So, I’ve been a bit under the weather for the past few days. It finally all came to a head yesterday afternoon. My ears were starting to plug up sometime just after lunch. I didn’t really think about it much at the time. I popped my jaw a few times, trying to clear it out. All it did was get worse. I started feeling pressure around the end of work yesterday. Still, I didn’t think all that much about it.
After getting home, the pressure was starting to get a good bit stronger. I was starting to get a bit worried about it. My doctor’s office was closed by that time, so I needed to find a medical clinic of some kind. I found one that was covered by my insurance and started out on a pretty agonizing journey.
As I proceeded down Hughes and Wal-Triana (two arteries of road in Madison), the pressure started turning into pain. The pain escallated quickly in-transit and by the time I got to the medical clinic, my left ear was literally burning. I was also suffering from a good bit of diminished hearing–maybe about half.
After signing in and waiting for a little while in the waiting room, I finally got my blood pressure & temperature taken and was given a room. The pain was getting worse and worse, and it got so bad that I paced around over and over. I felt a bit like a caged animal. My throat had been hurting the past couple of days, so I was being hit by a double whammy of pain (with a pretty vicious cough to go with it). It was getting truly unbearable.
Finally, after about 45 minutes to an hour, the doctor came in. He asked about my symptoms, checked out my throat and ears, and came to the conclusion that I had tonsilitis and an ear infection.
I haven’t had an ear infection since I was 11, and that was pure torture. Not only did I have it in both ears, but I was also relatively deaf for about 3-4 months. This time, it’s a bit better because it’s only in one ear, but I still have some deafness in that ear. It’s strange because it makes things sound like I’m either underwater or that the Borg are speaking to me on the TV.
I’m a good bit dizzy, perhaps because of the combination of medication and the ear infection. Taking today off of work and maybe tomorrow, depending on how I feel.
This sucks. I haven’t been sick in a long time :-\