Germans to the Rescue: Part 2

After seeing the doctor on Tuesday, I cancelled my afternoon classes, put on my pyjamas, and chilled out in front of the tv. By Wednesday, I was feeling better. I went to the university, gave exams and held a class. I spent the rest of the day grading the exams, emailing students, then crashing out on the couch. I took the meds for my sinuses, and ended up sleeping pretty well.

On Thursday (yesterday), I woke up with a killer headache around my right eye. My internet was out all day, so I made makeup exams, worked on some puzzles, and spent most of the day laying on the couch curled around a hot water bottle. I slept some, tried to watch the second Harry Potter movie, and ate a little. The pain in my head just kept getting worse, though.

Around 4:30 pm, I got up to go upstairs and gave a quick glance in the mirror to make sure my pupils were the same size, something I had been doing throughout the day. I looked in the mirror and POOF! My right eye was significantly swollen. Then I realized my head didn't hurt any more. I went immediately went upstairs to get dressed; the whole time I'm thinking oh no...I've had either an aneurysm or the sinus infection has absessed into my eye.

I went back out to the German camp. At first, I didn't think that the security officers were going to let me go to the hospital. Heads were shaken, phone calls were made, but finally they took my passport and gave me a visitor's badge. The clinic van came to pick me up and I was taken to the hospital.

I was worried that the hospital was closed, but they stay open until 6pm. No one else was there, so I didn't have to wait very long. The same doctor as yesterday checked my sinuses, pressed on my face, and started explaining things. I understood what he was saying, but I couldn't quite make the connection it had to my swollen eye. He didn't seem worried about it, but he asked me if I would like a CT scan just to be sure. I said yes before I thought about how much it might cost.

No matter. He took me into a really hot room with a big machine. A woman came over and checked my head for metal objects. I then layed down and she propped my head into position. After draping the lead apron over my body, she went into the observation room, I closed my eyes, and the machine did its business.

After the scan was completed and the lead apron was removed, she motioned me towards the door, indicating I should go back to the waiting room. However, the doctor called me into the observation room to look at my scan. The radiologist pointed out my clogged sinuses and my clear sinuses. He also showed me that there was neither absess nor aneurysm.

I went back to the doctor's room. He explained the treatments he wanted to give me. I told him I was concerned because I was flying on Monday (something I didn't tell him yesterday). He said that it was soon, and flight would be uncomfortable, but it should be okay. Then he prepped me for a cortisone shot, and as he was doing so, suddenly my condition became clear to me.

As I understand it, each side of the face has four sinuses. I have infection the three ones near the front of the face and a slight infection in the one that runs behind the eyes. The sinus around my eye had so much pressure that it gave me a puffy eye (the sinus hadn't ruptured, though). With a sinus infection, the mucus membrane thickens which makes it more difficult for the antibiotics to reach the infection. The cortisone shot (and subsequent pills) should reduce the swelling of the membranes, thus allowing the antibiotics to access the infection more quickly.

He gave me the shot of cortisone in my arm. As he was doing so, the radiologist came in with a CD of my scan, which I was pretty stoked about. After the shot was finished, the doctor gave me cortisone pills, eye cream, eye drops, and more nasal spray for my flight. I was pretty happy that my eye was not the product of an absess or aneurysm. I was also pretty happy that the cost of yesterday's visit was included in the 40 Euros I shelled out on Tuesday. If I need to return today or tomorrow, that's included as well. I like the German approach to payment.

After going home, I ate dinner in the dark (the power was out) and shuffled around the house a bit. One of the side effects of the cortisone is disrupted sleep. However, by 10:30 pm, I was out and I didn't have too many sleep disturbances during the night (although I was awake between 3:30-5:00). Today, I woke up, I ate breakfast, I took my pills, and I'm feeling fine. Hopefully it will stay that way!