My health has been terrible this winter. Things finally took a turn for the worse last week when I came down with another ear infection. I think I’ve mentioned before that I’ve suffered from ear problems since I was a child.

In Canada, the ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist I used to see insisted there wasn’t anything wrong with me. He couldn’t account for the painful recurring infections that nothing seemed to cure. My last trip to him in 2002 ended when he told me that it was all in my head.

Well, I guess he was right. It is all in my head. According to the doctor I’ve been seeing here in Taiwan for the last two years, I have unusually small ear canals. He felt the infections could be avoided by preventing water from getting into my ear. He told me not to swim and to wear ear plugs when I wash my hair. I’ve followed his advice for the past two years and have noticed an improvement in my hearing and a cessation in the number of infections. I go to see him once a month to make sure everything is okay.

Last Wednesday, I woke up with a dull throb in my left ear and knew I was in for a doozie. I went to Doctor Mao on Thursday and he gave me some medicine. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop the infection and by Sunday morning, it was raging out of control. I woke up at 6am in intense pain. It was radiating from the top of my ear down to my jaw in waves. The left side of my head was swollen, my ear had closed off and there is a hard lump in my ear that hasn’t gone away.

I had to wait until Monday morning to see Doctor Mao. He gave me some more medicine. I thought things were starting to get better but then last night it flared up again and I ran out of medicine. John took me back this morning and the infection is massive. I can barely walk. My balance has been affected because it’s an inner ear infection. My ear canal is completely closed off. My head is splitting in pain and I feel like I could sleep forever. My body aches from trying to fight it off.

At this point, something needed to be done. He has tried something new today and I’m not going to write about it because it’s too gross. But I have to go back tomorrow and have it done again. Doctor Mao expressed his concern today and told me I needed to get more serious about this matter because if we can’t get it under control, I’m going to need surgery. How much more serious do I need to be? I’ve been to the doctor’s office three times in seven days. By tomorrow, I’ll have seen him three times this week.

Needless to say, I’m extremely worried at this point and I’ve started to freak out a bit. There’s nothing worse than being seriously ill in a foreign country. I know the health care here is excellent, but I’m praying that this final solution of his works and I notice an improvement by tomorrow.