My ears were ringing one morning in May.
It was a quiet morning, and I could hear birds outside and the thump-thump-thump of a tennis game in Hamilton Park. But inside, all I could hear was a high squeal. In my head.
I promptly ignored this, after buying one of those ear-cleaning kits and trying that for a few days. I had way too much going on between closing the office, finishing my job, and re-tiling the bathroom floor. Ears were just going to have to be considered later. I didn't even manage to pay attention when I bashed my toe, so ear-ringing simply wasn't a priority.
It didn't stop, so on Friday, I went to the ENT in Hospital de la Fe. My appointment was at 11:30 AM, and I gave myself an hour to get there. I was still late, because I got lost. I took the bus, and missed my stop, overshot, and had to walk back. But couldn't figure out how to get to the hospital even though I could see it. Eventually, I found it, and ten minutes late, I stood outside Dr. Lillian Hernandez's office on the second floor.
"Marie?"
"Yes."
She invited me in. She put me in a chair and looked down my throat and made me do funny stuff with my tongue. She poked around in my nose and ears and touched spots on my head and the back of my neck. She made noises near my ears and asked if I could hear them.
This reminded me of the time my mother got my hearing tested when I was a kid. That was because she'd yell for me, and I'd stay in my room and read instead of answering or coming downstairs to do chores.
"She has the hearing of Supergirl," said the doctor.
Mom was pissed.
No one was around to get pissed this time, but the doctor declared me full of fungus, but with excellent hearing. I have thrush in my mouth! Now I know what the dentist was saying in Spanish earlier in the week.
She explained it's a symptom and while we can treat the symptoms, I need to get working on the cause. I'm pretty sure I know the cause. Remember my parasites we found in Bangkok? Well, the Flagyl didn't eradicate them, because it doesn't really work on that type of parasite, and I doubt the Alinia did either. I have been putting off addressing it, because parasites are tricky beasts and I thought I was asymptomatic.
Until Dr. Gonzalez gave me a prescription for a pill series, and oral gel, and instructions to lay off the sugar, bread, pasta, baked goods, and fruit for a while. In other words, fungus (yeast) looooves sugar. So take pills to kill it and don't feed it with its favorite foods.
I wasn't sure what to make of this but thought, well, this isn't the first doctor to tell me I have fungi, so I'll give it a try. I hate the food restrictions. I eat a ton of fruit. I love fruit. And bread comes in many insidious forms. It's hard to avoid. And I've been really hungry, even after a huge breakfast omelette.
But damned if I don't feel livelier, not dizzy, wide awake, and all-around healthier.
It might be psychosomatic, or it might be real. I don't know. But I'll keep trying for a while, at least for the duration of the course of the medications. It's not like eating less bread and sugar is BAD for me.
It was a quiet morning, and I could hear birds outside and the thump-thump-thump of a tennis game in Hamilton Park. But inside, all I could hear was a high squeal. In my head.
I promptly ignored this, after buying one of those ear-cleaning kits and trying that for a few days. I had way too much going on between closing the office, finishing my job, and re-tiling the bathroom floor. Ears were just going to have to be considered later. I didn't even manage to pay attention when I bashed my toe, so ear-ringing simply wasn't a priority.
It didn't stop, so on Friday, I went to the ENT in Hospital de la Fe. My appointment was at 11:30 AM, and I gave myself an hour to get there. I was still late, because I got lost. I took the bus, and missed my stop, overshot, and had to walk back. But couldn't figure out how to get to the hospital even though I could see it. Eventually, I found it, and ten minutes late, I stood outside Dr. Lillian Hernandez's office on the second floor.
"Marie?"
"Yes."
She invited me in. She put me in a chair and looked down my throat and made me do funny stuff with my tongue. She poked around in my nose and ears and touched spots on my head and the back of my neck. She made noises near my ears and asked if I could hear them.
This reminded me of the time my mother got my hearing tested when I was a kid. That was because she'd yell for me, and I'd stay in my room and read instead of answering or coming downstairs to do chores.
"She has the hearing of Supergirl," said the doctor.
Mom was pissed.
No one was around to get pissed this time, but the doctor declared me full of fungus, but with excellent hearing. I have thrush in my mouth! Now I know what the dentist was saying in Spanish earlier in the week.
She explained it's a symptom and while we can treat the symptoms, I need to get working on the cause. I'm pretty sure I know the cause. Remember my parasites we found in Bangkok? Well, the Flagyl didn't eradicate them, because it doesn't really work on that type of parasite, and I doubt the Alinia did either. I have been putting off addressing it, because parasites are tricky beasts and I thought I was asymptomatic.
Until Dr. Gonzalez gave me a prescription for a pill series, and oral gel, and instructions to lay off the sugar, bread, pasta, baked goods, and fruit for a while. In other words, fungus (yeast) looooves sugar. So take pills to kill it and don't feed it with its favorite foods.
I wasn't sure what to make of this but thought, well, this isn't the first doctor to tell me I have fungi, so I'll give it a try. I hate the food restrictions. I eat a ton of fruit. I love fruit. And bread comes in many insidious forms. It's hard to avoid. And I've been really hungry, even after a huge breakfast omelette.
But damned if I don't feel livelier, not dizzy, wide awake, and all-around healthier.
It might be psychosomatic, or it might be real. I don't know. But I'll keep trying for a while, at least for the duration of the course of the medications. It's not like eating less bread and sugar is BAD for me.
1 comment:
I had forgotten that you had the hearing of Supergirl!
So you're feeling wide awake? Oh that sounds like you could have a wheat allergy; I hope not!
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