Submitted by Laura on Tue,
08/28/2012 - 11:59pm
So, a few weeks ago I
noticed that I have been saying, "What?" to Joe a lot when he says
something. I was sure it was because he mumbles or surprises me while I'm
paying attention to something else, but since it was occurring more often and
one of the side effects of a drug I take is hearing loss, I wanted to be tested
to make sure it was not ME.
I had an appointment
with the ENT on Monday and he checked my sinuses, my hearing and my sense of
smell. Good news on the sinus front....I used to have nasal polyps, but
since I've been doing the antibiotic nasal wash, the polyps have gone
away!!!!!! Yay! That means less infection that would be able to
travel down into my lungs and it also means NO nasal polyp surgery after
transplant would be needed. What a relief to hear that news! I
didn't realize polyps could go away, but I guess they can.
I did mention to the
doctor that I do get a strange smell in my nose, and it's especially strong
with detergent and soap and asked if it was a good idea to do a smell test.
He agreed, so I sat in a room with a booklet of 40 scratch 'n sniff
multiple choice questions and sniffed my way through! It was kind of hard
sometimes, I was surprised that I was contemplating choosing between Rose and
Gasoline! The results had to be tallied so, on to the hearing test, the
real reason I was there.
In my mind I was really
trying to prove once and for all that Joe needs to speak louder (I want to
win!). I sat in the chair and repeated the words the audiologist would say and
raised my hand when I heard the beeps. Back in the room to see doc and
get my results. The hearing test came back good! I'm well within
the normal range, except for frequency of 3000-4000, which I was 25, instead of
under 20 on a 100 point scale, so basically almost normal. I asked if
Joe's voice is within that frequency or something, and NO, that frequency is
more about hearing the subtle "f, s, t, p" in words like Pharaoh.
So, I said to the doctor, "So, I win?", and he extends his had
for the championship handshake, "You win." All in good fun, but
it's nice to know it's not me!
As for my smell test, he
said it was calculated that I have 25% smell loss. I think I would have to
argue with that number for 2 reasons: some of those scents on the test were not
life-like (grapes and cherries smelled like kool-aid, chocolate didn't smell
rich) and I am a great cook/baker so I have to know what stuff tastes like and
you need smell in order to taste!! My argument is I'm used to smelling
the real stuff, so the fake scents confused me!!! Until the day my food
tastes like crap when I cook I will argue I have not lost quite 25%.
In the end, the check-up
was great. Still no news on the transplant front...still number 2 for my
blood type. I just continue what I'm doing and staying positive. XO
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