Ear Whooshing Gets More Interesting By the Day

Yesterday, my father drove me to the ENT. No, I didn't need supervision or a driver this time, but I'm very appreciative that my parents have taken an interest in my whooshing. If they are willing to come with me, go right ahead! So we went to the colleague of Dr. Whooshsaver and I had the hearing exam.

Hello? Chicago needs to come visit Omaha and get a clue. Their hearing booth was SOUNDPROOF, as all hearing booths should be. Also? There was a window in front of me that showed me the woman, but her room was totally dark so I could barely see her. And I could NOT hear her pushing the buttons. This means I actually had to listen for the beeps.

The low ones were really hard to hear in both ears, but despite that, I passed with flying colors. I can hear! Pulsatile tinnitus caused by hearing problem--Nope! So then I went to see the ENT.

She listened while I told her about my problem and why I was there. She asked me how long I had had it. I said "Four years." She said, "What?" I said, "Four years?" She said, "Why are you just now coming in to get this checked?" And then she looked horrified as I told her about the Chicago doctors. I kinda wanted to hug her because she was SO NICE. But I remained professional. Then, on her own without any prompting on my part, she listened to my neck, ear, and head with her stethoscope. Sadly, she couldn't hear anything. (Insert loud sigh.)

Then she took me to a room and looked at my ear through a microscope. There was a TV monitor, so I could see it, too. She showed me my eardrum and the tiny bone that is next to it. Pay attention whooshers: She said some whooshing is caused by the thinning or breaking of this bone. (Yes, she has ALSO SEEN THE WHOOSHING BEFORE.) This was not my problem. My ear bone was intact. Although seriously? Inner ears are NOT attractive up close.

So then we looked at the results from my MRIs. It turns out I had 3 total--brain, vascular, and auditory. I signed a document for NeHII, which is an outstanding service in Nebraska where they put your records online and if you sign the form, any doctor can see them. So because I signed this, my ENT could pull up Dr. Whooshsaver's MRIs and look at them to see the results. From what I could understand (it was mostly medical jargon), I am fairly "normal." No aneurysms, tumors, etc. WHOOOOOOOT! (But also a big, loud sigh that nothing was obvious.) So she decided I should get a CT. Well hell, I've already had 3 MRIs, so I might as well go ahead. I'm sure I've reached my deductible by now. If I'm in, I'm going all in. So next week, I'm getting a CT scan. This time no dye contrast, which rules because the dye makes me feel funny.

So once again, I had an incredible experience with the doctors and staff, and I felt great.

And then something totally bizarre happened.

While I was up at the doctor, Ma was busily chatting away at the gym with a local woman I've known my whole life. The Farmsville gym is a mecca for conversation and news. So this woman tells Ma that her husband has a slight whoosh. Eh? Really? And he's getting surgery for it.

So this morning, I call her. Her husband is going to the same place I am, and we both sang nothing but their praises. He has different doctors, but they all talk, so I'm sure they know each other. He has a small artery in his neck that is 90% blocked. Holy cow! This leads to a pulsing whooshing when he's lying down. His doctor told him the artery being small is genetic, so he was born that way. He's retirement age, so he's made it a long time without noticing it! Anyway, he's getting a stent soon that will open the artery and remove the whoosh. Imagine that--a whoosher in Farmsville all this time.

So after all of that insanity/awesomeness, I bought my very own pair of darts and met Star at the watering hole for a few rounds of Cricket. For details of my new Cricket obsession, stay tuned...

But as for my whooshing? I feel so hopeful. I'm starting to believe it might actually be possible to NOT just live with this the rest of my life. And I have new-found respect and admiration for the medical community, which I sorely needed.

The most fascinating thing about all of this is that I would have NEVER gone back to a doctor if I hadn't been encouraged to do so by all of you whooshers who read my posts and send me emails and read whooshers.com. This blog serves many purposes for me. It started out of being alone and looking for friendship. Now it's morphed into a whole world of entertainment, friendship, fellowship, and excitement. Thank you, readers. You help to keep me sane. Well, that and the happy pills.

Bwah ha ha ha ha!!!!