A camera up my nose

A little update for anyone who follows this blog.

Today was hospital day. I was unexpectedly subjected to one of those examinations with a camera on a bendy stick. It'll be fine they said, the nasal cavity is really quite big. We can take a look at the back of that nasty tonsil and tell you if there's anything to be concerned about.

4 attempts by the registrar to shove a camera up my nose and down my throat, and a lot of tears and whimpering from me later...

There doesn't seem to be anything cancerous going on. So that's good. But it's back to square one in terms of having no answers as to why I keep getting ill and why I'm experiencing horrendous fatigue.

It was a truly horrid experience- it turns out I don't have a big nasal cavity and it would have been better if they'd had the paediatric nasal camera to use. My nose and face still hurt somewhat, 10 hours later. If you ever have to go to ENT with the chance of needing a nose camera then please 1) take a friend with you and 2) take a dose of painkillers before you go.

The state of the NHS is such that funding for things like tonsillectomies is very limited. This means that you have to tick quite a lot of boxes before you can even be referred for the consideration of such an operation. Because it has been almost impossible to see a doctor each time I've had a throat infection this year, and when I have been able to see any kind of healthcare person they have 5/7 time refused to prescribe antibiotics (it'll get better eventually on its own), it means that despite 7 episodes of throat infections I do not tick a single box. Not that I want a tonsillectomy; in adults it's an horrendous procedure and results in at least 2 weeks off work plus dreadful pain. But from now on every time I get a bad throat I have to somehow get seen by a doctor to ensure it's properly assessed and documented because if the coming year is as bad then getting my tonsils taken out is probably something that ought to happen.

Fun times.