Thursday, August 4, 2016

People Are Strange

Yesterday was the day. The day I went to the Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. My ear was hearing again, but it was still hurting from time to time. Something I would normally ignore, the pain was pretty benign.

I left a couple of hours early. Not because I wanted to be that early, but I had a lunch date with my bestie, Martha. Martha used to have her camper here and I miss seeing her. We keep in touch, but it is just not the same as having an hour to gossip in person.

I drove to her shop and got a big hug from Tom (aka crazy Tom), her husband and one of our favorite people. Got some doggie love from Gus and then we were off to lunch and gossip. It was too short and I was happy to let her know that I will be returning at almost the same time next Wednesday for my follow-up appointment. We will have another lunch date then.

So, that was the highlight of my day. The very first thing they do is take you into a sound proof room to evaluate your hearing. She peered into my ear and then pushed some air in to see if the eardrum was totally blocked. She decided I needed a good cleaning out before proceeding. I felt shame, like when the dental hygienist scolds you for not flossing.

The Doctor came in to examine the ear as I sat in the most uncomfortable chair in the world. After the initial peek, he lowered the back of the chair and had me turn my head away, then proceeded to vacuum my ear. The sound is much like you can imagine. Then came the digging part on what he referred to as a "big chunk" of wax logged firmly against my eardrum. It hurt! He dug out two "big chunks", but what remains is sealed against my eardrum. So, he called my pharmacy and ordered up my remedy. Stool softener in drop form.

I have to put the stool softener in my ear for the week, then go back and have my ear vacuumed again. He says this works a lot better than DeBrox or any other over the counter products. Who knew?

Lets go back to flossing. We don't have to floss anymore!! I saw it on TV. As exciting as that news is, what captured my attention was the footage they chose to accompany the news item. It was a man brushing his teeth, with copious amounts of foaming toothpaste around his lips. It was gross. Who thought this was a good visual? Made me think of a story one of my campers told me. They were having breakfast and looking out their window ..... to see a family brushing their teeth OUTSIDE and them spitting the toothpaste into a stump. People are strange ......

4 comments:

Joanne Noragon said...

You did remind me of camping back in the fifties, out west, but in the east, too---there were no bathrooms, though possibly an outhouse. I've spit toothpaste in many a stump, or sizzled it in a fire pit.

Carol Anne said...

Ugh...I know the pain of a blocked ear. I had a doctor tell me once that my ear canals are backwards like a dog's, so it's very easy for me to get blocked ears. I've had them flushed numerous times over the years so I can relate. Hopefully you will be back to hearing normal soon!!
As for the toothpaste thing-- I am famous for walking circles around my campsite (and carrying on conversations while brushing my teeth), some people would probably find that strange as well LOL!! ....I do spit into a cup though....

Val said...

Makes me wonder how those stump people cleaned their ears!

luksky said...

When I was a little girl, I was famous for ear infections. I went to the doctor once for a really bad ear ache and they cleaned my ear out. It hurt bad and I can still have a visual of all the black gunk they pulled out of my ear. It's amazing how much gross stuff can be in something as seemingly little as an ear canal.