The Earache

Yesterday, the Boy woke up at 6:00 with an earache. Jack got up and attended to the suffering, looking in the ear to see what might be the problem. Impacted earwax was the diagnosis so Jack tried to flush the ear with water then dissolve the wax with mineral oil. The Boy felt better — hooray! I was glad that Jack was a pediatrician and could take care of the Boy.

When the Boy was out of earshot (not that he could have heard with all the earwax*), Jack said he’s seen patients in PICU with brain infections that started as an ear infection. There a millions of ear infections a year, and he tells me about two (0.008% for let’s say King County in a year) who were gravely impacted. After that bit of gloom and doom, I was not glad to be married to a critical care physician. 

Okay, as I am writing I am freaking out about the dangers of  ear infections. See what I mean? I live with this shit every day, and now I’ve shared it with you. You are welcome.

* This might explain why the Boy has been taking loudly and not hearing what we telling him, more so than a typical teenager.