generally save the sweet syrups and heavily flavored creamer for when I am out and about and getting a treat.

I've really grown to appreciate the complex and varied flavors of coffee.  I've also grown to appreciate the artists who get the best from the beans.  Roasting coffee is somewhere between art and science.  Give two roasters the same beans and they will often get two totally different results.  A local roaster, Vincent,  at Maps Coffee  showed me his roaster and all the nifty tech parts of it and explained what he looks for in a roast.  It's fascinating to see the art of hitting the exact right point meld with the tech of the roaster and the science behind why that is the exact right point.  Vincent does guest roasting where you can learn more in depth.  I'm looking forward to doing that one day.

Today I love my coffee.  If you've seen my instagram (@shouldntsaythat) you know how much I love my coffee.  I still can't drink the stuff from a can and I refuse to think of the instant stuff as coffee.  Getting rid of the creamer has allowed me to really experience all that coffee has to offer.  It comes from a cherry - don't hide that behind some chemicals!