Tonsil Stones

WARNING!  THIS POST WILL BE GROSS!  PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

Ok, so I've been dealing with a sensitive issue for the past couple of weeks and it's time I come out with it...  I have developed Tonsil Stones.  Never heard of them?  There's a reason!  Up until pretty recently not even many doctors knew what they were.  From what I've read and understand of them, they are a build up of bacteria in the crypts (small tunnel like cavities) in your tonsils.  Never knew you had them?  Grab a flashlight and check it out.

Back in the beginning of February I started feeling like I had something stuck in my throat.  I pushed it away but about a week later I was really feeling it when I was brushing my teeth.  I turned on the flashlight on my phone and opened up wide and to my GREAT surprise, this is what I found.

 Now, that's not me, but that is what I saw!  Only slightly larger.  I've had issues with my throat and tonsils since I was a kid.  I initially thought it might be a puss pocket and I had some sort of throat infection.  I immediately grabbed a q-tip and dipped it in hydrogen peroxide and began poking at the yellow spot.  After a few minutes I loosened it up a bit and something that looked like this came out!

 I kept from throwing up OR freaking out (at this point I was convinced I had throat cancer!) and put that light back in my mouth and found more of these little buggers in my tonsil.  After about 10 minutes of cleaning them out, and getting almost 10 of theses things out, I was satisfied I had them all.  I IMMEDIATELY googled holes in my tonsils and came up with a wealth of information on Tonsil Stones.  Apparently these little guys SMELL AWFUL when you crush them (a pleasure I have not experienced) and can be a cause of bad breath.

After reading on them for about an hour and discovering that they are essentially harmless I was grossed out but satisfied I was done with that problem.  UNTIL A WEEK AGO.  I felt that feeling of something being stuck in my throat.  I opened up, turned on the light and sure enough...

So all week I've been checking and cleaning twice a day and pulling stuff out almost every time.  I've changed my toothpaste, started gargling, changing what I was eating in the morning but nothing is working.  I can't help but think these guys developing has been a result of the change in my diet since the beginning of the year.  WHO KNEW GETTING HEALTHY WOULD CAUSE ME SO MANY PROBLEMS! 
 

Unfortunately the only real solution to these guys I've found is to have your tonsils removed.  Probably a good idea for me anyway, considering my history, but from what I'm reading it's hard to find a doctor who will do the surgery on someone my age unless the tonsils are super infected.  It's apparently a RISKY surgery the older you get.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!  These things are driving me crazy and poking around on my tonsils so much is irritating them and making them bleed.  I know it could be worse, it could be something fatal, but MAN is it annoying.  Anyone out there have tonsil stones?  Have YOU found a way to get rid of them?

Day 64

And 63 and 62....

So I may have fallen off the blog for a bit.  Whoops.

So, on Day 62 I gained a pound at school and opted to not report my weight.  *J* and I also met up and ran Day 2, Week 8 of C25K.  That day was a 29 minute run.  AND WE DID IT!

Saturday I got up and had District Solo and Ensemble to take care of so I ran some errands between my kid's times.  I came home and got stuff together for dinner only to have a couple of Hub's older friends call us and want to meet up for dinner.  We went to a Mexican restaurant and I was very careful to plan exactly what I would and would not eat.

After dinner we parted ways with his older friends and met up with some of his coworkers at the bowling alley.  We ended up bowling for about 2 1/2 hours and that may not have been such a great idea.  Today I've been super sore and my ring finger on my right hand feels like it's been amputated and sewn back on.

After bowling everyone wanted to hit up Perkins for some food and I may have had a full breakfast.  It's one thing to restrain yourself around family, but around people you don't know and are in a first time social situation with...  I fell off the wagon.  But it was delicious....

I tried to sleep in this morning (considering I couldn't have been in bed before 2 this morning) but I ended up getting up at 9.  I did my weigh in (which I'll detail in my weekly weigh in post) and then pretty much sat around until Hubs came home for lunch.  After he went back to work I decided to take the dogs for a good walk to take advantage of our 65 degree weather today, and to try to loosen up my muscles.  That last part didn't work.

I met *J* at 5 and we tried to do Day 3 of Week 8, C25K but FAILED!  I was not feeling super hot and had to PUSH through the first 20 minutes.  I decided to take a 5 minute walk and run the last 5 for 25 minutes total.  OH WELL.  We're gonna repeat til we get it.

My last thought for this post...

For the past week (that I'm sure of) and a few times before that, I've been feeling the need to cough after I run.  It's mostly since I've gotten up into the 20+ minute runs.  I'll finish the run and on the cool down I'll feel a heaviness in my chest (like I'm congested) and I will have the need to cough.  Normally this feeling lasts about an hour and then I don't notice it again until I run again.

I didn't think much of it.  I thought it was just because I was working my lungs so hard keeping my breathing regulated.  But tonight *J* mentioned something about her coughing and maybe looking into taking something for it.  I googled it and boy am I not happy with what I've found.

After reading a lot of forums and checking out medical sites I'm pretty sure I've got Exercise Induced Asthma.  They talk about it only being a result of a really hard run or work out and how the symptoms feel like a bronchial infection.  Also that it becomes a little harder to breathe deeply while working out and that it goes away shortly after you finish your workout.

I had noticed before that it's sometimes hard to breathe when I run but I've chalked it up to not regulating my breathing well enough.

Looks like I'm going to be visiting the doctor soon.  If anybody out there suffers from EIA please let me know how you deal with it!  I've never had a serious health condition before and I'm kinda in the dark about knowing what to do.