The first thing I'd like to say is that I've been lucky enough to have been under the care of a few wonderful doctors. When I was six months old, I had a craniectomy which saved me from being mentally retarded or, more likely, dying. One of the doctors that did the operation became my pediatrician. He was great. When I got older I had another good doctor. She moved to Chicago, though, to help in inner city clinics. Bummer for me. They both spent time explaining my various ailments in a way a child or youth could understand.

However, because of the insurance I have now, I have been going to a doctor I am almost afraid of for a year or two. He's always been ditzy, but in September (1998) he proved to me that he was an idiot. Since high school, my allergies have been getting worse. Occasionally, I have problems with my sinuses that make my ears, nose and throat go crazy. It was fall, and I started to get a very bad ear infection. The doctor looked in it, then had his nurse shoot water into my ear to clean it out, then used a scrapey thing to get it totally clean. This all really hurt. He told me to come back in five days and gave me a prescription to dry it out. Two days later, my face and jaw were swelling up, and green stuff was coming out of my ear. When I was at home, I stayed on my bed and watched television for hours. I made it to school, but I could hardly sit up in class. I called my mom around 4pm to tell her how badly I felt. Around six, I decided I couldn't wait the three more days.

Now, my doctor doesn't have hours after noon on Fridays, so I ended up going to an emergency clinic. (I wish my insurance covered the doc I saw there.) The new doc really helped. He suggested that the nurse had scraped the inside of my ear while cleaning it, and this got infected along with the original infection. He was actually afraid to clean it out for fear of rupturing my eardrum. He gave me ear drops and monster pain killers so I could sleep instead of crying all night . (I want to mention I was very upset the last few evenings, and woke Levi up so he would comfort me.) I started to feel better, but it still hurt a bit on top of the fact my hearing in my right ear was about non-existent. I figured the return visit to my doc would make my feel all better. It didn't though.

The problem was when my mom and I went back for the return visit he actually got mad at me for seeing another doctor, and said I should have got there before 12. (Hello? I'm in college, and I can't skip a 4 hour class no matter how bad I feel.) Then he checked the left ear and said it looked fine. He actually had written down the wrong ear! When I pointed out it was my right ear that was hurting he asked me if I was sure. Um, yeah, I think so. My ear was totally blocked up, and he was unable to poke his pointy ear checker thing in to see. He wanted to do the painful water torture thing again. Before I could protest, he ran out of the room to find a nurse. A nurse came in to do it again, and it was the same woman who had done it before. I told her I was afraid of rupturing my eardrum by forcing more water in where no one could see what was wrong. She took offense at the thought that she might hurt me. She didn't realize she was the one who had done it before. I had been there less than a week ago! I reminded her that she had told me about her daughter having the same problems I have and blah, blah, blah. She seemed stumped, then went to find the doctor again.

My doctor didn't understand why I was afraid, and he said the only way to get what I wanted was to go to a specialist. Okay! That seemed like a great idea since I was getting no where there. My mom said that's what we'd be doing, then, but we had to get recommended by the doctor, first. We had to wait while the doctor found out who else the insurance would cover. Then we had to wait until the appointment with him.

I went to the new specialist doctor for a few weeks, and got both of my ears all cleaned out and healed up. Some of it was painful and gross, but he actually seemed sorry to make me cry. What it all came down to is that I have problems with swimmers ear (go figure). I'm not allowed to get my ears more than damp, and I have to use drops to keep them dry. My hearing isn't perfect, but it's a lot better than when I went in the first time. I'm hoping to find another doctor the next time I get sick. If I ever need an otolaryngologist again, he's my man.

Did I mention my mom went with me to almost every appointment? I felt like a baby, but it was nice to have her there to cheer me up, and take the doctor on when he was being stupid. Everyone should have a mommy like mine.

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