How did we end up here?

I don't remember not being sick. It wasn't that I woke up one day feeling bad and never recovered. It was one of those things that takes over gradually, like the boiling frog. 

A few years ago, I began getting sinus infections. Over time, they began to become more frequent, often not responding to the first course of antibiotics. Last year, the sinus infections started to lead to ear infections. 

At some point I realized that I was rarely not sick. My condition was not limited to a particular season. And even when I felt relatively recovered from an infection, I still didn't feel healthy.

At one sinus infection appointment with my doctor about a year ago, I asked if there was something else I should be doing to prevent the infections. I had taken Claritin and Flonase daily for years as an attempt to keep the infections at bay, but they didn't seem to be working (at least as well as I'd hoped). My doctor wasn't optimistic that anything else could be done.

This summer, however, shiz got real.

June 27 - I caught my son's cold.

July 11 - Having not recovered, I saw my doctor and she diagnosed me with a sinus infection. She prescribed me a ten-day course of antibiotics.

July 26 - I woke up with laryngitis and could not talk.

July 28 - I developed severe ear pain and my right eardrum ruptured.

July 29 - I had a follow-up with my doctor's office and was diagnosed with an ear infection. I was prescribed another ten-day course of a different antibiotic. That evening, I experienced severe ear pain again and my left eardrum ruptured.

July 31 - I had lost most of my hearing and had soreness in both ears.

August 8 - Another follow-up with my doctor to address my hearing loss and ear pain. She confirmed that my infection had cleared, but that my middle ear was filled with fluid. My husband went to the appointment with me and pushed for a referral to ENT.

August 9 - Had an exam with my new ENT. She confirmed the fluid build-up in my middle ear due to eustachian tube swelling. She also saw signs of environmental allergies and a deviated septum. An eardrum pressure test showed no movement in my eardrums, indicating there was no air in my middle ear. Not surprisingly, I failed the hearing test.

August 15 - Bilateral myringotomy + tympanostomy tubes surgery to remove the fluid in my middle ear and prevent further fluid build-up.



August 22 - Allergy testing.