ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

I'm feeling much better this morning and planning to go into work around lunchtime today to give the meds a chance to work.

I've been sick a lot lately and it's because I'm not taking care of myself. When I was training for the half-marathon, I was also eating healthy and never got sick once that whole time. Of course, it helped that I was doing that May - September which isn't peak sick time. (btw, got very, very sick a week after the half. Coincidence? Not sure.)

So, I'm re-evaluating and committing to taking care of myself so I can stay healthy. Things I need to do:
- Exercise. Haven't done much of that since the half-marathon in September but the weather is nice again and there's no reason I can't start running again.
- Eat healthy. Doing Weight Watchers helps me to eat healthy so I may rejoin the online version.
- Sleep. Been doing better on this but I'm fairly inconsistent.
- Daily multi-vitamin. Also been inconsistent on this.
- Work/life balance. This has improved recently and I'm not working more than I should. Need to try to keep it that way.
- Stop biting nails. Such a disgusting habit. I wash my hands a lot but that's not good enough. I have some nail stuff in my purse that keeps me from biting them and I just need to use it.
- Drink more water. Not a huge fan of drinking water but need to become one.
- Use the neti pot. I was reading that people prone to sinus issues (me! and Andy! and Blake!) can benefit from daily use of the neti pot. It keeps the sinuses clear and free from infection.

Other tips you have? Some people have suggested Zinc so I'll look into that. I need to figure this out. No more sick for me!

On Sunday, I had to drive home 4.5 hours with the kids and started feeling terrible earlier in the day. Porcupines in my throat, left ear hurt, fatigued. Made it home, only to have the symptoms get worse. Missed work Monday and Tuesday as my nose ran uncontrollably and got rubbed raw.

I asked Andy to pick me up a few things at the store, including a Neti Pot. I've read about them for a long time and would like to avoid going to the doctor yet again if possible. I HATE that place. All the doctor knows how to do is write prescriptions and half the time they are the wrong ones.

This is how the Neti Pot is supposed to work.



So I got the Neti Pot out of the box, prepared the solution and started pouring in one side of my nose. I'm pretty sure someone could drown this way. Water flowed down the back of my throat as I tried to breathe normally per the instructions.

The system in the video works just fine if your nasal passages are clear and free. Mine aren't.

Blew my nose to try to clear the passageways and actually had some success and a flow going. Tried the other side and no luck. That side is too clogged and can't be fixed.

I went through as much of the solution as I could and decided to stop and let the remaining solution drip out and get everything cleaned up.

So I'm waiting now to see how it works. My nose did stop running for at least 5 minutes afterward. Considering my nose is raw from going through 3 rolls of toilet paper (Andy got me boxes of soft, lotiony tissues to use now!), 5 minutes of no rubbing sounds good to me.

If things don't improve tonight, I'll be headed to the awful, awful doctor on Wednesday. Crossing fingers the Neti will help me avoid that.

Went to KC over the weekend and had a chance to tour Dan's restaurant which is under construction. Set to open within 6 weeks. Dan and Katrina also have a baby due any moment now. Busy and exciting times for them.

I don't like watching sports but love musicals and my kids are the same. Makes me wonder how much of our kids' interests are determined by us. We could have the next Michael Jordan in our house except he's too busy memorizing the choreography from Annie.