A week ago I had a long day with severe throbbing pain in my left ear, up the side of my face, at the base of my skull and the feeling I was heading toward a migraine headache. The ear pain was shooting electrical spurts here and there. The migraine never developed, and I went to bed after taking a lot of different medications during the day.
The next morning, the ear was bleeding, but all was better, otherwise. A day after that, I had an appointment at my hearing aid office for maintenance on my $7500 hearing aids. The technician looked in my left ear when I complained something was hurting. He saw something big inside my ear that was black. He thought it could be dried blood or maybe a dome from a hearing aid. Then he commented he knew I don’t use hearing aids with domes, so he wasn’t sure. I told him I used backup hearing aids in Mexico in February so it could be a dome. He tried to remove whatever it was, with no success. After 3-4 painful attempts, he admitted he could not successfully remove anything. He suggested I stop in at an Urgent Care or ER when I returned home.
I did visit the local UC, and a Nurse Practitioner tried her best, but also could not get anything out. So, I had to wait another 3 days to see the local ENT doctor. I have been to this doctor before during original COVID when my vocal chords became damaged from all the coughing. Today, he removed a huge black chunk of dried blood that had spikes like a kidney stone. It had cut and irritated the inside of my ear, so more bleeding ensued. It will take time to heal. I looked at the onyx black specimen and thought, OMG, how long has that been in there? The doctor said “awhile”.
I rush home to relieve the caretaker for Don while I was gone. Of course, they both want to know all the details. I fill them in and report I have to take antibiotics for a week, but no serious damage.
Don: Did you ask the doctor about me?
Kristy: He’s an ENT doctor. Why would I have a discussion with him about you?
Don: I thought you might want to run some things by him about me.
Kristy: We talked about this for the last 2 days. It’s your brain that is damaged, not your ears, nose, or throat.
Don: I know, I just thought it might be helpful.
Kristy: I can punch you in the ear, nose or throat if that’s helpful for you to get in to see this doctor.
Note to Self: April asked me what I wanted for Mother’s Day.
“I need boxing gloves so I don’t break my fingernails.”
