Friday, January 23, 2009

Sinus issues...Any helpful ideas?

Olivia has a super snotty nose right now (not the first time). This snot is what I assume ectoplasm would be like. When she sneezes, it shoots out of her nose then slingshots back onto her face (which she REALLY doesn't like). It's not drippy at all, just very sticky - I can literally pull it off of her face in one "piece". I do not profess to be an expert on snot, so I don't know if this is what all baby snot is like or if this is because she has CF. Months ago, we had to go to the ER for sinus congestion and they recommended we invest in a Battery-powered Nasal Aspirator(which we bought from Walmart for $19.95)

We still use the bulb syringe when we put the saline in her nose and follow with her Nasacort once a day. When you need to just quickly suck the snot out of your baby's or toddler's head and don't feel like fighting them, this thing is a godsend (it even plays music)!

Anyway, she has been coughing all night and tons in the morning. She isn't getting good nights sleep whenever her nose is like this, which in turn has me staring at the monitor all night. If it gets bad, I go in an give her a Xopenex treatment just so she can breathe easier, but all the gunk is still settling in her chest. She isn't breathing well when she sleeps or eats, which can obviously be a problem. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to help her?

5 comments:

Katey said...

Saline irrigations work wonders.. but not sure if you could do it for Olivia or not based on her age? Any kind of saline spray would be worth trying though!

Genevieve said...

I am praying for you guys, I know it has to be so difficult to see her struggle. I wish I knew what else to recommend, I agree with Katey- ask your doc about the saline.

Lil' Chris' Mom said...

I bought that suction thing when Lil' Chris was a baby at Babies R Us for like $40!! I should've went to Wal Mart. :(

Anyway, I wish I had some answers for you, but we haven't gone through that. I hope you she clears up soon so you can all get some good sleep:)
M

Christy said...

I'm with Katey on this... saline irrigations have helped me so much, but I'm not sure if you could do that with Olivia or not. Praying she gets better soon and all that snot just disappears.

Marcus said...

Hi, I'm Marcus and I've recently gotten a lot of new friends in the CF blogging world. I am an RT student who has just discovered the Great Strides walk and am doing my part to try and raise money for the CF foundation. I look forward to reading your blog.

sorry, my comment sounds cheesy and I can't think of anything else to say :)