I Can Hear

I have documented my hearing issues in the past. The gist of it is my ears (particularly my left) sucks. While I have always had ear troubles, the last decade has been interesting.

I finally found an otolaryngologist with whom I am comfortable. We hit upon a “maintenance” schedule that basically had him cleaning my ears several times a year. That kept me hearing . . .

. . . until I my workplace moved. That building was so full of mold I became ill. With the illnesses came fluid issues. That was the start of several rounds of Myringotomies. Eventually things settled down once a tube with a large enough flange was inserted. My poor ear drum is so scarred it has affected my hearing.

All had been well until October or November. I got an ear infection and felt the fluid behind the drum. I chalked it up to having an infant at home. The fluid level seemed to rise and fall, so it seemed like I wasn’t doomed. Yet, I have had fluid ever since. More recently, there’s been so much that not only have I not been able to hear, I have been disoriented.

With one ear not working, everything rings, hums, and echoes in the ear. It is such that I have no depth to my hearing. Students have to tell me when our classroom telephone rings, yet if the door is open, I can hear my neighbor’s ring and think it is ours. When my hearing gets like this, I need absolute silence so I can concentrate. It’s not a pretty sight and I am generally miserable.

That was yesterday.

I decided to take today off from work and go see my doctor. My doctor, as good as he is, no longer performs surgery. He has had surgery on his hand is no longer comfortable taking scalpels to others’ ears. I am thankful for that. As a matter of fact, he has never performed a Myringotomy on me; an associate of his has. The first time she was going to cut me, I realized I was growing older. I stopped her and asked about her experience. She was the first doctor I had who was younger than I was. She and I got to know each other over the years as she continued to insert my tubes. But she left the practice in September.

So, I expected my doctor to schedule the procedure next week with whomever took over for the doctor who left. That did not happen.

My doctor was not in so I met with another otolaryngologist. He pored through my chart and I caught him up to speed. And again, realizing I actually have a say in my medical care stated I needed a new tube since the old one had dislodged. Much to my surprise, the doctor said let’s do it today.

Awesome! That’s service.

Yeah, I feel like I have been punched in the ear. There’ll be more scar tissue. And in a couple years, I’ll need to do this all over again. It’s the price of being me.

Also blogged on this date . . .

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