Hooray, for second opinions!

We had to make a trip to the emergency room today. Don't worry, though - none of us were dying, Jeff just thought he was going to permanently lose his hearing is all.

So, where should we start? About a month and half ago, Jeff started complaining of feeling like his left ear was under a lot of pressure. After a few days of this he decided he'd better go to the student medical center to get it checked out. The doctor he saw said "you have eustachian tube dysfunction." Basically, the tube that connects the middle ear to the throat is pressurized and whenever that pressure is different than the outer ear's pressure, it causes popping and the feeling of the pressure. He told Jeff to go home and take Tylenol and a Sudafed and he should be just fine. A month goes by and Jeff still complains now and then of his ear feeling weird and by this time it is starting to squeek and make "static" noises more and more often. He said it doesn't really hurt, but it is just annoying and bothersome.

Two days ago (Thursdsay), he woke up and said, "my ear really hurts. I've had ear infections before, but they have never felt like this." So, again, he makes an appointment for the student medical center and of course, sees the same doctor. The doctor takes another looksy and again, says his ears look great. However, his ear drum does look a little red so he is probably starting to get a middle ear infection. He writes Jeff a prescription for Amoxicillin and some drops to put in his ear that will numb it to deal with the pain.


Well, last night I think I heard Jeff get up at least a dozen times. The pain was so severe he couldn't lay down for long because it was putting way to much pressure on his ear. At about 5:00 am he said, I've got to get in to see a doctor today. At 7:00 we got up and headed to the urgent care clinic (the one our insurance will pay for), which is the Emergency room at The Toledo Hospital/The Toledo Children's Hospital.

Jeff went in to see the doctor and explained everything to him. The doctor then examined Jeff and noticed that the side of his face was swelling. He asked Jeff, "what were you told was the problem?" Jeff proceeded to tell him what the other doctor had said and this doctor said, "It isn't a middle ear infection! It's an outer ear infection. You treat those two totally different ways." He explained that an outer ear infection is what they call swimmer's ear ... and that the amoxicillin Jeff had been given wouldn't touch it. He also let us know that the type of drops Jeff had been given before wasn't helping but actually making it worse because it wasn't treating the problem but actually adding to it. So, with that being said and done, he proceeded to write a different prescription for the types of drops needed and a prescription for Vicodin to help deal with the pain.

Anyway, all is well. I mean, all will be well. Jeff is still in quite a lot of pain, but hopefully be the end of the day he will be feeling much, much better!

I guess we have learned our lesson that not all doctors know everything. If your body is telling you something isn't right, listen to it and get a second opinion if you can.

What really amazes me is I would think it would be easier to not see a middle ear infection than an outer ear infection. I just don't understand why the other doctor totally missed that one. Oh well. I guess doctors can't be perfect, unlike us. (hee. hee.)















So, this is a picture of Jeff ear. He was lying down on my leg so you are looking from the top of his head down. I don't know how well you'll be able to see, but to the right of his ear, you can see two big bumps. It was red and warm to the touch. Anyway, the infection had spread there and it also was swelling down into his jaw, too. Jeff said it hurt pretty badly to chew. I guess he'll be getting some good 'ol patient treatment for the next few days!

Well, that is just another day in our crazy Cragun life! 'Til next time --