The Ear, Part II, Wherein Nancy Finds Not Enough Relief Despite Trying A Half-Dozen Remedies

It has now officially been more than two weeks since this ear business started. Two nights ago I thought the full-fledged infection might be back, so I called my doctor in resignation, thinking that perhaps I had to take yet another antibiotic to ever hear normally again. Ear infections are one thing that I think allopathic medicine deals especially poorly with. Come in with an ear infection and you're going to leave with a prescription for an antibiotic. And chances are, you're going to be back in there in two weeks or so, and you're going to leave with another prescription for a stronger antibiotic. And if the number of children who have ear tubes put in is any indication of the efficacy of this course of treatment, it would appear that the standard route with pharmaceuticals is not exactly working.

I couldn't get an appointment yesterday, so I had one for today. Then I posted to the Birth Circle, which is an email list peopled primarily by families who have given birth using the same midwife I did. One person's husband is a chiropractor and offers a "birth circle discount," so I thought I'd take them up on that offer. I've never been to a chiropractor myself. Actually, I have pretty rarely had a lot of medical or physical problems anyway, at least nothing I've thought to go to a doctor of any kind about much. But I did take Ollie to a chiropractor for chronic ear infections when he was about 18 months old, and between that, homeopathy, and eliminating all dairy and casein from his diet, it was very effective and saved us from any further infections or the dreaded ear tubes, which I could not consent to. The chiropractic visit wasn't an instant success. I left having felt a definite big squinching and popping in my ear, but I still had the fluid feeling. The trouble with the chiropractor is that you have to keep going, and this was even more troublesome since this one is 35 minutes from home, which eats up my whole morning. But I went again. Again, the ear tug felt productive and crackly, but the fluid was still there, or at least much of it was. I think things were a little better, but not "normal."

While I was out, I also went to the Tuckahoe Library, which has a fabulous selection of movies. I came home with 8, which is beyond dangerous for someone like me who attempts to set world records with library fines. Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Man for All Seasons, a National Geographic documentary about the San Francisco Earthquake, The Founding Fathers, and then two for Frances. But I also wanted to go to Good Foods, which I knew had ear candles. I came out with ear candles, some new garlic and mullein oil (I simmered up my own concoction yesterday with fresh garlic, olive oil, and onion, and I've been reeking of garlic continuously since), a combination homeopathic remedy, a single remedy of pulsatilla, and a bottle of colloidal silver (for some reason the one I have at home tastes a little garlicky, which must mean something is wrong with it). You could call this the birdshot approach. One of them is likely to at least sort of hit the target.

I do think I'm doing better, finally. At least I don't feel like I'm heading toward a full-blown infection any more. I think I'm going to get better one day. My favorite attempt was the ear candling. I've never done it before, and it was fascinating. You put this paraffin-coated rolled cheesecloth tube in your ear and put a paper plate around it. Then someone lights the end and you let about 7 inches of the "candle" burn down, hopefully drawing out fluid and anything else in your ear as it goes. I used two of them in my right ear, and there was a lot of stuff in the bottom of the candle when I was done, but it would be hard to say whether some of that was paraffin or other byproduct of the candle itself, rather than grossness taken from my body. But I do feel a lot clearer since then. The garlic and mullein oil is also very soothing. I don't feel the pain I did before. With all of this, I have continued to try the trick suggested by an online friend--take a gulp of water in your mouth, then stick a bulb syringe up one nostril and make a tight seal and blow a syringe-full of air up your nose at the same moment that you swallow. It does make a little explosion in your ear, but so far it hasn't opened things up for good. But I'm an optimist!

We finished Caddie Woodlawn tonight, though it was very late--almost midnight. I couldn't resist having them go through it with the Story Sequence Chart we're learning right now in the IEW class. It has them break a story (no matter what the length, whether it's a one page Aesop fable or a 275 page novel) into a set of three paragraphs, and they answer specific questions for each one. The first paragraph they tell who, where, and when. The second they tell what--what happened, what's the plot, what did the character(s) say, what did they do. And the third tells what the climax was, how it was resolved, and perhaps any moral or message or theme. This book, though largely episodic, lent itself especially well to this. I think I was the one who was having fun with all of that, but any chance to illustrate how to prepare to right is one that I can't bear to pass by. Darnit, they are going to be competent writers soon if it kills me!

Today was Walter and Frances' first dissection class. It was really cool. They are starting with the most basic animals and working their way up. What is especially nice about this is that we own most of these animals. Today they took apart a sea urchin, and I was impressed with how much more complex inside it was than I had assumed. Next they will be dissecting a sponge (we've got two of those, too) and an anemone. Frances was disturbed by how bad her hands smelled afterwards, and she declared that she was going to have nauseating nightmares about the brown gook inside the urchin ("I'm going to throw up in the middle of the night tonight because that thing was so gross."--I sure hope she doesn't because she is sleeping in a tent in Rutledge's bedroom with about 20 stuffed animals all around her). But it was still a huge hit. I wish I could have gotten Ollie to take the class, but he claims he isn't interested in science, is repelled by cutting animals, and I didn't want to pay for him to be somewhere he doesn't want to be. So be it.

And, as always, the aquarium saga drags on. I went back to the old fish store we used to go to, and I was envious of all of the "nice" fish they had there. Sweet fish. Peaceful fish. My fish are assholes. They are pretty, but they're mean, just like a middle school girl. Most of the fish I'd like to get are not compatible with the jerks I have. And we had another 6 gallon pump-turned-siphon incident last week and blew out the timer that runs the lights. But that's not all I came home with. I'm not sure we're going to use it, but I came home with something that came in a big box that just says "THE TRAP." This is a fish trap, and I'm thinking of using it to capture my sailfin tang who is a major bully. He would be banished to the sump, which is a holding container for about 8 gallons of water down in the cabinet underneath the main aquarium. He'd stay there a few weeks and think about how naughty he has been, while meanwhile I would add in another couple of fish up top. By the time he returned from his exile, he would no longer be the dictator of the whole place; he'd have to figure out exactly how he fit into this new community and what his role would be. And hopefully all this figuring would happen in a non-violent sort of way. A new pecking order would be established, and I'd have more fish and my new additions wouldn't die of fright in 48 hours or less like the last two newcomers did.

I feel bad, though. That sounds mean. And what if he didn't survive in the sump? He's really an attractive fish, and the three that I have do manage to get along well and have a lot of personality. I guess I have to decide, do I want to be able to get more fish at some point, or is 3 fish in a 55 gallon tank going to satisfy me. While I was at this store, I also decided that I must have something blue in the tank (and not a fish). I had my eye on a blue clam, but my lighting isn't sufficient for him. I'd need to spend at least $350 on a whole new lighting setup with metal halides (I have two T5s), and I can't do that for a blue clam. So I'm sitting tight for now. I did come home with a special piece of plastic netting that can go over the spot where my sea slug and snails have been escaping so that there will be no more breaks for freedom. For now, that may have to suffice as my cool new acquisition.