Good news

I changed my mind...I'm entitled to do that, right? :) I decided to have the sinus surgery now because it will be completely paid for. I had called and cancelled it and the nurse said she would talk to the Dr. to see what else we could do in the meantime. She called me on Monday and said that we could try allergy tests or something, but that he really thinks that surgery is the best option for me. He also said that I would only miss two days of work (he does surgery on Thursday and said I would be back by Monday.) The big thing that was holding me back was having to miss a whole week of work (like they originally told me). So I thought about it and decided to go ahead and do it. I work with such great girls at work who are always willing to cover for me or trade days or whatever I need. It took some major convincing of my boss because someone already has that Friday off, but I pretty much told her I was doing it. Everyone else said they would be fine without me. I scheduled it for March 31 (the last day that it will be paid for!) so I hope nothing happens that means I have to stay in the hospital. :) The other choices I had wouldn't work, so that's when it is. I feel really good about it. I have tried everything under the sun for my sinuses (allergy meds, nasal sprays, sinus rinses, etc) and I still have problems, so hopefully this helps at least some. Another reason I was originally debating about it was that I dind't know if I wanted to have a surgery when I havn't been feeling great and have lost all this weight. But I have been feeling really good the last week since I started the prednisone. So I called Dr. Smith on Tuesday and he said that I should be fine. I think that eased some of my mom's concerns as well. So March 31 it is!

On another note, today I was supposed to call Dr. Smith to see how to taper off of the prednisone, so I did and his nurse called me back and left a message on what to do. Then Dr. Smith practically chased me down at work today to talk to me. He said there is a standared way to taper off the prednisone, (which is what his nurse told me to do), but he said we could do it a little differently because with pouchitis you can do it faster than with like ulcerative colitis (I think because it's not as bad). I told him my cell number and our office extension so he could get a hold of me to give it to me. Then he got kind of excited and told me how yesterday he was talking to some rep who has a new test that they can do for pouchitis and ulcerative colitis. I didn't really understand it, but it helps you see kind of what the pouchitis is going to do, which maybe can shed some light on how to treat it. He said he gets to do two of his patients for free and he wants to do me! He said he was really curious to what it would show. I have no idea what it entails (it's probably a blood test) or really even what it will help, but I was pretty excited. I think he's going to call me next week about it. Anyway, then apparently instead of calling me he went up to our office on the 5th floor to drop off the sheet telling me how to get off the prednisone, and a prescription for a lower dose. He's so nice, what kind of doctor does that? So I just wanted to share some good news today. Now I'm just praying that I will still feel good on a lower dose of prednisone, keep your fingers crossed!