I think I mentioned this before, but the blood tests for genetic issues, autoimmune disorders, and unspeakable mutations—all of the inner ear—came back negative. But we couldn’t let the fun stop there, so last week I went in to the otologist’s office for some additional testing.
The first test involved artificial pressure changes, ear popping, drinking water while holding my nose shut, and a handheld computer which judged my ear-popping skills.
The second involved lying down on a massage table wearing a strange pair of blacked-out goggles with cameras to record my eye movement, and if I recall correctly (it was early in the morning and I wasn’t allowed coffee) some combination of sound and artificial pressure designed to try and make me feel dizzy. I didn’t feel dizzy, but my eyes did twitch a bit.
The third and longest test was also pretty weird. Picture yourself lying down. Now imagine two electrodes on your forehead (vertically placed in the middle), one on each earlobe, and one deep inside one of your ears. Now, you know that ticking sound made by a gas stove when you light it? Imagine that sound, really loud, piped directly into one of your ears. Add in some static in the other ear, so that all you can hear is loud, constant, fast ticking and static. The noise just keeps going, just as loud, except for when it stops unpredictably and restarts just as unpredictably.
There was an hour and a half scheduled for this test, but I think it went faster. I’m not sure, because the audiologist told me while sticking things to my head that some people fall asleep during the test and that she usually sees better results when that happens. Get me up early, deprive me of coffee, stick really annoying noises in my ears, have me lie down on a comfortable massage table, and tell me I can fall asleep, and as it turns out, I’ll fall asleep. But, for the record, I don’t really feel the need to go through all that again just to take a nap.
Tomorrow afternoon the fun just keeps on funning, as I head back to Pill Hill for MRI and CT scans. I think that will finish off the testing, and we’ll schedule a meeting with Dr. Huong after that to discuss what she found in my ears.
Coming soon (really!) are a movie of Keegan walking and a slideshow featuring Zoey narrating a comic book she drew.
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