So I finally went to the ENT Specialist … It’s another one of those things where it’s not much to worry about … but this time he’s given me an antibiotic prescription and one for blood work. Plus I have a return appointment after the pills are all gone to see if there’s any change. I guess this would mean having to do another Catscan maybe? That would suck .. sorta .. at least it wouldn’t be an MRI … He tells me that lymph nodes become swollen when you’re sick or have an infection … and the reason I was sent to him was because mine were bigger … Not by much mind you … So, maybe they’re being really careful these days … Anything out of the ordinary they send you off to get a test … then if it shows something, you go to a specialist … Plenty of money for and from the insurance companies too I guess …
So the visit was neat … Filled out the paperwork (there really ought to be a central database) and then was led to an exam room by the nurse. She stuffed this thing in my nose to shoot “litacane” into my nostrils and told me to sniff it up. Then she leaves and comes back with this thing that looks like the thing doctors look in your ears with, but it had a very long black tube coming out of it and a white strip about every 2 inches … The tube’s total length was probably about 12″ … She says the doctor will be in soon to give me my Ear Nose and Throat examination … So, I had plenty of time sitting there wondering what it’s like to have a 12″ tube shoved up your nose.
So he came in and asks, “What’s wrong with you?” and I says “You tell me!” … (After all, he had the Catscan and MRI results that I brought with me.) So he looks in my nose with a little nose pryer thingie … Breaks out the ol’ reliable tongue depressor … He used the ear thing-a-ma-bob … Then, here we go .. The 12″ tube! It was shoved into my nose … ‘You will feel a little pressure’ and yes, I did … but, it wasn’t that bad … Seemed to slip around in my head easily enough … Once it went past one point, it wasn’t that bad, and I think I felt it in my throat, and he told me to go “Eeeeeee” and I obliged … Pulled that puppy out, handed me a tissue, and everything was great …
After I told him about the ringing in my ears and such during the examination, he said while I was there I may as well have a hearing test … So I did that … A bit different from my elementary school days … A couple things seems to do their own testing … Then I had the test with the headphones on … She said words and I had to repeat them … I even said to her when she started that I could hardly hear her … DUH! It was the test … hehe … So she says these words and I have to repeat them … I wish I would have known cause I would have listened better … at the next volume everything was easily heard … Then the beeping and I had to press a button when I heard the beeping … They were very quiet tones … So, hearing them over the sound of having headphones on over the sound of my constant ear ringing, to me it was difficult … But, the end result was that my hearing is fine …
So off with my prescription for bloodwork and antibiotics and an appointment in May … we’ll see if anything happens … Fun to practice medicine …