One Ear

When I was up in Pittsburgh for the wedding, I felt a little bit of a lump in my throat, and when I swallowed I would feel it a little bit in my ear. Nothing big, but something. I did not think much of it. And then I flew home…

The decent into Orlando was very uncomfortable. The pressure bothered me a lot more than usual. And then once I was off the plane, it did not go away in my right ear. It continued to feel like it was under pressure, and it was hard to hear out of that ear.

As it turns out, Amy had a stomach flu that day, and as soon as I got home, Brandy and I traded off Amy, and my job was to take Amy to her new Doctor. (New cause Brandy now has new health insurance from work, so we found someone under her plan.) So, I took AMy into the doctor. But the whole time I was there, my ear was bothering me. And not just bothering me, but getting worse. So, as we were finishing up with Amy, I signed myself up to be seen next. (The doctor is in my plan too, and I may just switch… I like my old doctor, but this one is closer to home, and it might be good for the whole family to just go the same place.)

Anyway, one look in my ear and she says: “Oh yeah, you have an ear infection. It is very swollen in there.” And my throat wasn’t all that good off either. She said there was one spot in the membrane that was obviously weak and sticking out. She said it could break at any moment, and if it broke it would be right there.

Urgh! I had a friend who got an ear infection on a plane, and then ended up having to have many surgeries and losing his hearing in that ear. Ouch! But she assured me that the little nub where it would break if it broke was small, and would heal if it broke. So I have visions of a small hole breaking in my eardrum and pus squirting out of that ear at high velocity. Of course, it would most likely just ooze.

She basically said that if it broke, the pressure would suddenly be relieved, but then I wouldn’t be able to swim or anything until it heals (which takes a decent amount of time). On the other hand, if it did NOT break (which is actually better) then it might take weeks for the pressure to fully normalize, even with the antibiotics and such she was giving me.

Oh, joy.

I asked several times if it was safe to fly, and if I should be going on my trip to Connecticut, or if I should be seeing if I should cancel. She said I should be fine to fly. It might be uncomfortable, maybe quite so, but I should be fine.

Uh, goody.

Anyway, I of course traveled anyway.

Before leaving Tuesday, the pressure had gone down somewhat in the ear. It was not gone, but I could basically hear again.

The first leg of the flight (Orlando to Pittsburgh) was OK. Not that bad. More uncomfortable than usual, but not crazy. The second leg though (Pittsburgh to White Plains) was on a commuter jet, and when we came in for a landing I was miserable. I felt like the side of my head was about to explode. And when I got off the plane the pressure did not go away. It felt like I was wearing a plunger over that side of my head. I could barely hear on my right side, and it was quite uncomfortable.

So I don’t think there has been any popping yet.

Anyway, at my meetings with the client Wednesday, I tried to sit so the people I needed to ehar were on my left, but it diodn’t fully work. It sounded to me for the whole meeting like people were whispering. I feel for those with perminant hearing impairment, cause I’ve now had a glimpse.

As far as I can remember, I never had an ear infection before, even as a child where I know they are sometimes common. It ain’t fun, but still better than other kinds of sick you could have. I’d rather have this than a bad stomach flu or respritiory infection. But still. Annoying.

Once again last night the pressure has gone down a bit. Still there. But no longer so distracting I want to shove a pencil through my head.

In a few minutes I leave for the second round of meetings with our client. Then, this afternoon, two more plane flights. White Plains to Philly, then Philly to Orlando. I normally don’t mind flights at all. But the knowledge that my ear is going to be attacking me the whole way (especially on landings it seems) is making me think that perhaps I should just consider walking the 1161 miles home from here.

Nah. I’ll just do the “embrace the pain” thing instead.

Uh, and use the painkillers the doc gave me if it seems warrented. :-)