Injections and a Bit of Love

The next morning, after seeing another specialist, I had a visit from the doctor who I had initially seen when I was first admitted to hospital, 4 days ago. She told me that there was another treatment called Intratympanic Steroid Treatment which would involve injecting steroids into my ear, once a week for four weeks. I told her that I was willing to try anything, and very soon I was lying on my bed as she tipped drops of anaesthetic into my ear. She went away, after telling me to lie still and let the anaesthetic numb my eardrum. After about half an hour the doctor came back and took me to a room just down the corridor. I was asked to lie down on a cushioned bench and to stay very still. I couldn’t see what was happening, but the doctor talked me through her actions. First, she used a little vacuum-like tube to suck the anaesthetic drops out of my ear. Then I felt a needle pierce my eardrum and travel through my ear, to what felt like deep inside my head. I could feel the needle somewhere between the bone of my jaw and side of my throat and was experiencing a scratchy pain in this place. I was desperately trying to stay still. My eyes were watering with nervousness and discomfort. After the steroids had been injected, I then continued to lie in the same position for about another half an hour to allow the steroids to infuse into my inner ear. I was so tired and lying there on the doctor’s bench in my hospital gown, I felt extremely vulnerable. I closed my eyes.

When I got back to my room, I was given a handful of cotton wool to soak up the mixture of liquid and blood that had started to drip out of my ear. Whilst feeling sorry for myself, and gently dabbing my ear, my boyfriend entered the room.

When I was in hospital my boyfriend was always by my side. Every day he would appear in the hospital room doorway with a smile. He’d bring pastries for breakfast, which we’d enjoy together in the mornings. When I was fed up of the cold milky hospital coffee, he brought me peppermint tea in a takeaway cup from a café outside the hospital. Every day he asked me for a list of things he could bring me from home that would make me feel more comfortable. He’d sit by my bedside doing work on his laptop while I slept. He would hug me tightly when I was upset or scared, and would always manage to calm me with positive words. One day, when the intravenous was uncomfortable, he washed my hair for me – I joked with him, that it was the most intimate I’d ever been with anyone! 

One day I was desperate for some fresh air, and my boyfriend and I decided to escape for a bit. I put my denim jacket over my shoulders and put my plimsolls on. Dragging my IV stand with two swinging glass bottles, we scurried to the lift. Once on the ground floor, my boyfriend carried my IV stand down the ramp to some exit doors, with me following behind. When we got outside we sat on the wall where the hospital staff usually gathered on their smoking breaks. There was a slight chill in the air as summer was moving into autumn; though the sky was a lively blue. I was longing to go home.

Before my sudden hearing loss happened, I would often rush through my days and routines, and everyday life would pass by, without time to pause or appreciate it. It was when I was in hospital I had time to reflect. I had moments of intense emotion, where I felt so thankful and fortunate for the love and care my boyfriend was showing me. I could see he was scared, and that he needed someone to talk to as well. I know it was hard for him, especially going back to an empty apartment with a mind full of worries and questions.