Commentary
The Perfect Birthday Gift
July 24th wasn’t going to be fun this year, I knew, as my ears had rung something unusually heavy a few days ago. Actually, as I love to do, I would like to throw it all on the bath I took at home during my latest visit to my family in Hangu. The moment I came out of the bath, I felt something was not okay with my ears. You see people reprove my habit of avoiding the shower for weeks (in summers) and months (in winter). Why can’t they see that my Exceptionally Annoying Radar System (EARS) won’t stand this free physical contact with water? So it was that bath!
Remembering my last visit (first in life actually) to an ENT (Ears Nose Throat) specialist, the other evening, I tried to kill the goliath of ear clogging with a few drops of soda glycerine shot from the slingshot called….soda glycerine bottle, what else? I hope it would work. And it did…whatever path was open heretofore was closed and my ear felt like a jet airport where the fighters of my own voice landed every now and then. Ah! It was inevitable to see the doctor now, and I knew the pain it had caused me last time, followed by a lasting relief. So I had to see a doc on my birthday. Very well!
Taking my breakfast on this special day, I felt like mines were being blasted in my left ear. Every mouthful was a trial. “Left is always such a mess!” I said to myself. I am sure the left ear heard it but thankfully, it didn’t snap back. After all, it was my ear!
Paying the bill, I went ahead to ask about an ENT at the nearest medical clinic. They didn’t seem to know what that was. I pointed to my ear and said “I got trouble here.” The attendant shook his head and told me they hadn’t got any doc for this thing. “Good!” I felt some relief (prospective pain was hanging on my head) and reminded myself that my birthday wasn’t going to be with a jet fighter airport. So I hired a cab and went to the Rehman Medical Institute in Hayatabad.
As I went in to see the doctor, I was nervous. But he turned out a considerate person (sitting without a sword pointing at his patients). I knew what he was going to do, and he did. If you want to know how I held out while he removed the clogged wax in my ear, just go to YouTube and search for “Charlie Bit Me”. Watch the elder kid and that’s me!
Finally, when he showed me the wax ball pulled out of my ear, I almost shrieked. Man! How could this size of a blob grow in my ear (which now felt open and quite relaxed)? I wondered if he’d wrap it up for me as a birthday present, should I tell him that it was my birthday. My kids (if they ever happened to be) would like to play with it their first soccer match. Thanking the doctor, I exited the hospital, feeling light and free. And it goes without saying that I requested the doc to leave treating the other ear for the next week.
Driven to the chemist in a cab, I touched my left ear lightly and felt sorry for not taking care of it. Yet, I thought this visit was the birthday gift I could give myself- the gift of health.
–Ernest Dempsey, Editor-in-Chief
Recovering the Self: A Journal of Hope and Healing
Sounds like an ordeal for the anniversary day of when you were born. Actually I bet it wasn’t so bad after your last comment about giving yourself the gift of good health. Better luck next time though. I mow a lot of grass at work in the summertime and what with all the dust and dirt particles that go flying around my head and some of it inevitably into my ears, I have this problem with regularity myself; ears clogging up. So I have a small squeeze bulb with an ear cleaning solution first then I take the bulb and squirt plenty of water into my own ear multiple tries until ears clear. I save the Dr’s visit that way and you wouldn’t have to pay but a few dollars every couple of years or so for more ear cleaning solution and a new squeeze bulb occassionally. I bet you could do what I do too.
Happy belated birthday.
Regards,
Timothy Louis Baker
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERNEST!!
I too just mended from a bout of pneumonia for over the past two months. It wasn’t going away, so the doctor then prescribed another course of a different antibiotic. Also too, I have had the same thing with my ears in the past from SCUBA diving once:O You described it precisely when referring to the clearing to “fighter Jet” sounds:) I too saw what was removed from my ear:O — Instant relief! 1/2 warm to hot water mixed with 1/2 hydrogen peroxide administered into the infected ear at somewhat high pressure with a plastic tipped syringe clears it out as well. You just hold your head over a tub and blast a good amount into your ear over and over a few times. The bubbling from the peroxide interaction with the infected matter breaks up with the onset of the warm water. As well, the doctor recommended doing that as maintenance every few months; as I was susceptible to buildup. — Keeps the doctor away to do that at home;)
Again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY; and, make it a great day!
G.T.
Being the robot that I am, I tend to overlook the human aspects of stories: I simply cannot empathize. But, I am finely attuned to smilies, metaphors, humor, and the fine use of language. Your entry is a delight in this sense: I love your intimacy with imagery and your self-deprecating sense of humor.
–Sam Vaknin
http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com
Thank you guys!
Ernest,
Happy birthday always. See if you can find ear candles where you are. They are effective at removing excess wax–for free. All you need is a friend to help.
Janet
Thanks Janet!