Bea..How Did It Go Today?

Hey Vicki, thank you for asking. Where do I start.

Dr. Laura looked in my ears after I told her what the Oto down here said.
She also has a screen set up in the room so you can see your ear the way she does.
She said the perforation in the left ear was only 1 millimeter and the one in the right ear was
2.5 - 3 millimeters, not the size of a pea or half of my eardrum, hmmmmmm.

She then said she was going to fix me up right there. She shot a numbing agent into my ear and had me sit for about 15 minutes.
She then used some sort of gel to fix the left ear.
She then placed an insert into the right eardrum.
Done, and I'll see her in 3-4 months.

She's blaming my recent setback in symptoms to allergies, stress, and the perforation.
She tried to increase the Acyclovir but says it's showing my insurance won't cover the increase.
However, she told me to have the pharmacy to call her if they have a problem.
I'm also to take 2 Zyrtec everyday.

She didn't do an audio gram, as she usually does, because we wouldn't get an accurate reading at this point.

I asked about Valrex verses Valcyclovir verse Acyclovir and her answer was, "price."

My hearing is a bit muffled right now but she said that should only be a day or two.

I left her office, drove 1/2 hour to the best bakery I know. I then drove another 1/2 hour to see my grandsons play baseball as I was trying to wait out work traffic. I then picked up our new rescue Mainecoon Cat- Heidi and headed home.
It took me 1 hour 15 minutes to get there, it took me 2- 1/2 hours to get home.
I think it was a mix of work traffic and weekend vacationers due to the great weather.
At the end of the drive those lines looked like they were coming up to slap me in the face but I did it on a wing and a prayer, LOL!

I'm resting now and have told the family I'm off my feet this weekend.

Now this is a lesson for anyone reading this, a couple actually.
Some Drs will say they "specialize" in Menieres and put you on a diuretic and narcotic and tell you to maintain a low sodium diet.
Some Drs will claim you need surgery and refer you to yet another Dr.
The trick is finding the right Dr. (I have to say my Oto is well worth the travel)

And finally, stress and anxiety...
You can exasperate your MM symptoms by stressing over anything from the simplest things to major things. You can allow anxiety to get the best of you and become more symptomatic.

Neither of those things change your outcome. Something to think about.

 

Aw,,Vicki, thank you, it means so much to me that you care.

You know, she probably could have made more money off the insurance by doing the surgery. She's a great Dr.
I'm still a little shocked and my husband can't believe she was able to do it. It was amazing to watch exactly what she did and to see the eardrum. Simply awesome.

I starting to feel some pain now, I just took 2 Aleve. I'm guessing the numbing agent wore off and I'm coming down from the events today.

I know you'll have the same good results.

 

Doesn't even hurt today, just a little ache.

Dr. Increased my dosage of acyclovir to 800 mg. 3 X a time. Said take it like that and then I can cut back or increase as needed. Great Dr.

 

Bumblebea - just a fyi, my insurance required me to fill "ongoing" prescriptions thru mail order. When they changed the manufacturer of my valcyclovir I immediately started having issues again. The mail order would not agree to fill with my requested supplier so I started calling around. Costco offered the best cash price thru their pharmacy (Target was +$400/mo and the Costco was about $100...that was when I was at the loading/higher dose) The cash price I am paying now at the maintenance dose of 1/day is just under $50.

For me, I decided it was worth it to me to pay out of pocket for something that was working than to get something thru insurance that didn't work. AND if I can stay feeling good and vertigo free..priceless!

Just wanted to share in case that is something that you ever needed to pursue. AND either way if your doctor specifically prescribes the valtrex or valcyclovir because the alternative is not working for you, it is my understanding that insurance will pay.

Fingers crossed that fixing the eardrums goes a long way to controlling your symptoms.

 

Thank you so much!

My husband picked up the script today with no problems, thank goodness.

I will see her again in 3-4 months, depending on my schedule. By then we will know if this worked.
My ears do hurt now but it seems like they get that way by the end of the day.
No dizzies though and no nauseousness.
That must be the procedure she did on the eardrums because I just doubled the Acyclovir dosage today.

It feels really good to have support and caring from you guys!

 

Weird thing happened today.

I've been off since the perforation repair so I've been trying to take it easy.
I was laying on the sofa on my right side.
My right ear really started to ache so I got up to take some Aleve.
All of a sudden I got this really sharp pain in my right ear then a loud pop.
My ear stopped aching right after.
The pain was sharp, so was the pop.

I'm wondering if the perforation contracted around what she patched it with or if the patch popped out but nothing has come out of my ear. I have some cotton in just to catch anything if it comes out.

Does anyone have some input on this?

 

I would have it looked at... maybe your regular doc since the other one is so far away. You can see the ear drum really well with the basic instrument all docs use. It would be good to know what happened and if the patch is still in place.
Cheryl

 

My ear actually feels much better now, strange that.

I can even feel any residual dizziness fading. Tonight I really felt like I was getting back to where I was before the perforations. It's only been a week. They may have needed time to heal. It felt more like a sharp contraction as we women can describe more easily then men.
I think the perforation contracted around what she put in place.

It was like the metal wheel your rubber tire goes on, curved so that one part went into the eardrum and one part stayed out. The perforation is supposed to close around it and the skin is supposed to grow over it.

I will see what the weekend brings and I will call her on Monday if necessary. Then I'll go see her if she wants to check.

I didn't get to meet up with some old friends and a girls lunch at the club would be a real spirit lifter for me. Just getting "dressed" up would lift my spirits. I can even see my grandsons game and go to dinner with them. And if it's all to much for me, I can sleep at my sons new apt.
Win-win

It was scary though,,and the pain was sharp and the POP was really loud.

Thanx for your concern. Thanx for asking. Sometimes I get needy and need assurances myself.
Support is the most wonderful thing in the world!!

 

I watched her. The left side was just some kind of gel. The right side was some sort of...well, I explained it above, it looked like the inside of what the rubber of a tire goes on.

I feel so much better today though, so that's strange.

 

I will call her Momday just to tell her and see what she says.

I had a good day...

 

Momday...LOL!

 

First day no dizzy, no nausea.

Forgot to call Dr because I felt well.

On the mend!

 

Yay!! Very happy for you, Bea.

Hey, what's that part about us men not knowing what contractions feel like? That is hurtful.
A lot of men, no, wait a minute, many men, no, that's not right either. A couple of men, well, that might not b right either. I, one man, am jealous of the fact that men can't give birth to children.

We don't know what giving birth feels like. But, I think we would know if we swallowed a bowling ball and tried to pass it.

Good Health to You Bea.

 

LOL! Santa you crack me up.

I was referring to MENSTRUAL cramps and no man I know of has any experience having that issue, lol.

I hope I didn't hurt many men's feelings, not my intent.

Much better today, but as usual I overdid. Felt good to be able to do that!

Just tired now.
You guys are wonderful!!
Good Health To You Too!

Santa, I may have a special wish on my list this year and so far I've been very good! ;D