Brother, Can You Spare An Eardrum?

(From Jay - written Friday 1/21/11)


Have you ever gone to the doctor with something wrong with your ear? Did it by any chance result in both the nurse and the doctor looking into your ear with their otoscope and then looking away in silence with a puzzled look? Well, I did yesterday. It was quite troubling.

For those of you who don't know, we are a few short weeks from our trip to China...a trip that involves a long flight. Nothing wrong with that except that Camille and I have been battling fluid in our ears for weeks now. Something we are told that could cause big problems on a long flight. Camille got a clean bill of health yesterday from an ENT in Cape, and I went in yesterday for a followup on my ear. After having my ear 'flushed' for the first time (which felt like sticking a garden hose in your ear), the nurse looked through her scope, and then seemed troubled...quiet. As she walked out, I asked if everything looked alright. Her reply was, "well...I'm not sure what I'm looking at...I've never
seen anything like that before..." and she walked out of the room. What does that mean? Do I have man-eating bull worm in there?

My nurse practitioner came in next and looked through the scope. Then she looked at the wall silent. Then she looked through the scope again. The suspense was killing me! What is it?!

She then let me know that not only was my eardrum severely perforated...it didn't even appear to be there! She said she just saw 'raw meat' in there.

Wow...what does this mean? Well...nobody could tell me. All I know is that I have an appointment with an ENT on Monday. It could mean let it heal...it could mean I have to have surgery to 'patch' my eardrum.

The biggest question I have is how does this affect my trip to China? Does it? Camille seems to think that I'll be fine. Basically, I guess its like having a tube in my ear like kids often do...its just a really big tube.

So pray for us as we approach our travel dates. And please pray for the news we receive from the ENT on Monday. I am doing my best not to worry, but it seems to come way too natural for me.