Thursday 23th July - My Oxygenated Life - hot dry weather

 Hey ho.

All this hot weather hasn't actually been 'too much' for me - at least, no more exhausting for me than for anyone else. We have worked out how to keep the house cool by wedging the front door and windows and back door and windows open as often as possible, creating an effective through draft even if there isn't much of a breeze outside.

Obviously when the builders are creating a huge din , or doing something very dusty, like cutting up the concrete slab that was under the old garage, then we have to shut the back doors and endure the stuffiness for a couple of hours, but it's not been too bad.

My main issue has been nosebleeds - my word - how one can get through the tissues! I've had four in the last fortnight, that last one this morning. So far I've managed to quell them in around 10-20 minutes. Obviously staying calm and still is the way to go, but it's very scary when they suddenly start.

'Pinch the bridge of your nose for at least 10 minutes' is surprisingly hard to do but it eventually does the trick. I wonder if I can adapt one of my husband's modelling clamps to do the job for me? 

This is happening mostly because of the extremely dry air and and the constant forced flow of oxygen through my nose which has dried the membrane and made it fragile. I should have been using a water-based lubricant, like Knect, (NEVER use petroleum jelly in your nose, and especially if you are an oxygen user)

and I do have some, but I was not diligent in taking care of myself. Lesson learned. If you think it looks like rebranded KY jelly, you are not wrong...

I've also been having issues with my mouth drying out, especially overnight, so that I'd wake in the wee small hours with my tongue and cheeks completely dry, like sandpaper. So beastly uncomfortable. The dentist recommended Oralieve, so, after checking with the chest clinic nurses in case of medication conflicts, I sent off for the starter pack. 

Oh, the relief! I can massively recommend the products; toothpaste, spray and gel and lip salve (I haven't tried the lozenges yet). Although I note in the very, very small print that the spray and gel might not be suitable for people with milk allergies. There is a magnifying glass within easy reach for small print!

I've bought a second spray and gel to have by the bed.

I'm particularly pleased that there is a lip salve; because oxygen users are not supposed to use petroleum, beeswax or lanolin products I've been stuck for something to help with dry lips over winter. I should make it clear I'm not gaining anything by mentioning these products, but if you are looking for something like this, you could give them a try. And I'm not a medical expert.

So there we have it. Would that life could be simpler! But it's not so complicated that we - my husband and I - can't cope between us.