All I wanted was a hearing aid...

So, let's go back a bit here.

As a kid, I got lots of ear infections. They hurt. A lot. But eventually, I got over them. They would still pop up every so often, but the tear-inducing pain wasn't an issue, and it'd just be a slightly clogged up feeling that would drain out as the cold or flu or whatever ran its course.

So, fast forward to some undefined time in the near past. Maybe a year ago, maybe two, I don't know exactly, and didn't take note of it at the time, but another of those winter colds came up, and again, my ear got infected- left ear this time. However, the eventual draining never really occured. It became just a part of my situation that my left ear was a little worse in hearing than my right.

Whether related to that, or just a function of diminished hearing from age, both wife and son soon started to get on me to get a hearing aid. It's been a few months, maybe even a year. Finally, with a little extra in our medical reimbursement account, I figured I'd go see how much one of these things cost. After all, there are only so many pairs of eyeglasses a guy can go through (the traditional way to spend down our medical account).

And so, went to a Health Partners audiologist, and had the hearing check. Yep- diminished hearing, especially in the high range. No shock there. And yep, this would explain the near-constant tinnitus going on as well. But he noted something he described as a "loss of conductivity", which was unusual, especially as it wasn't symmetric with the right ear. Before he would discuss any aids, he wanted me to see an ENT specialist, just in case there was a medical reason behind the conductivity loss. He gave me a list of ENT specialists, and while Health Partners was on the list, there was also a group right in Maplewood, near where I live. Since there wasn't any listed preference or proscription one way or another, I went with Midwest ENT Specialists.

Don't know why I'm listing the doctors, but I figured I'd put down what I remember.

As it happened, someone had cancelled an appointment that week, so I was able to get in just two days later to see the ENT guy. Convenient! When Dr.Cox came in, he said he'd seen the audiogram, and figured (without even looking) that it was simply a genetic predisposition, and nothing to be concerned about. Normally, he said, he wouldn't even go further, but an imbalance between the ears was unusual, particularly for a 45-year old.

He then looked in my ears and down my throat, and commented, "Just getting over a cold, eh?" Well- actually no. I'd been feeling just fine, and a cold was far from my mind. He noted that my adenoids were very inflamed- another thing that is unusual for someone my age (particularly odd to me since I had them taken out when I was a kid).

If I'd been 65 or older, he wouldn't have done anything, but just to rule out any oddness, he ordered an MRI for me. He recommended CDI- a company just up the street, and also conveniently located to my house. He prescribed a round of anti-biotics to take care of the adenoids, and gave me this sinus wash thing...

So, I took the anti-biotics, rinsed out my sinuses, and like two or three days later, started getting all sorts of snotty. Okay- so maybe there was a cold there, and the anti-biotics just kicked it out. I still felt fine- just more gloppy, which happens. Oh, and since he mentioned the adenoids, something I hadn't even noticed up to that point, I couldn't stop noticing them from then on.

The MRI was kinda cool. I can see why the claustrophobic (ie my dad) would have a hard time in there. I felt very much like sausage meat going into a casing. I found it relaxing, though I will say that the loud banging, clicking and buzzing noises are likely to rankle even the most tranquil soul. And even cooler- afterwards, I got a disc with the images and a viewer for it. So, I spent a lot of that Thursday taking a look at the meat sack of my head.

Did I make any sense of it? Heck no. I mean, I could see my eyes, my brain, the big things, but was there anything in there noteworthy? Not that I could see.

I joked with Julie that I kinda hoped it would "be something"- if only to justify how much I knew the MRI would cost. My medical history is otherwise so bland. Tonsils out as a kid. ACL surgery at 40. A "cyst-like lesion" on my chin. Nothing cool sounding. Which is good, of course, but makes for lousy conversation.

A week later, went back for the followup with the ENT. His entrance was a bit overdramatic, frankly. He sat down in the chair, and with a solemn face, just sighed. Not quite what I was expecting.

He told me that whatever it was that he didn't want to find in the MRI, he didn't find. Okay, so I'm seeing we're in a "good news-bad news" situation, and so now, what's the bad news doc?

Not just one things, but two. Oh joy!

1) There's something like an infection (he described it) in my left ear. Well, that would explain the sense I have of it still being filled. He's going to up my anti-biotics, and wants me to get a CT scan for a better look at it. Okay, cool- I get another ride in a big machine. Doesn't sound like a big deal. I can handle that.

2) He's no expert on MRI's, he says. In fact, he had to ask the radiologist on the phone to explain some of this... but apparently there's a growth near my pituitary gland, 4x7mm. He doesn't even have a recommendation for this, but instead says I should talk with Dr.Rethwill (my family doc) for his recommendation for a good neurosurgeon.


WHAT?!? A neurosurgeon?? Wait a minute-- I just wanted a hearing aid so I don't have to keep saying "Pardon?", and now we're talking brain surgery!?

Alright, fine. And, of course, a follow-up appointment with Dr.Cox in two weeks, to review the CT scans.

CDI does this cool thing, where the results of the tests are posted online, after the radiologist has given the report to the ordering physician, naturally. So, I go back to that MRI to see what it say. Sure enough- there are two things noted. One is a "possible adenoma" on the pituitary. The radiologist talks about which images it's most evident on, but I'll be damned if I can tell anything, even having found out where the pituitary is.

So, drop a line to Rethwill, via HealthPartners online communication, and while he's out on Thursday, Friday morning he's put in orders for some lab tests. Googling up adenoma and that whole thing, I can tell he's checking into hormone levels to see if this adenoma is hormone-producing or not (I guess the treatments are different, depending on which it is). I call up the nurse, to see if I need to fast, or what, and am told that it doesn't matter when or how- that these are blood draws, and whenever I can get them done, is fine. So, just to speed things along, I get them done that Friday. I'm later told that I need to have one done at 8 am, which brings me to today- and the reason why there's yet another wrapping on my arm.

So far, all the other tests seem normal, and it looks like this is going to be a non-issue, though Rethwill is going to want me to meet with an endrocrinologist just for followup. Hey- endocrinologist is better than neurosurgeon, right?

But, that leaves the other concern, which Dr.Cox identified as an infection. Well, reading the MRI, I see the phrase "squamous cell carcinoma" as a possibility. Google is a dangerous thing in this instance--- and while this appears to be usually a skin cancer, looking the phrase up in combination with "mastoid" (where it is on me), can be a bit more disconcerting.

Now, yesterday I got the CT scan, a scan that looks more at the bone rather than soft tissue. And you know what? This time I can see it-- just where my left side skull is larger, more porous, less dense than the right side. It's clear. And going back to the MRI now, I can also see it there-- looks like a gloop where there shouldn't be one.

My "brain booger" is what I'm calling it for now, though what it is, and what will happen from here is yet to unfold. It's easy to let this stuff run away, and to a little extent, my imagination has been unfurling more than it should. This being Open Enrollment at the U, I'm starting to debate whether I should up my short-term and/or long-term disability insurance... or life-insurance for that matter (though at $250K, I think my life is adequate).

Like I keep saying, "It's nothing until it's something, and even then, it'll likely be nothing." But I kinda figured that at this point, I might start typing up something, in case it does become something. And if it winds up being nothing, then the worst that happens, is that I'll have put a lot of words into a blog that nobody actually reads anyway.