Pain, tinnitus and tiredness...

I really overdid things last Monday/Tuesday after I came home from hospital.

My mum who had stayed up minding my children while I was in hospital had to go home to Roscommon on Tuesday night; I made most of her (while she was still in Dublin)on Monday to take me to another medical appointment (non-CI related) food shopping, bank, etc., as I wasn't allowed to drive. I love my mother very much but she has a different way of doing things, I spend most of Tuesday putting stuff back in their proper places! My clothes were mixed up - some of my good tops were in my pyjama draw, while the pyjama tops were ironed and hanging in the wardrobe! LOL!

By Tuesday evening the whole of my left side of face/ear/head started to throb painfully! I took two paracetamol - had nothing else and it barely took the edge of the pain... I got rip-roaring tinnitus in the left ear, which went on for hours! By 11pm I was so bad, throwing all caution to the wind, I took off in the car to the local 24 hour pharmacy to get a stronger painkiller. The pharmacist recommended Solpadine; I took it gratefully and zoomed the 2 miles back to my house. The Solpadine worked really fast!

They must have given me a slow-releasing painkiller in hospital, can’t believe I’m getting all this pain and trouble now! Am kicking myself for not asking for prescription leaving hospital.

Waking up on Wednesday morning, the throbbing was still there but the tinnitus was gone. Dosed up again on Solpadine, I plonked myself on the sofa with a blanket, barely moved from there all day! But the tinnitus came back in the evening. Urgh! I went to bed at 10pm totally fed up!

I rarely get tinnitus. Previous attacks usually start as a loud 'Ooooooo' in my ear gradually getting lower and lower til its just 'white noise' that fades after a few seconds. I tend to get them in my right ear more than my left. Previous attacks usually last about 3-5 minutes, no longer... This week the tinnitus is mindblowing! It's following in the same pattern, but in my left ear, the 'oooooOOOOOOoooo' keeps going - resonating high then low then high again. And lasting for hours! It's not painful - just annoying...

The rest and early night on Wednesday did the trick (or perhaps it was the Solpadine?!) I felt great on Thursday morning! Resting up all day, I wanted to be fit to attend Deaf Artist Jane O'Brien's art exhibition in the Loving Spoon Cafe that evening. Popping into my GP to make the appointment for Friday to remove the stitches and get the Swine Flu vaccine, the receptionist was astounded to see me. ‘You had the operation already?!’ Yes, my dear I did! We had a chat about the operation; I showed off my scar and secured an appointment the next day with one of the new GPs working in the Clinic. I usually see Dr Fiona or Dr Orla, but both were not available.

The exhibition was so interesting! As a deaf artist Jane uses a lot of deaf materials in her work. A set of (now obsolete) minicoms had been painted and devilled to create a interesting sculpture; ear mould impressions feature heavily in a most of the sculptures. She had several pieces that really intrigued me and I related a lot to. My favourite was the 'Big D/Little d' paint-sculpture – it really sums up the identity crisis that I struggled with as part of the Deafhood process – really wish I had the money to buy it!

Art is something I appreciate and love; I started out looking for a career in art before realising I wasn’t talented enough to continue. I count some well known artists as good friends including the renowned artist - Amanda Coogan. I enjoy going to Art galleries and losing myself in them... since the arrival of my children I haven’t devoted as much time as I like to artistic endeavours. My house is not full of the art work that, when moving in I had promised I’d fill the walls with! A resolution I plan to make good on in future...

Heading home after the exhibition the tinnitus came roaring back strangely this time I had it in the right ear! Then the throbbing started again. Urgh! No more outings for me for the next few days...

Rest! Rest! Rest!