What a pain in the...

EAR. Yes...EAR. Stop thinking badly!

This weekend was quite a fiasco in many ways. Scott had a morning job to do on Saturday, so he was gone early. Being that this was the first day I felt well enough to go out and accomplish some much needed errands, I got out early.

See...we have a sick house (AGAIN). Scotty has had it the longest; he started about 3 weeks ago with a fever for 4 days (about 102°) and then got a nasty wet cough. Being that's he's only 2-1/2, he hasn't quite learned the "cover your mouth" technique. (He has, however, learned how to say it WELL...to his sister!) So, I've been blessed with germy coughs in my general direction. 1-1/2 weeks ago, I felt the familiar itch in the throat. I held out hope that it was just allergies, but nope, turned out to be a cold as well. This one spent 4 days in MY throat, then headed north to my sinuses, in particular, my right side.

Two days later, my right EAR was stuffy and I felt "lost" in my own head. I did all the things I know to do, decongestants, saline, lots of fluid, etc. It appeared to be getting better in the middle of last week, but then Thursday found me with stuffed up ears again. I've been told that I have rather short eustachian tubes and therefore will probably suffer this the rest of my life, so I'm used to it.

Saturday, I ran about getting things needed for my friend's party. Her husband just got promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and she was having a party for him. I offered to make a side dish and fruit (made my MIL's macaroni & cheese recipe - the YUMMIEST). We were headed to her house later in the afternoon for the party. Her daughter Ashlyn is good friends with Hannah - they were in Bamberg with us and moved here just before us (YAY! Instant friends).

Hannah seemed to be good. She'd had a dry cough every morning, but on Friday, she'd started a wet cough, and I figured she got what Scotty and I have. She spent the better part of Saturday coughing, even with cough meds on board. Still...nothing was going to keep us from the party, short of vomiting!

We had a great time. The kids played well with all the others. Hannah and Scotty made friends with Ellie and Jacob. Turns out they are almost the exact ages! Scotty and Jake are only 8 days apart, and Hannah and Ellie, 1 1/2 months. Scott and I got along with their parents too. It's nice to meet new people that share such a commonality!

We left the party with 2 very exhausted kids. By the time we got home, everyone was coughing again, so we gave them cough meds and put them to bed. I was still suffering with my ear problem, but it had not caused pain, just inconvenience.

Sunday, I awoke to ear pain. Early. I took some pain reliever, and searched in vain for the eardrops we had at one time. When I couldn't find them, I made quick trip to the local pharmacy store for some. Used them right away. Still no relief...it just got worse. I called the local nurse help line and she recommended I see a doctor right away, so just after noon, I headed to Ft. Riley and the emergency room. I spent the better part of the afternoon there.

They gave me 800 mg of Motrin right away to help with the pain (it didn't). As I was sitting in the waiting room, I felt an extremely sharp pain, then a "woosh"...my ear drum ruptured while waiting to be seen! There was a lot less pain after that! About an hour after THAT happened, I finally got in to see a doctor. He verified that there was a perforation and gave me antibiotics. So now I've got to take all these horse-sized pills for the next 10 days. Yay...but it's better than that alternative of pain. It was AWFUL. I haven't had an ear infection in 20 years! As a matter of fact, the last time I had one was when I was in Wyoming...must be something about the midwest (no offense to the midwesterners who read this!).

This morning, I had to go BACK to the hospital, for a tetanus shot (been well over 10 years since the last one) and some routine blood work (cholesterol, etc). I've got a lot on my plate in the next few months when it comes to doctors and hospitals.

Anyway - that's the news from here...for now!