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Swab Culture anguish

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Duke

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Jul 15, 2009, 3:49:11 PM7/15/09
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Using the same ENT for years, not sure where to go.

Pain and pressure worse as ever. Top of head hurts to touch ( classic
sphenoid infection) cheek pressure and pain and teeth hurting
( maxillary...).

ENT does swab culure ( my ethmoids gone plus I am "wide open" so he
can get back to sphenoid).

Results : nothing grew.

Meanwhile , 3 weeks of Levaquin and then two weeks of Avelox did not
much. Note though, the Bactroban spraying has brought some relief.

I cough up yellow. I rinse out green. yellow, brown. Too fatigued to
work. I am 15 year sufferer and do all the reading. But here I am.

Have apt for CT scan and follow up next Friday.

Nurse called, I asked her of they do puncture and flush and would send
that to lab for culture ....she was not familiar ( so I guess no) but
noted a CSR test might be something to ask for.

I need a new surgeon to discuss maxillary recirculation , whether my
frontal ostia open, the condition of the sphenoid et al.

Every do I profile on line here, same thing : Universtity of Indiana
trained. I think they all sing from the same hymn book. Do an
ethmoidectomy, if that and some allergy shots doesn't do it , cut them
loose.

still searching...

Message has been deleted

Becca

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Jul 15, 2009, 4:42:40 PM7/15/09
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It is nice to know the Bactroban spraying has given you some relief.
Thanks for keeping us informed.


Becca

asfyso

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Jul 15, 2009, 4:45:38 PM7/15/09
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Brown may be fungal, but the mupirocin working may also suggest staph.
My suggestion : if it's not fungal, try a macrolide such as
azythromycin and, failing that, then nebulize immediately an
aminoglycoside such as tobramycin. There is a chance that azythromycin
may sensitize the germ to tobramycin (PMID: 19188376 hypothesizes such
a possibility for pseudomonas - no guarantee at all it will work,
though).
Nebulized mupirocin also exists : http://www.sinusscience.com (Steven
already wrote on that a long while ago).

sbnjhfty

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Jul 15, 2009, 10:28:35 PM7/15/09
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Steven L.

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Jul 16, 2009, 10:55:45 AM7/16/09
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Duke wrote:
> Using the same ENT for years, not sure where to go.
>
> Pain and pressure worse as ever. Top of head hurts to touch ( classic
> sphenoid infection) cheek pressure and pain and teeth hurting
> ( maxillary...).
>
> ENT does swab culure ( my ethmoids gone plus I am "wide open" so he
> can get back to sphenoid).
>
> Results : nothing grew.
>
> Meanwhile , 3 weeks of Levaquin and then two weeks of Avelox did not
> much. Note though, the Bactroban spraying has brought some relief.
>
> I cough up yellow. I rinse out green. yellow, brown. Too fatigued to
> work. I am 15 year sufferer and do all the reading. But here I am.
>
> Have apt for CT scan and follow up next Friday.
>
> Nurse called, I asked her of they do puncture and flush and would send
> that to lab for culture ....she was not familiar ( so I guess no) but
> noted a CSR test might be something to ask for.

The only doctor I ever found who did a complete aspiration culture
(flush all sinuses with saline, aspirate out, culture it) was Dr.
Wellington Tichenor in New York City. And that's after years of
searching for one here in Massachusetts where I live.

Can you travel to see Dr. Tichenor, for the aspiration culture at least?

--
Steven L.
Email: sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net
Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

Message has been deleted

Honeyboy

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Jul 16, 2009, 1:51:08 PM7/16/09
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On Jul 15, 4:18 pm, Susan <su...@nothanks.org> wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> Where are you located?
>
> Susan
> > still searching...- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Indianapolis

Honeyboy

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Jul 16, 2009, 1:55:36 PM7/16/09
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> http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=pulmicort+irrigation&btnG=Google+Searc...- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

Why would irrigating with a pulmicort solution have > efficacy than
just using a spray steroid?

Honeyboy

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Jul 16, 2009, 1:57:40 PM7/16/09
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> Email:  sdlit...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net
> Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

If I planned ahead I could take a day or two. I am more interested now
in again approaching Dr. Kennedy ( who had replied to me a couple
years ago) he would consult with me on my CT scans. From there perhaps
someone on his staff take an endo look see

MichaelR

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Jul 16, 2009, 5:44:50 PM7/16/09
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Duke:

Don't know if you and your physician have tried Bactrim recently (and
have no problem with side effects) -- Levaquin and Avelox stopped
helping me about two years ago but bactrim still will help some of
the clog to loosen and slide about 1 - 1 1/2 hours after taking same,
along with some guafenesin, so that washing at that point removes a
little more crud. For me it does help to get some of the mucous clog
sliding and some relief till it builds up again surprisingly quickly.

Also Steve L's past suggestion of a double dose of +/- 1 gram N-Acetyl-
Cysteine one hour apart on an empty stomach, also along with some
guafenesin, also helps me to get some stuff out. (I find I need a
pretty cast iron stomach for this, on some days will bother me others
not.)

Best wishes,

Michael

Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted

Steven L.

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Jul 16, 2009, 8:10:35 PM7/16/09
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You should also have a complete blood workup and metabolic workup and
immunological workup. Sometimes, failure to cope with chronic infection
suggests a systemic problem that has gone undiagnosed.

Systemic problems that may exacerbate chronic sinus infection include:

a) Anemia
b) Vitamin D deficiency***
c) Metabolic insufficiency
d) Immune system disorders (CVID, AIDS, etc.)


*** In the 19th century, before antibiotics, affluent patients suffering
from tuberculosis or other chronic respiratory infections would "take
the cure": Stay at a health resort in a tropical or hot desert climate,
and soak up the sunshine. This often worked. We now know it was due to
the sunshine falling on the skin making more vitamin D.


--
Steven L.
Email: sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net

Message has been deleted

sbnjhfty

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Jul 16, 2009, 10:56:47 PM7/16/09
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Because you can stand there, touching your toes, and let the solution
reach all parts of your head. It works 10,000 times better than
steroid spray. No joke. I had severe polyps, infections, orbit
erosion and 100% loss of of smell. I can breathe and I can smell
and I love it. You truly should give it a try if you are suffering.
Try it three times a week and in two months you'll be a new person.

MichaelR

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Jul 22, 2009, 9:52:21 PM7/22/09
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"ENT does swab culure ( my ethmoids gone plus I am "wide open" so he
can get back to sphenoid).

Results : nothing grew ..."

Duke:

There is hope for the future at least, see below. Hope some help for
the morale if nothing else, for won't be of immediate practical help
for answers (unless you can get Stanford to take you on as a test
subject) but means there might be a light at the end of the tunnel
that is not just another oncoming train.

Michael

Dissecting biological “dark matter” with single-cell genetic analysis
of rare and uncultivated TM7 microbes from the human mouth
Yann Marcy,*† Cleber Ouverney,‡ Elisabeth M. Bik,§¶ Tina Lösekann,§¶
Natalia Ivanova,‖ Hector Garcia Martin,‖ Ernest Szeto,‖ Darren Platt,‖
Philip Hugenholtz,‖ David A. Relman,§¶ and Stephen R. Quake
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 July 17; 104(29): 11889–11894.
Published online 2007 July 9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0704662104.

We have developed a microfluidic device that allows the isolation and
genome amplification of individual microbial cells, thereby enabling
organism-level genomic analysis of complex microbial ecosystems
without the need for culture. This device was used to perform a
directed survey of the human subgingival crevice and to isolate
bacteria having rod-like morphology ...

Link to full text:-
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=17620602

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