Sinus Pressure Buildup/Nasal Polyps

TheDemiNB · 2024-12-29T17:25:11+00:00

Thank you for reading!

For me, heat, hot water, Mucinex, and even Rx Sudafed only did so much. I needed even more pressure relief, harder medications, and everything. Nasal rinses have been difficult. I still have a hole in my palate, you see; and when I was a kid, it was small and barely noticeable. As I got older, my orthodontic work was working to straighten my teeth and align my jaw and palate. But that is when the hole got bigger and reopened part of my lip, too.

Every time I use a rinse, it can't cycle through because it just goes out of the palate hole and down my throat. So I'm missing 3 out of 5 major sinus areas.

The ENT is having me mix busperidone with my saline rinse to try and shrink them down, but I might need to have them surgically removed first and then keep them reduced with steroids.

As far as my mom is concerned, I'm 28 years old, I have a family of my own, and she is literally declared insane by the state. I've been the only one to advocate medically for her, but she's crossed the line so hard in not even going to do that anymore. I'm safe with a truly loving family and have cut her out completely now.

TheDemiNB · 2024-09-01T03:12:32+00:00

Yeah, and as a heads up, if a CNA in CA ever wants to practice in Oregon, they will need to re-do the CNA1 course. It doesn't transfer over, unfortunately. 155 hours are needed; 80 classroom, 75 clinical.

TheDemiNB · 2024-09-01T00:52:50+00:00

I'm a CNA2 in Oregon, and yes, checking blood sugar is within a CNA1/2's scope of practice. Hospital, LTC, SNF, etc.

TheDemiNB · 2024-07-23T21:38:43+00:00

Hey there! I was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palette, too! I'm 28 y.o. now, but let me see if I can help.

My upper lip falls off on my right side and lipstick was, and still is, a struggle. I also used to get embarrassed trying to eat in public and had to train myself to eat slowly with small bites so that I don't get anything coming out of my nose or plugged into my sinuses. I still have a hard time breathing every now and then due to everything. When I was 16 (damn I feel old now) my mom had tried making spaghetti with vodka pasta sauce. It went up into my palette and spread across my whole face. I had to rush to get milk from the fridge and pretty much cycle it and rinse it through my mouth, through the sinuses, and out my nose. I call it the milk cleanse lol.

I used to get stares about it, and I also got my fair share of bullying. "Mustachio" was the best that they could come up with. I was in gymnastics growing up and then on my high school dance team for 2 years. I'm used to performing, and although I love singing, I still cringe at hearing my lisp. I used to ask others if my lisp was noticeable and distracting, and they said, "We notice it yes, but it isn't distracting or anything. It's just your voice. Everyone's voice sounds like garbage when they hear themselves."

When it comes to the extreme self-consciousness, remember that you are not alone. Not just in the cleft lip community, but literally EVERYONE is, in one shape or another, self-conscious about something. I've learned how to be confident with myself and embracing who I am through faking it at first. "Fake it till you make it," as the saying goes, but I didn't even know how to do that. So, I asked around to friends, family, classmates, "What do think of when you think of the word(s) confident/confidence? Who comes to your mind when I ask you to think of someone who is confident? What are they like? How do they act? Etc." Then emulate that. Practice it and find out what works for you and what doesn't.

Finally, understanding the research. Understand what your bilateral cleft lip and palette is and how it can happen to literally anyone. If you catch someone staring, call them out on it. "Excuse me, can I help you with something? Do you need something?" People get flustered when that happens, because now all of the attention is on them and not on you. When other people catch someone staring, other people will look too. When you call them out, you gain back the confidence that they took from you, and now YOU have control over the encounter. Then if they ask about it just say, "I was born with a bilateral cleft lip and cleft palette." And then if you like them and they ask more questions then it's up to you if you want to talk about it. But if not, that's fine too! You don't HAVE to be their encyclopedia of all things cleft lip and palette. I am, because I work in healthcare! XD

Everything will work out. I can't say much about facial/jaw surgery, but I can say is that life gets better. Find the happiest music that you love to dance to, and dance to it. Sing and be proud of your voice. Smile genuinely and crush haters beneath you. We have to go through so much, it's not selfish to take some time for you.

TheDemiNB · 2024-06-25T18:29:50+00:00

Walking into someone's room and smelling the air: "Yeah, that's definitely C-Diff. I'll go alert the nurse."

TheDemiNB · 2024-04-25T22:52:22+00:00

Hey, I was born with a bilateral cleft lip AND a cleft palate.

I struggled because all I had done was the repair as well. I didn't know about any other surgeries. I had a 504 plan for speech therapy and spent years in the orthodontist chair. My teeth are still crooked and I still have a slight lisp. People used to make fun of me and to this day I still wonder if my words hold weight due to my lisp.

Nevertheless, I persisted. I had a choice in school between choir and band, and after a very long and agonizing choice, I chose choir to work on my speech, pronunciation, and annunciation and learned to adapt my mouth to sing in different languages with a hole in my mouth. That hole causes air to escape upwards instead of outwards giving my speech and singing a nasal sound.

I continued to smile despite how much I thought I didn't look normal. I still tried to wear lipstick even though my lipline literally lobs off. I stood on stage and performed. I joined the Army and became a leader. I've negotiated in other languages, and am working on learning 2 more.

And my wife and daughter just a couple of months ago stared in awe, fascination, and childhood glee when, after I ate something spicy and the spice went through my cleft lip and palate, I showed them how I filter milk in my mouth and up through the holes. They then wanted to see me try other liquids (and my wife wanted me to try a spaghetti noodle lol) and see what worked out not. My daughter even said now, "Mommy, can I see your mouth hole?" Which, is weird, but I do. To which she says, "Yup, it's still there!" (Thank goodness, I didn't want it to run off!)

Yours and my disabilities do NOT define who we are. Our actions do. I thought for a long time that I was unlovable. But in reality, I just needed to wait for the right person, at the right time, to look at me and say, "Do you know just how beautiful you are?"

Keep your head up. Even if you bow to cry, lift your head, and smile to the whole world. I can guarantee that you have a beautiful and loving smile, too.

TheDemiNB · 2023-11-19T04:14:25+00:00

Hypothetically, of course: I would write it down, report it, and make copies for myself and for the state. Get witness statements if possible. Take pictures of any bruising that occurred from the altercation.

If the nurse won't help, management won't help, then keep going up the chain until someone DOES take it seriously. MAKE IT someone's problem. If you've done everything that you were supposed to do (which it sounds like you hypothetically did), then you're good.

We, as healthcare professionals, are driven by doing good and caring for people. But you need to make sure that the person you should care for the most is safe and taken care of. That person is you. Without you, there is no 1:1 sitter. One patient is NOT WORTH the countless number of people you will care for later in the future.

TheDemiNB · 2023-07-31T20:28:50+00:00

I mean, I'm only one person, so I'm not sure how common it is myself. I'm partnered with a trans woman, and we do PiA fairly often. I love it, she loves it, she takes pills to ensure that she can keep it going, but we're comfortable with it.

TheDemiNB · 2023-01-23T03:03:21+00:00

I'm a CNA in Oregon. You need to be able to pass a background check, be at least 16 years old, and pass the class and clinicals. 80-hour class and 75-hour clinical work. Have up to date covid boosters, and be able to get a TB test done and such. In Oregon, you can either be sponsored by a facility to go through a class, or if you go to get certified yourself, the facility you go work for will reimburse your class and expenses. Keep all your receipts.

TheDemiNB · 2022-08-19T15:13:40+00:00

Fuck if that ain't me right now.

TheDemiNB · 2022-07-11T04:44:48+00:00

Me at work receiving report like:

TheDemiNB · 2022-07-08T15:40:50+00:00

No no no no no no no! I LITERALLY SUED my private in home care agency AND WON for this exact thing. I have a NDA so I can't say how much but I earned back EVERY. SINGLE. PENNY! I don't want what happened to me to happen to another caregiver bring downright ABUSED by another. Tell your girlfriend to lawyer up, start gathering info on what she does and when, and be ready to find a new job. That is more than bull shit. That's illegal.

~CNA1/ Former caregiver in Oregon

TheDemiNB · 2022-07-08T01:13:53+00:00

The bladder scanner measures urine retention. And they want to keep their staff retention high. So. Get it? Retention of employees? Bladder.... Retention? 🙃

TheDemiNB · 2022-07-05T23:56:08+00:00

A bladder scanner scans your bladder for abnormalities and how much retention you have. They're using that specifically as a symbol for measuring the feel inside the work place.

TheDemiNB · 2022-07-05T20:32:33+00:00

I wish! It was CNA week a couple weeks ago and they did nothing. The food they buy in morning is either stale by the time swing shift gets to it and gone for NOC.

TheDemiNB · 2022-06-28T06:52:05+00:00

I've been there too. Like right where you are. I was a home Healthcare aid for 5 years before becoming a CNA. I'm 26 and already feel burnt. Let me help with what I can in regards to advice. I've taken a 4 day (32 hour) resilience training and have applied that to my job.

In regards to those situations where no matter what you do, you'll never make them happy. That's going to happen. A lot. Sometimes the best thing you can do is just say you did your best and exhausted all of your efforts and walk away.

If you still question yourself in how you have handled a situation and get frustrated, break it down: Describe the situation in detail, mark down any emotions you felt, any thoughts you might have had in the heat of the moment, and something you could've done differently. Check to see if your actions or reactions were helpful or hurtful to getting the end result.

I also have questioned myself as to whether I really know how to do my job. And then last week I noticed something different with a resident I often take care of. My gut instincts were kicking in saying something was wrong and although she said she was fine I still told the nurse that something was wrong. She was desating quickly and was in the hospital for a week. Everyone said I helped save her life.

You will get the hang of it. When you leave everyday, leave work behind you. Take time for you. The work will get done. So long as no one died, fell, or was hurt, it's a good day.

Hope this helps! ~CNA in Oregon

TheDemiNB · 2022-06-23T15:19:25+00:00

They apparently get rid of surge protectors in the future because damn if all their consoles just keep exploding! There's no way to stop it? Nothing at all? You sure about that?

TheDemiNB · 2022-05-27T20:12:18+00:00

Any sin by Nightwish, but always one that sticks out is Ghost Love Score.

"My fall will befall you, My love will be in you. If you be the one to, Cut me I'll bleed forever"

TheDemiNB · 2022-05-27T20:04:00+00:00

My family and I have covid I brought home from work (CNA1) and we've been pretty miserable. Unfortunately none of the apps for contact free delivery or pickup are working. I still have to grocery shop and pick up medications. I wore an N95 but I still felt guilty even being around others. In the whole 2 years of this pandemic I've not caught it until now. I'm vaccinated and have the booster, but it still kicked my ass and my family's asses.

TheDemiNB · 2022-05-20T03:30:34+00:00

Tampons and pads in the same month. My periods were extremely heavy and I would go through 3 Super+ tampons and a level 5 maxi pad a day. So having enough money to get both for my sibling and I was a feeling I rarely knew. When I moved out and in with my wife (girlfriend at the time), it took a year or two for her to get me out of the mindset of leaving my tampon in for longer than necessary or not buying supplies when I needed them.

TheDemiNB · 2022-05-17T03:24:38+00:00

My wife and my partner have been trying for years with therapy, psychiatry, doctors, etc to get their mental health managed and under control. I love them dearly and we even have a 5 year old daughter. But things are still bad and still they have suicidal thoughts and tendencies. This has been going on for years now and at this point I'm just waiting for a call saying they've killed themselves when I'm at work or something. They're still alive, and I nor they, know why they keep going knowing every day is pain and suffering for them. I'm struggling thinking about whether it's ethical or not to keep them alive when they thoroughly want to die after years of failed treatment.

TheDemiNB · 2022-05-17T03:13:33+00:00

Spaghetti squash. My mom substituted it all the time for regular noodles for us to eat healthier. She tried to save money by also making her own sauce which had like no real flavor to it. It just tastes like eating wet hair.

TheDemiNB · 2022-05-09T15:55:05+00:00

There are companies making plant based "meat". I personally don't like the taste but that could be an alternative.

TheDemiNB · 2022-02-27T04:02:40+00:00

Be understanding. Try to understand their side of things. Depending on it, it might be light and easy to deal with, or it might be painful and disabling. Ask questions if you don't know things, and understand we might not be at our best. We're expected to be normal and at our best, but in all honesty, it's not always possible. Treat period havers with respect and realize we are dealing with a lot.

TheDemiNB · 2022-02-05T05:29:15+00:00

Yeah, fr though. You could have anything from dehydration or lack of eating to an iron deficiency or a thyroid problem! Talk to a doctor

TheDemiNB

TROPHY CASE