Collapsed Nasal Valve in 2025

Sneaky little spammers are searching for my old entries where I’d allow comments to spam me. I wish there was a way to disable all comments at once. Even better, I’d like it if only friends could comment. I hate blocking them just to stop spammers and trolls.

It’s freezing for Florida, but at least it’s keeping the roads quieter. Not many dare to ride their motorcycles in this cold.

I dreamed Tom was feeling really nauseous, and when he got up, I asked if he was okay. Now, he has a pain in his leg.

The corner nut job’s place is up for sale. The place is still trashed, but no vehicles are there, and no one seems around. I’m a bit worried that the wider driveway and double garage might attract barking dogs and motorcycles, but hopefully, there’s nothing to worry about. It seems they won’t replace the house, just fix it up, which might still cause some racket. It’s close enough that I’ll hear it from the living room and kitchen, but it shouldn’t reach the bedroom. Anything that does, my sound machine should cover when I’m sleeping.

I still have a little burning down there and frequent peeing, but I’m not sure it’s a UTI. It’s likely just the menoshit, as I call it, but I’ll get test strips soon if there’s no change. I’ll get them before my virtual meeting with Rhonda so I can share the results if needed.

Back on probiotics, though I had to skip yesterday due to the tummy issues they bring. I’ve also increased my use of Replens. Hopefully, I just got a bit low on probiotics.

I slow-cooked a pork rib in soy sauce, and it came out so good.

Tomorrow, we’re getting breakfast at Burger King. He gets discounts there.

My feet feel like blocks of ice, even in socks and sneakers, but we don’t want to run the heater and drain the battery as we head to the ENT.

Later…

On the way home with good, bad, and surprising news—and a sore throat. The doctor sprayed some nasty stuff in my nose for an endoscopy, leaving my throat sore. The procedure wasn’t painful, but it got very uncomfortable the further up my nose he went.

After filling out a bunch of info on a tablet, which seemed to take forever, I was brought into the exam room. After a bit of waiting, the doctor came in. He’s definitely young and small but seems knowledgeable. A tall, skinny Asian guy came in with him to type up notes.

I don’t have polyps, and my septum is only slightly deviated, but I do have a collapsed nasal valve. It’s yet another gift of aging as the skin loses its elasticity. Fixing it would be a big deal—costly with a rough recovery. He surprised me by suggesting I return to steroid sprays, ensuring me they are safe. There are two types of sprays to try, and also pills if the sprays don’t cut it. Surgery would be a last resort.

We’re hoping that managing the allergy aspect of it will make the collapsed valve less noticeable. A drier climate would help if we ever move. They do allergy testing, which I might do even though I know I’m allergic to dust, mites, pollen, dander, molds, and certain grasses. It’d be interesting to see if there are unknown allergies, especially since something triggered my allergies in Auburn and Phoenix. I’d like to know what they are so I don’t go moving back to it again.

The bad ear looked clear and didn’t need cleaning.

The doctor used various tools that he slapped on his leg to get a vibration going, placed them on parts of my head, and asked which ear I heard better from. The most amazing thing was when he used a hearing device on the bone behind my ear, and I heard as well as with my good ear! Apparently, my hearing is there but inaccessible due to how they did the surgery I had in the ‘90s. I guess they don’t drill canals or create eardrums the way they used to. I could get a bone-anchored hearing aid. They have a couple of options there. A hearing test showed moderate high-frequency loss in my good ear, typical with age. But I’m not in a hurry to improve my hearing. Why would I want to hear loud vehicles, boom car stereos, planes, power tools, and blasting music better than I already do?

We also discussed my sleep apnea since it’s kind of connected and he even had a sleep apnea chart on his wall and its effects. He recommended retrying the nasal pillow instead of a full-face mask. I’ll still need breathing strips and a humidifier, but the nasal pillow will force air through my nose. I’m more determined than ever to make the CPAP work! I’m glad to finally have answers, even if they aren’t great. Knowledge is still power. I can’t keep living in an exhausted fog. If I can’t adapt to the CPAP, I might revisit the Inspire option since no one around here does mouthguards. Something’s got to be done. I can’t continue with just a few good days here and there. Luckily, I had decent energy yesterday.