Hearing Aids

When I was growing up I fancied myself a little Mermaid.  Water was always a haven, even bath water offered an opportunity to submerge, muting sound and surroundings and offering that perception of being in seclusion of the sea. 

That being said, I also suffered with chronic “swimmer’s ear”, those nasty infections that triggered the urge to go like Van Goth, and just cut the damn thing off.   There was constant ringing in the affected ear, pain and a throat so sore that swallowing was a challenge. 

Back then there were drops and efforts to remove the water from there ear with peroxide or alcohol which I’m sure did nothing to stop the infection.  But something was being done, and that was better than nothing. 

It has been years since I’ve had a proper swim…so it is no wonder I was clueless when the throbbing started.   It was a persistent little annoyance that I treated as if it were no more than a cold or sinus infection.  I stayed away from friends, avoided hugs, ate chicken soup and drank plenty of water.  But an odd thing happened, I began to feel vulnerable as most symptoms persisted and some elevated.  It was only when I woke up in the night and realized I couldn’t hear that I began to recollect.  

Home with the physician’s affirmation and a few antibiotics, I am grateful that my health issues are small and treatable with a recovery prognosis of approximately ten days.  In the past few years I’ve seen so many dear ones go through agonizing therapies that tested their spirit and physical constitution.  While I am sure they had down days, I never witnessed one.  There must have been fear; but I never saw it.  These women are my heroes; they are my Warrior Princesses, my Super Heroines.  

Today I am grateful for my diagnosis of “swimmers ear” and humbled by my passing discomfort.     Today, while I wait for this little ruptured eardrum to heal, I hear you in this sweet silence and thank you again for sharing your journey with me.