The air-conditioning in the doctor's office was broken, but everything else about the visit made me feel very comfortable and confident. The doctor seemed to really know his stuff regarding the middle ear, had a great bedside manner, and is pioneer in the field of Eustachian tube surgery. After sticking various instruments in my ear, nose and throat and having me swallow and yawn, he sat me down and patiently explained a bunch of stuff to me about how the middle ear works and interacts with my body. I tried to absorb as much of the information as I could while sweating through my t-shirt.
The absurd part: He thinks the problem is related to acid reflux and that with a treatment of a proton pump inhibitor like Omeprazole, plus some changes to my diet (less chocolate and dairy, no raw veggies or salad at night), the symptoms should disappear in a matter of weeks or months.
If it doesn't work, it's possible some laser surgery will be needed, but overall he indicated that he thinks the problem with my middle is not severe or incurable, at least not compared to other Eustachian tube problems he has seen.
***
It seems a bit crazy that I traveled 6,000 miles just to be told that I need to treat my acid reflux, but if it winds up being the solution, the trip was well worth it.
My father passed on this tale from my grandmother:
Oma had read somewhere about a guy who had a medical problem that baffled every doctor he had seen. Somebody sent him to some hospital for tests and the guy is sitting in the hallway. Another doctor passes him, stops, takes a look at his face, and says “Hello, malaria.”
Point being the guy worked in Africa, knew the look. Most other docs would have had no idea.Interestingly enough he also said that smoking (while obviously unhealthy in a number of ways) is not known to exacerbate the problem, which contradicts the hack-y advice that some doctors in California gave me.
Nothing has physically changed yet, the optimism I'm experiencing right now is hard to quantify. Also, I appreciate the many offers of "good luck" I received from friends, family and blog readers. I felt I needed a lot of luck and may have just gotten some. A few months time should tell.
Now, time to get to Amsterdam for a few days of proper vacation and the $1M Supernova freeroll this Saturday!