Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Went To See My Sister Today....

I went over to Cee's today and brought her some of the ham and noodle casserole I made.  That way she doesn't have to make anything for herself and can just warm it up.  She's finally got an appetite since she isn't in constant pain like before.  She's taking the new antibiotic and using the ear drops to help with the irritation in the lining of her ear.  No more sharp pains however.  She also slept through the night for the first time in over a week!  I was so relieved to hear that.  I know how incredibly painful an ear infection can be.  I suffered with them, several times each year, for years.  In fact, my ear drums became so scarred that I actually lost all airway hearing.  

This went unnoticed because I became deaf so slowly that I could read people's lips and body language.  My mom discovered I was deaf by accident and took me to the Ear Clinic associated with Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago.  They discovered that my tonsils had grown back in (or scraps of it, whatever) and that I was totally deaf due to the scarred ear drums.  They did what was innovative surgery at the time and took a vein graft from my arm and gave me two new ear drums.  I didn't get back 100% of my hearing but I got back 75% in one ear and 60% in the other.  That hurt me in gymnastics but otherwise I still had hearing.  It was amazing I guess.  My son's ear doctor (years later..I was only 13 when I had that done) who put the buttons in HIS ears because of hardened fluid behind his ear drums when he was 6, was eager to take a look.  He told me that in the ear that had the 60%, the reason was probably because the surgeon had made a couple stitches too tight in one part of the ear drum.  I had no idea.  He was the first doctor to look in my ears since I had the surgery done...LOL.

But I remember the pain.  It was so terrible that I would never wish it on my worst enemy.  You can't sleep, you can't eat, you just want the pain to be OVER.  Even pain pills didn't touch it.  So I had a lot of empathy for Cee when she told me she had the ear infection.  I really understood how she felt.  Now I am just relieved that she isn't in that kind of pain any more.  I just hope the new antibiotic the doctor prescribed for her works quickly.  The doctor DID tell her that it may clear up in as few as five days.  I truly hope so.  Even talking on the phone was awful for her because she wasn't able to hear in that ear.  At least it won't spread to her other ear now.  I worried about that.

We talked about our trip to Chicago and when we would leave here (Monday, June 20th and leave to return home on Monday, June 28th).  That way, hopefully, we will be able to visit with some of our family as well as me meeting with my girlfriends for OUR reunion.  This year is shaping up to be a much bigger event than it has been.  A lot of the girls have been PM-ing me on FB to ask if I was going to make it this year.  They said they will be making plans to join us and that made me happy.  There are a few that I haven't seen in a couple years.  But we all feel that we are getting older and we know that some of us may not be around for too much longer.  Tomorrow is not promised and our lives, and those of the ones we love and care for, can change in a heartbeat.  We've already lost a few of us that hung out together and have stayed close for all these many years.  One gal, Carol, I have known since grammer school.  We lived in the same neighborhood.  The same for Alice, who is married to a cowboy in Nebraska and they raise horses now.  That's a life we never would have imagined for her.  Likewise, Carol.  She married a farmer in Wisconsin and had four children (Alice has three).  It's not a huge farm but they have managed through the years.

Hell, one girlfriend of mine told me that when she told a few of the girls that we were raising chickens now (she said they look MEAN!), they laughed.  Me?  Raising chickens?  No way!  But  life is strange and we never know what will happen.

Time to head back to bed.  Love you all.  Be good.  Be happy.  Don't worry about what people may think of you.  If they don't like you, that's their loss.  Remember, you are unique.   Just be with people who like you just the way you are, faults and all.  They are the ones that will have your back and will bring back your smile when you lose it.  ***Hugs***

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