Journal entry for December 4, 2001

Today's summary: Ear problem diagnosed.

Yet another non-artsy journal entry today, sorry!

I went to the doctor this morning, finally. Good thing, too -- last night my ear actually got worse, not better. No sleep. Today I feel totally beat and it's just awful, so... I was glad to talk to the doctor.

He said that my eardrum is NOT ruptured (yay!). Actually he theorized that the only reason it didn't rupture, was due to the heavy scar tissue from the last time it ruptured. I guess that's a good thing (?!). There might be a small crack or rip in the scar tissue itself though, or right next to it... he couldn't tell for sure.

Because my eardrum was so red and swollen and because it's worse now than before, he went ahead and put me on antibiotics in addition to decongestants. That's the standard treatment for a ruptured eardrum, even though mine isn't perforated in any obvious way.

Good prognosis, too -- he said that by early next week my hearing should be back to normal, and this will all be cleared up by the time the antibiotics run out in ten days. So, I'm VERY relieved.

After the appointment I went to work, but then I realized that with my ear so much worse than yesterday, it's hopelessly distracting. Not to mention I was dead tired. So after taking the medication I went home, and within a couple of hours I was able to take a little nap. I slept sitting up since that seems to make it easier on my ear. I had a weird dream that may have involved a dead person on the highway, but... at least I rested.

Hopefully I can sleep more tonight, and hopefully I will start to feel better tomorrow. I don't think I could easily handle another day like this. *whine* *whine*

My coworker Diana told me I should have known better than to assume I could escape L.A. unscathed... I guess she was right!