Dear Charlie:
So I have a Jewish mother for a doctor. Heh.
Yes, I finally broke down and went to the doctor. The constant shrieking in my pressure-clogged ear as I lay in bed at night convinced me to worry about permanent hearing damage. There are two things I don't mess with health-wise -- my eyes and my ears. Oi.
So anyway, despite the fact that I HATE going to the doctor and that I hate taking medication and that I hate admitting I'm sick at all, I finally swallowed it and went, knowing full well that I would only invite a stern lecture on taking better care of myself and on coming in when I first get sick, rather than waiting.
Yeah, got it.
First question after the general "what brings you in...finally?" one? "Are you taking vitamins?"
Um...yeah...sorta.
"How sorta?"
I have them. I'm taking them on a hit or miss basis.
"How hit or miss?"
*starts to feel inquisitioned* Um...mostly miss?
"...Thought so."
I knew I was in for it. Heh.
Luckily, I have an excellent Doc for all the crap I give him. He agreed that neither my ear nor my sinuses are infected. He agreed that there's no fluid build-up causing the pressure. He agreed that I shouldn't have come in two weeks ago when I first got sick because it was just a cold that made my nose run like a faucet.
He didn't, however, agree that I shouldn't have come in last week when I was dehydrated, suffering from a migraine, and wondering why everything sounded like I was living inside a metal trash can.
Apparently, all this congestion/snot has severely inflammed my sinuses, throat, esophagus...the whole works. This inflammation has basically pulled everything really tight inside my head -- as if there wasn't enough room up there in that gasping attic space -- including my ear drum. Yup. It's not infected and swelling out. It's pulled tight and sucked IN.
Bizarro.
So, I have to get rid of the congestion and drainage and swelling so my poor ear drum can pop back out. Or I could let him poke a hole in my ear drum to release the pressure.
HELL no. And he was kidding.
So, since he knows as well as I do that I dry out when I get sick, he was hesitant to prescribe any powerful decongestants. However, he really wants the inflammation gone, so he prescribed some nasal decongestant -- it's not supposed to DRY so badly -- and made me promise to squirt some saline solution up there and take my friggin vitamins.
*grumbles*
And to call him IMMEDIATELY if:
a) my ear starts to actually HURT, instead of just giving me a headache from the pressure, or
b) my temperature comes back, no matter how slightly.
Sheesh. Jewish mother, I tell ya. Heh.
Oh, well. I can't complain. I heard Nickelback's newest single -- "Animals" -- this weekend, and it ROCKS. And the Chiefs beat the hell out of the Patriots this weekend. Which ROCKS. And I got to spend the weekend among the family. Which rocks enough, anyway.
*feigns disinterest*
Heh. Don't thwap me, beloved sister! I'm KIDDING!