To Kill A Dust Mite

Cookie has now finished two rounds of Omnicef, 2 shots, and now on a round of a combination sulfur drug for an ear infection that will not go away. It has now been two months that she has had the same ear infection.

On Tuesday, we went to an ENT who specializes in chronic ear infections. (There are only 35 pediatric ENTs in the country, and there are NONE in the state of KY.) So we went to the best we have in town. He was extremely professional, and described the risks of continuing with antibiotic therapy, as well as the risks of the next treatment to consider - surgery for placement of tubes. The risks of surgery, and the relative ineffectiveness of it scare me. Of course, the risks of scaring and hearing loss of constant infections, or the development of antibiotic resistance scares me as well. Tube placement does not eliminate the possibility of future infections. It merely seeks to prevent the common breeding ground, which is the fluid in the Eustachian tubes. He put it this way:

Imagine your garage is full of gasoline-soaked rags. That would definitely put you at great risk of a house fire. Take away the rags, and you take much of the risk. But you can't completely prevent a house fire altogether. And that's the common misconception of parents who come in almost demanding ear tube placements. They think it is a miracle cure. We could go through this, and she could still have chronic ear infections. It's all one big risk. It is surgery, no matter how you look at it. It involves putting a tiny child under. It scares me to death. I waited so long for this precious child, and the risk of anything happening to her is unthinkable.

Still, I know it may very well be what we must do for her best interest.

We go back on the 5th to see if her infection is gone enough to actually schedule surgery. We also have the option of waiting and watching, and only choosing surgery if the infection comes back again, even after this sulfur drug treatment.

Allergy testing is not an option, because even if a battery of tests would reveal something now, in about 4-6 months, her quickly developing immune system would have changed again. The doctor recommended we not do testing, as it would be unnecessary stress for her. His one big recommendation was to see if we can avoid having her in daycare. Um, no can do doc. Thanks. Anyway, there are just as many SAHMs and SAHDs whose kids get ear infections than ones at daycare.

In the meantime, I am on a mission.

I have allergies. I know this. I take Claritin, Singulair, Nasacort, Patanol, and use a saline spray every day just to avoid getting more frequent sinus infections. Yet I do stupid things. See, I had these pillows that I loved to sleep with. They were so old I am embarrassed to even admit it. I had put them in thick slipcovers just to try to convince myself it was OK. Then at the doctor's office I read about dust mites. Um, it is likely that the weight of my old pillows was now at least 10% dust mites and droppings.

So, I threw them away yesterday and bought new pillows and allergy and anti-dust mite covers for them. I bought a new zippered cover for the mattress as well as a new washable mattress pad. I sprayed everything with an anti-dust mite spray. I don't know if it will do a lick of good. I did not sleep well without my favorite pillows. *sniff sniff*

Still, do you know how flippin' hard it is to maneuver a king-sized mattress BY YOURSELF? I feel like an idiot. The mattress is all sprayed and leaning against the wall. The dust-ruffle is gone (just the word "dust ruffle" should have clued me in that this was not good for someone like me and Cookie). I had hoped to finish all this before Michael got home and we went to pick up the Cookie. But alas, I got so exhausted, I decided to blog about it instead of actually finishing the project. This is the story of my life.

Anyone else have any recommendations for getting rid of dust mites?

On the job front, I picked up 2 classes to teach at the community college this fall. One may not make, but the other likely will. So, I'll have my night class at the university to teach as well as at least one at the community college. That will at least pay the mortgage. This is good news. So, if I don't end up finding full-time work, I'll at least be able to contribute to the household and keep my finger in the working-class pot. Adjuncts don't make much money, but it will be a little to keep us afloat.

It's been a nice day here alone in the house. I have no regrets, and that feels awesome.