Almost losing what you take for granted.

...or "Wow, I guess I am a little more dalmatian-like than I care to think about." See, last night at 3:30 AM I went 50% deaf.

I went swimming at a pool indoors, and I guess the 'wax' in my ear soaked up water then expanded. It expanded in a way that sealed my ear completely. Now I tried to remove it with a kleenex (NOT A q-TIP!!!) and I was getting this evil brown gunk, but nothing.

So... I think Lightning will enjoy this with a grin.... Went into the emergency room not knowing WHY I was half deaf. After being asked if I heard voices (which would have made a MUCH more interesting visit to the Urgent Care....) I was admitted. They looked in, said something about needing to get it irrigated (and immediately I thought of farm implements, and worried about digging...) They did the procedure, and I never, EVER thought that I'd see that much CRUD come out of that portion of my body. It was more than I thought there was room inside my ear.

As of now, I'm still hearing snails crawl and the world is still more than a little "spinny". I've got antibiotics, and I gotta keep it dry. And it feels like someone took an auger and drilled my ear canal out. Which is sorta what happened, actually.

But last night, I really had no idea WHAT was going on. And you think of all the most ridiculous things, like "What if it's permanent" or "Did I just make it worse?" and so on. I had no idea if I was going to be like that always, and that's a scary thought. That and I had to drive home without hearing anything to my right, and let me tell you that is not fun.

I guess what I'm saying is... Try to take in something today. Look around at some of the things you never would think about losing forever, and appreciate it. Feeling your computer keys, or smelling that breakfast / lunch / dinner smell that's always there, or seeing stuff across the yard and into the street, or hearing that song on the radio for the umpteen-millionth time. You don't think of this stuff 'till it's gone, or close to being gone.

It may not mean anything to anyone else, but for me, it's kinda made me sit back and think about a few things. Ok, so it's not like I almost died or something. But it did make me think about stuff.

Like the fact dalmatians are notorious for going deaf. That's one part of the dog costume I'm more than happy to not be a part of. I'll take my "taste" and be thankful it's not permanent.

Socks

I'm weird. Just work through that and we'll all be fine.

"If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater suggest that he wear a tail." - Fran Lebowitz

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