Saturday, January 21, 2012

Ears, tears, fears, and {i need a beers}

So this is a long(ish) post about an interesting week.

Since the end of Dec. I have had a hearing loss in my left ear.
When I realized that my ear was not working --some little voice in my head said, "if you
ever have a sudden hearing loss--or hear tell of one--go to the ENT IMMEDIATELY--or tell
the person who is having this loss--to go there"  That voice was the voice of my anatomy professor
from graduate school.
Did I listen to the voice?
Well, you will find out.
So I waited and...and in waiting..I tried to pop my ears...that was not the issue.
I considered congestion might be the problem--I have not had congestion--but I took
some sudafed anyway..just in case.
Then I went to the fam. practioner--I wanted a tympanogram so that I could know if
my eardrum was moving or not--I could not tell b/c my ear feels so funny.
My eardrum was working and there were no signs of infection--so he gave me
Flonase...That was a week ago Monday
So on Thursday AM--I finally got the sense to call the ENT and ask advice..
The advice was, "um, m'am..this is considered to be an emergency, and we will see you at 9:30."
So off I went.
The dx.?--I have a sensorineural hearing loss--that might or might not be fixed by taking
steroids for twelve days--the dr. leaned toward NOT.  He was not very optimistic--b/c I waited too long.
Cue little voice in head--Cue feelings of disgust with myself for not being smarter about this.
So, for Morgan--in my left hear--at 2,000 Hz and up--my threshold goes from 40dB to 65 db!!
I cannot hear!! In the lower frequencies my threshold is fine, and in the right ear I can still hear perfectly.
Oh, and my left ear is also ringing--at a pitch--that supposedly I cannot hear well..the pitch of the ringing
is probably about 4,000Hz.

So basically pray that these steroids work for me--and then in two weeks I go for an MRI--to make sure there are not tumors or cysts back there on my auditory nerve or my cochlea--one of which is failing me now.--please pray that I do not have cysts or tumors!! I mean really!

Then I leave the ENT--in a daze of confusion and disappointment in myself--and I go to get a bagel.
So then I pull out of the bagel shop parking lot into the turn lane--and someone hits my car!!
I was {crushed}--like the pun?? oh yeah!!
We both get out, and hang out in the turn lane for a little while until the police get there.
The girl who hit me has a very sketchy insurance situation going on, --dmv says she has none, she says she does...whatever!  We both get tickets (turns out one should not turn out of a driveway into the turn lane--the turn lane is only for continuous traffic on the road that has the turn lane--to use--so it was fine to turn into the bagel shop via that lane--but not to exit the shop and merge into traffic using that lane--has anyone else ever heard of this???)  The wreck was her fault--and the police said so, but who really cares when she had no insurance.  So then the police pull off and I try to start my car, and the battery is dead.
Picture this:  I am sitting --trying to start my car--and cannot..and
chica who hit me is in her car crying her head off b/c her license plate just got removed from her car and she cannot go anywhere.--yuck!!
So the guys from a nearby store came and jumped my car--how sweet!  and then I gave chica a ride home...she was sort of pitiful--no family here--they are all in brooklyn and Va.--poor her, too.

So, when I got home on Thursday--after going back to work--I broke out in fever and chills--
I knew I should have asked the ENT to swab my throat!! knew it!!  I had a tickle in there--always either a cold, or strep throat for me.
Then on Friday morning my fever was 102--a fun thing about your husband being a nurse--he becomes
the official temperature taker--:)  so sweet!  So yesterday I had to go to Urgent care and as soon as the FNP looked in my throat she said--"oh god!  i am not even going to swab this! goodness!"

ugh..y'all
And just a little add in--when i went to the family doctor--a substitute doc. at my regular office--
he told me that he thought, "you just know too much"--I am not sure what he meant by this...
I mean--his machine (audiometer) confirmed that my left ear was not working--just like I said
when i went in...I am just not sure what he meant--but if any doc. ever says something like this to you...
immediately go to someone else--

Another add in--the last thing in the world I need right now is beer--that just rhymed well. :)

So now, I am taking antibiotics, steroids..and just looking forward to another round of car fixing, and points on my insurance...{FREAKING YIPPIE!!}.
But really if my ear starts working again.. the other stuff--well, it's called life, I reckon. :)


3 comments:

Bethany said...

I just don't even know what to say about all of this! Susan, that is a lot of of {yuck}... Glad you live w/ a nurse! xoxo

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh Friend! What a week! I am so sorry. I hope you feel better soon!!!

Moore, Moore, Moore! said...

GOODNESS SUS-I hope you are feeling better and that you hearing comes back...that is so odd..do they have any clue what couuld have brought this on???? Give us an update as soon as you can. I love you...that was so nice of you to drive the girl that hit you home :)

Spot on!

Spot is our family's chihuahua.  He is what we call, "an evil dictator/stuffed animal come to life".  Sometimes, after he has ...