In 2008, shortly after I arrived in Hawaii, I got an ear infection. It seemed innocent enough. I didn't have health insurance (long story, don't judge) so I treated it the best way I could: heat and pressure. It didn't get better (of course) but I had no choice but to continue with that treatment until I was married and had health insurance.
In September/October 2009, I went to the doc and got some antibiotics and a referral to the ENT. The ENT saw the infection and told me that it could be bacterial or it could be fungal and that she would treat it for both. Well, it wasn't bacterial. But, it wasn't fungal either. What exactly was going on with my ear? She cleaned out the wax and found that I had a perforation on the right eardrum. She told me "Eh, this could heal itself. Let's give it some time." So, I did. Two years. I gave it two years. I think that might have been too much time. Life got busy. I got pregnant. I had a baby. I put the ear issue on the back burner.
Fast forward to Spring 2011. The ear is still giving me issues. It's bad enough that the pressure from the eustachian tubes is causing migraines. I can't stand it anymore. I make an appointment with my PCM so that I can get a referral for the ENT (again) and my PCM loads me up with antibiotics saying it's a sinus infection.
I visit the ENT on my birthday (4-16) and he says "Yes, the hole is still there." He wants me to get a C/T scan that was requested by my PCM. He agrees with the Flonase prescription but says I don't really need the Zyrtec. He wants to follow up in 4 weeks to see how things have progressed.
The C/T scan revealed no abnormalities. It would be a waiting game until my f/u appointment with the ENT. I also had to get an audiogram. The audiogram revealed hearing loss consistent with a perforated ear drum. It was hopeful that a tympanoplasty would correct this hearing loss.
At the f/u appointment, I decided that surgery was indeed the best option for me. I was hopeful that it would correct the hearing loss and that it would also cut down the fluid intake if there was no hole to compete with. And, like that, within three weeks the surgery was scheduled.
I met with my surgeon. He found ANOTHER hole on my eardrum. WTHeck?! How does that even happen? He explained the procedure and that he would likely take a skin graft from my bicep to reconstruct the eardrum.
I went about my business. I traveled to MN as was originally planned. I enjoyed my time with family. And, when I got home, the surgery was scheduled for June 7th.
On the day of surgery, I checked in at 0700 as was requested. I was bumped, twice. Finally, at 1145, I was prepped and ready to go back. It took a full three hours to reconstruct the eardrum, make the ear canal bigger and clear away A LOT of scar tissue.
Recovery has been harder than I expected. I'm tired. I'm weak. I can't lift anything heavy. I find myself getting tired just from walking up the stairs. I want to nap all the time. It's getting better and I have a follow up on Friday the 15th so I'm hoping that the ear pressure I've got will be addressed. I'm on several antibiotics. It's wracking my digestive system. This will be worth it. I keep telling myself that.
No comments:
Post a Comment