Another Tube

3 November 2008 @ 15:20 | Posted in » Bob

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.

I wrote that on 24 January, a little over nine months ago.

I didn’t need to wait a couple years, it happened today.

Once again I had fluid in my left ear. The last two weeks have been horrible. There’s a little pain associated with it. What is far more disconcerting is the disorientation. It’s not that I am going to fall down or anything, it’s just that I am alone in the world when this happens. I can’t hear and what I do hear I struggle to pinpoint. As a classroom teacher, that is really bad. I miss some things, and other things I just can’t make out.

I took a half day on Thursday. My doctor wanted me to suffer through it and schedule with another guy in a hospital. I said how about the other doctor in the practice who inserted the tube in January. He made an appointment for me today.

Going in I was under the impression that the tube was in place, but had rotated away. It had wax in it thus blocking the drain. Today I learned the tube had dislodged and was sitting in my ear cavity amid wax. This is my life.

The doctor removed it. That hurt. He said I needed another tube. D’oh! He wanted me to schedule it for another day. Oh no, that wasn’t going to happen. After catching him up to speed, and he verifying that I could withstand the pain of having it done in the office, he agreed to do it today.

Now I had waited more than 90 minutes at this time. On Thursday I had checked with them to ensure that I would be able to make it to work in time so I would only miss a half day. Once we agreed to do this, I asked if we would be done in time for me to go to work. He hedged. I called. All got covered.

Surgery in the office is funny. Their suction pump does not work right. The nurse is instructed on what to do to make it work. They swamp out the pump with another that doesn’t work. They discuss which one is the working pump, etc. It has not worked right for years. This guy drives a shiny red Porsche. Buy a new pump. The chair in the room where surgery is done does not fit. My feat sit on the hearing specialist’s desk as the doctor is placed in the corner. It really is comical.

This doctor I estimate is 65 years old. He never says much, unlike my normal ear guy. And I am a wimp when it comes to pain. I grimace. I growl. I hate the entire experience. Whatever they used to numb my ear stings to high heaven. Then he went in. And just like that he announced the tube was in place. Wow! I never had a tube inserted so easily. I said, “That was the easiest one ever.” Without missing a beat, the doctor responded, “You had the best surgeon ever.”

I told him I liked his confidence.

I can now hear. I wonder if he understands the gift he ~~gave~~ sold me today.