So yesterday I turned three.

I have a double ear infection. Yes, double - both ears. Somehow yesterday I turned back the clock and turned into a child with really small eustachian tubes. Well, that's not what the doctor said, but it certainly how I felt as I walked out of the office. I had written it off as feeling crummy, and then explained it away as being "Mom Sick." My head isn't going to explode, and I have no fever, so there was no reason to suspect anything like an ear infection. I was leaning towards strep or allergies. But who knew that it was something completely different, something that would take a mere 32 year off of my life?

After my class last Wednesday, which I coughed and hacked through (I'm teaching so it was me talking for 1.5 hours), I swore that I'd call the doctor in the morning. I did just that, and of course he was on vacation. Well, I figured that if I'd waited for three weeks I could wait until he got back, so I told them that I didn't need a referral, and that I'd see if it got better over the weekend. I went about my business and on Tuesday I woke up hacking and coughing, not having slept through the night for the umpteenth time because I was up coughing. So, I called my doctor and was referred to the physician who was taking patients while my doctor was on vacation. She was very nice and explained that yes indeed, it was a double ear infection. She also said that if I waited another day or two it would turn into a RAGING ear infection and that I would have that fever and pain. Good thing I went in.

At some point in the near past I had a cold, and allergy attack, or some weird throat infection. That was the cause of my ear infection. My double ear infection. Yeah, I'm three. I asked about the whole only little kids get ear infection thing, and the doctor told me that obviously that wasn't the case as I had two right here in my ears. So, I'm off to antibiotic and Advil land and heavy doses of cough suppressant (also had a lingering cough and some problems in my throat that were exacerbated by the whole ear thing) and am on the road to wellville. Hopefully.

So the next time I have pain in my ears, throat or have a lingering cough, I'm not explaining it away or making excuses, I'm heading right off to the doctor. Yeah, not likely...