November 7th - Feeling Loopy

Yesterday morning, I made a desperate trip to my doctor for help with an ear infection. She told me that I have fluid buildup in my Eustacian tube, which is inflamed. The treatment? Antibiotics.

After 4 antibiotic treatments, the pain I have been experiencing is not any better. And my pain management solutions of Advil and Tylenol aren't hacking it. The ear infection started Saturday evening, but over the last 24 hours I have never felt so much pain in all of my life. Pain that is merely dulled a little by massive doses of over-the-counter drugs. I have been reduced to a sobbing mess several times over the last 24 hours, begging for relief. It is time to call in the big guns.

My Mom finally arrives at 10:25. By 10:30 I have taken a Vicodin "borrowed" from my Dad, which is my last resort to manage the pain of this ear infection. Please, let there be some relief. I head up to bed to watch TV, leaving Mark with the kids for the second day in a row.

A half hour into my relaxation, I feel the Vicodin kick in. Suddenly, my vision is impaired. I move my head to look at something, and it takes a little longer than usual for my brain to catch up. I feel like I've had a few glasses of wine, like my mind and body are seperate entities.

I get out of bed and stumble to the top of the stairs, calling to Mark. "Oh my gosh - I feel so out of it!"

"Maybe you should take a nap now," he says. I wind my way back to bed and to Sawyer, who's been my ever-present sidekick for the last day-and-a-half. Suddenly, my stomach feels really sick, flipflopping this way and that. I rush to the bathroom. Bent over the toilet, I wait and actually pray to throw up so that I will feel better. But I never do throw up. The nausea passes.

I realize that I didn't actually eat anything when I took the pill - what was I thinking? So I eat a bit of lunch to help the situation, all the while staring numbly at the television in my altered state. 10 minutes after lunch, I feel the familiar flipflop and rush to the bathroom again. But again, no relief. Eventually the nausea subsides.

I drag myself back to the bed and turn off the TV. Sawyer lifts his head briefly to note where I am, and flops back down. I am suddenly exhausted. I close my eyes and don't open them again for another 2-1/2 hours, a record amount of sleep over the last 2 days. The effects of the Vicodin have worn off and my ear is throbbing again.

I get up and walk to the bathroom. I pop 2 pills into my mouth and wash them down with water.

The pills are Tylenol.