I had sinus problems in 2006 and it wasn’t until I started losing the sight in my right eye that a very wonderful doctor got VERY concerned about me and made it his personal goal to solve what was happening to me. MRI showed I had mysterious fluid around my optic nerve that was crushing it.

I was given large doses of prednisone to relieve that. A biopsy was done of my sinus and Aspergillus Fumagatis was found in my sphenoid sinus. I started taking an anti fungal drug and was taken OFF the prednisone. I had a perfectly good immune system and was in excellent health otherwise, BUT the prednisone lowers your immune system. It amazes me to see that so many people with a fungus ARE taking prednisone which the fungus just FEEDS off of!!!! However, I understand with lung problems it is necessary to breathe. In my case, it was necessary to SEE. My doctor immediately referred me to the wonderful eye doctors, ENTs and sugeons at the UCSD Medical Center in San Diego. They opened a hole in my forhead and scraped out all the fungus they could find and removed some of the compromised bone where the fungus had traveled from my sinus to my optic nerve. Another surgery went up through my sinus and reamed them out! This whole scenerio happened over a 6-week period. They really did not think I would live. I started on Amphotericin B in vein, Voriconazole, and Flucytosine. I also did 30 2-hour treatments in a Hyperbaric Chamber. It is a fact that fungus cannot live in complete oxygen so the oxygen therapy was thought to help and certainly didn’t hurt. I lasted on the Amphotericin B for only about 4 weeks, the Flucytosine about 6 months, but took the V-fend for a year. I had MRIs every few months to track return of the fungus. I’m still OK! This is all more than you needed to hear, but perhaps there will be something here to help someone else. Whenever I talk to someone with sinus issues I ALWAYS ask them to talk to their doctor about a possible fungus! It has been 5 years now, and I’m still perfectly healthy Not everyone is lucky enough to have all of their fungus removed surgically. I pray for good health to all. Thanks for listening!

Pat Peterson

Fallbrook, CA, USA 

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