I guess I've gotten spoiled....

JerzyGrrl

OK, maybe I took one of the longer journeys between getting the "mass on kidney" diagnosis, getting it removed, and getting my pathology report. But still, I'm delighted that I saw some really awesome medical people. You might even say I'm spoiled. 

While all the kidney drama was unfolding, I pretty much ignored taking care of a sort of chronic medical issue involving my middle ear. When it kicks into high gear, it definitely impacts my quality of life. So, finally I got a referral and saw the ENT this week. I've been looking forward to this for ages and had high hopes that I'd maybe even encounter something akin to medical magic. 

Ah. Silly me. 

The positive things about the visit? It was easy to find and to get a parking place. The waiting room wasn't crowded. My friend-who-goes-to-appointments-with-me was there. The physician at least attempted to make it look as though he was washing his hands (Wherever he's from, though, they must sing "Happy Birthday" at a really fast tempo, because he wasn't at the sink long). 

The what-is-this-a joke things about the visit? Almost immediately, he let me know that there was no way I could be right about this being a lifelong issue, because if it was, I would've had lots of surgeries, but I haven't, so it's not. It went downhill from there. Quickly. No diagnostic tests, yet he said there was nothing wrong with me. Lectured me on all sorts of stuff, contradicted just about everything I said.  Let me know I was wasting his time and mine. I was waiting for some TV host guy to come out and let me know it was a setup, "See? There's the hidden camera!" No such luck. 

So, the next time I go for a follow up CT, I'll be a lot more appreciative. Definitely! 

Yeah, I've followed up with my primary. We're working plans B and C now, neither of which requires the ENT's involvement. 

Bay Area Guy

Ringing in the ears?  Plugged

Ringing in the ears?  Plugged up feeling?  I have those.  I went to both my primary and to an ENT that my wife had gone to for an ear issue that was more dermatological than auditory.  I had to have an MRI (thank God it was an open MRI, so I didn't go completely insane) to make sure there was nothing terribly unsual in my head.  There wasn't.  He said in all likelihood it was a virus, and the only possible cure, and it was a long shot, was to blast it with prednisone for a couple of weeks and see if that took care of it.  It didn't.  The only thing it did was give me the moon face and about ten more pounds for that two weeks (that has since come off).  So, it was off to the audiologist for a hearing aid in one ear.

Interestingly enough, this was all in mid-2014.  So it was after my kidney lesion had been found, but well before I had it removed (diagnosed December, 2013, removed June, 2016).  My wife is ethnic Chinese from Singapore and both she and a few of her friends told me that my hearing issues were connected to a weakness in my kidneys.  I asked both my primary (who is also ethnic Chinese) and the ENT (who is most decidely not ethnic Chinese), as well as my urological oncologist if there was any connection between hearing and kidney disease.  Al three said no.  But I still tried some of the traditional Chinese medicine tonics, just in case.  And, no, they didn't work either.

I hope you have better luck with your issue!

hardo718

There are jack-a**es EVERYWHERE

Even in the medical profession.  Find another, worthy ENT and keep ploddiing on if that's what it takes to be heard.  No pun intended....if it involves hearing loss.

Best wishes & keep us posted huh?

Donna~

JerzyGrrl

Bay Area Guy said:

Ringing in the ears?  Plugged

Ringing in the ears?  Plugged up feeling?  I have those.  I went to both my primary and to an ENT that my wife had gone to for an ear issue that was more dermatological than auditory.  I had to have an MRI (thank God it was an open MRI, so I didn't go completely insane) to make sure there was nothing terribly unsual in my head.  There wasn't.  He said in all likelihood it was a virus, and the only possible cure, and it was a long shot, was to blast it with prednisone for a couple of weeks and see if that took care of it.  It didn't.  The only thing it did was give me the moon face and about ten more pounds for that two weeks (that has since come off).  So, it was off to the audiologist for a hearing aid in one ear.

Interestingly enough, this was all in mid-2014.  So it was after my kidney lesion had been found, but well before I had it removed (diagnosed December, 2013, removed June, 2016).  My wife is ethnic Chinese from Singapore and both she and a few of her friends told me that my hearing issues were connected to a weakness in my kidneys.  I asked both my primary (who is also ethnic Chinese) and the ENT (who is most decidely not ethnic Chinese), as well as my urological oncologist if there was any connection between hearing and kidney disease.  Al three said no.  But I still tried some of the traditional Chinese medicine tonics, just in case.  And, no, they didn't work either.

I hope you have better luck with your issue!

Better luck...?!

It sure can get crazy. No viral or bacterial infection. No ringing (not usually). Fullness, ears won't pop, intermittent hearing loss, PAIN, and rarely, a burst eardrum (on a positive note, when that happens, after a moment of excruciating pain, the pain and fullness go away... For a while, anyway). Most likely COETD with OME which occasionally downshifts to IOETD (I'm just messing with you with all the letters: "chronic / intermittent obstructive Eustachian tube dysfunction"; the shortie is "otitus media with effusion"). Which means: Can't repressurize ears, 'cause Eustachian tube aren't doing their job, so - among other things - there's fluid buildup in the middle ear. Not to be outdone, allergies get involved. Yeesh. 

Chinese medicine and acupuncture could help for the allergies. Not sure about the Eustachian tube stuff, 'cause it's become structural at this point. 

JerzyGrrl

hardo718 said:

There are jack-a**es EVERYWHERE

Even in the medical profession.  Find another, worthy ENT and keep ploddiing on if that's what it takes to be heard.  No pun intended....if it involves hearing loss.

Best wishes & keep us posted huh?

Donna~

Donna, Donna --

Please let's not badmouth our equine friends. But yeah, you're right. I was using the a-word and most of the rest of the alphabet-words, though it was a challenge as I'm not a very creative cusser. Oh, and it was mostly under my breath. 

This evening in the midst of reading some journal papers - found some fascinating stuff* - I said out loud, "Well, HE'S obviously not keeping up with the literature!" Ended up giggling and laughing. At least it wasn't curse words and I wasn't angry!

I'll let you know, definitely.

*And some amusing stuff, too. The questionnaires for patients with sinus concerns are the SNOT-20 and the SNOT-22. I bet the team who came up with that acronym was a fun bunch.

hardo718

HAHA.....ok SNOTface

(a loving term used by Drop Dead Fred.....one of my very favorite movies about a little girl with an imaginary friend.  SO funny.  Cracks me up)

I can totally relate to eustachian tube disfunction, suffered from 80% hearing loss as a child due to that dysfunction & talk about painful.  OMG!  To this day, although I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE traveling, flying is a real pain.  Literally.  My last few years as a Respiratory Therapist I worked as a Hyperbaric Tech too in an Outpatient Wound Care setting at the hospital and a major part of the job invloves the ear and prepping the patient with tons of knowledge about ear pressure equalization since we were changing the atmospheric pressure to treat their wounds that were incapable of healing by conventional means.  But I digress.  Anyway, there are some people, including myself that have this dysfunction that would prevent this treatment without the placement of myringotomy tubes.  So, I'm quite sure when you describe your eardrum bursting that at least you can hear temporarily anyway.  And allergies are a major factor too.  Have you ever had myringotomy tubes placed?  It's typically a temporary solution, as they work their way out.

Sorry for your experience with this.  And in the words of a past Prez......"I feel your pain"  (not my fav, but I had to use his line)

Donna~

JerzyGrrl

hardo718 said:

HAHA.....ok SNOTface

(a loving term used by Drop Dead Fred.....one of my very favorite movies about a little girl with an imaginary friend.  SO funny.  Cracks me up)

I can totally relate to eustachian tube disfunction, suffered from 80% hearing loss as a child due to that dysfunction & talk about painful.  OMG!  To this day, although I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE traveling, flying is a real pain.  Literally.  My last few years as a Respiratory Therapist I worked as a Hyperbaric Tech too in an Outpatient Wound Care setting at the hospital and a major part of the job invloves the ear and prepping the patient with tons of knowledge about ear pressure equalization since we were changing the atmospheric pressure to treat their wounds that were incapable of healing by conventional means.  But I digress.  Anyway, there are some people, including myself that have this dysfunction that would prevent this treatment without the placement of myringotomy tubes.  So, I'm quite sure when you describe your eardrum bursting that at least you can hear temporarily anyway.  And allergies are a major factor too.  Have you ever had myringotomy tubes placed?  It's typically a temporary solution, as they work their way out.

Sorry for your experience with this.  And in the words of a past Prez......"I feel your pain"  (not my fav, but I had to use his line)

Donna~

Tubeless, tired...

No tubes. Ever. When I was in my late 20s, I went to a fantastic ENT who helped me get started on the long process to get my ears back to what they should be (and they sort of kinda have been, up until the last couple of years). I was a distance swimmer then, so we did lots of non-surgical stuff. 

It's funny, people told me then, "If you didn't, swim, you wouldn't have ear problems." Um, no, the ear stuff is on the INside, water can't get to it. Just like someone told me I got kidney cancer because I was a smoker. Um, no...

Jan4you

Sorry for what you are going

Sorry for what you are going through, JrzyGirl! Not sure what your ear problem is, but this ENT is ridiculous`

Get to see another. If they cannot SEE the problem, some will order a MRI so they dont' miss anything.

2nd opinion should help. I wonder what your primary thought?

I had ear pain for over 10 months for example. NO One could SEE anything until the ENT looked deeper inside as he had the best intruments to check more closely. Turned out I had an infection. He sucked it out and whalla.. done, cured, felt better~

Good luck~Let us know how you are doing with this issue hon.

Hugs, Jan

JerzyGrrl

Jan4you said:

Sorry for what you are going

Sorry for what you are going through, JrzyGirl! Not sure what your ear problem is, but this ENT is ridiculous`

Get to see another. If they cannot SEE the problem, some will order a MRI so they dont' miss anything.

2nd opinion should help. I wonder what your primary thought?

I had ear pain for over 10 months for example. NO One could SEE anything until the ENT looked deeper inside as he had the best intruments to check more closely. Turned out I had an infection. He sucked it out and whalla.. done, cured, felt better~

Good luck~Let us know how you are doing with this issue hon.

Hugs, Jan

Thanks

Thanks, Jan. There's are things they'll be able to do, in-office, at another ENT's place, so I'm not sure I'll need an MRI. 

I'm also doing a diet diary at home, trying to isolate foods that make it worse. At this point, wheat, rye, corn, and dairy aren't looking too good. So there goes the celebratory custard (with or without fish fingers) as well as pizza (with or without beer). Oats are fine - anyone know if you can make farls with a tortilla press? Give me a few weeks and I'll let you know. Rice, soy, and quinoa, they're OK, too. 

Oh, for the uninitiated, farls are oat crackers. Sometimes just made with oats, sometimes with oats and barley. It's a Scottish thing. I prefer mine with barley, but haven't tried that yet. This week...

Steve.Adam

Low carb & tinnitus

There's a Dr. Kenneth Brookler who says that tinnitus can be caused by blood glucose and insulin problems.

It's not the problem you describe, but I thought it was worth a mention.

I hope you nail it one way or another.

Maybe my font is too small but I thought you were asking how to make farts with tortillas.

Steve.

hardo718

Steve.Adam said:

Low carb & tinnitus

There's a Dr. Kenneth Brookler who says that tinnitus can be caused by blood glucose and insulin problems.

It's not the problem you describe, but I thought it was worth a mention.

I hope you nail it one way or another.

Maybe my font is too small but I thought you were asking how to make farts with tortillas.

Steve.

Too funny, but

gross!    Thanx for the belly laugh first thing in the morning.  Love when my day starts off like this.  Hahahahahahaha

Donna~

todd121

Steve.Adam said:

Low carb & tinnitus

There's a Dr. Kenneth Brookler who says that tinnitus can be caused by blood glucose and insulin problems.

It's not the problem you describe, but I thought it was worth a mention.

I hope you nail it one way or another.

Maybe my font is too small but I thought you were asking how to make farts with tortillas.

Steve.

That's easy!

Just add beans...

Todd

JerzyGrrl

todd121 said:

That's easy!

Just add beans...

Todd

I know that recipe

Black beans, onions, garlic...