Our trip to the ER last night was fairly uneventful. We went in because apparently our HMO does not allow us to visit the local urgent care, so the ER is our urgent care. Pretty stupid, but whatever.
Steve and I have both had colds for the past few weeks, but Steve’s cold seemed to migrate to his ears and was giving him a lot of pain. Our regular doctor couldn’t see him until next week so, concerned about a possible eardrum rupture that would prevent him from diving for six months, off to the ER we went.
It took about two hours to be seen. The doctor confirmed that both of his ears are infected and prescribed three different drugs. And naturally when Steve went to the pharmacy today, he elected not to fill any of them. Are you confused? Me too.
Apparently, the pharmacy said he could just take some Mucinex instead of the decongestant the doctor prescribed. As far as I can tell, Mucinex has nothing to do with actually stopping congestion. Seems odd. It makes sense that he didn’t fill the painkiller if he doesn’t feel he needs it, but Steve also didn’t fill the antibiotic… due to his belief that antibiotics are overused and he’ll probably get over it on his own, I suppose.
But, in the end, we learned a few things. One: where our local ER is located. Two: Mucinex pills are huge.
Three: Apparently I am less prone to ear infections because my face is “broad.” I guess I must have given him a weird look when he said that, because the ER doc modified it with “compared to your husband.” We can only figure that Steve’s narrow face corresponds with narrow ear structure making it more difficult for fluid to drain. The doc took a quick look at my ears and confirmed that I was just fine.
All in all, not a bad date for a married couple. At least it was educational.
5 comments:
Wow, what a way to spend a Friday night! I hope you brought good books to read. Fairly recently Philip got a prescription for an ear infection as well, but we never got around to filling it, either.
Since I posted this, Steve has decided to start on his antibiotics after all since his face is starting to hurt (we assume that his swollen ears are putting pressure on a nerve or something). Fun, fun.
You fit so well in the family - well, except for the broad face, I suppose.
I guess the question on the anti-biotics is, was it a bacterial infection. If it was (or reasonably might have been) then yeah he should probably take it, but if not it won't do much.
Unfortunately the only way to tell is to stick a needle through the eardrum, pull out some of the pus/fluid, and culture it to see what it is. The doctor said it was pretty standard in Japan.
The doctor also said that with an adult’s fully developed immune system if an infection sticks around the body usually needs help to fight it.
Post a Comment