>The flu has flown. In its wake, it left a very messy house, lots of dirty laundry, a pile of unfinished homework, side effects in our ears, and a couple of exhausted people.
Doctors cleared both me and Amigo to go back to school tomorrow. We are no longer contagious I’m relieved — I think. I’m a bit nervous because there’s so much happening in my school that it’s going to feel like jumping onto a roller coaster mid-ride.
Amigo will be tired. He still needs a lot of sleep. I expect him to come home from school, crash on the couch, and only get up for supper and homework. Oh, yes, and to take his Zithromax. That’s right, the kid has another ear infection. Double or single infection, you wonder? Neither. And both. The lovely doc called it “one and a half”. One ear is firmly infected, and the other is just starting. So yes, at age 15, he is treating his second ear infection in four months. Isn’t he supposed to outgrow these? Amigo depends on his hearing more than most because he has so little vision. We’ll monitor this, and monitor it closely. If he needs ear tubes again, even though he’s a teen, we’ll say, “do it.” Hearing loss is not to be taken lightly.
Which leads to — in my trip to the doctor, I came out not with ear infections, but with moderate wax build up. Too Much Information, you say? People with hearing aids often get this. Where most people’s earwax works its way out of the ear canals naturally, my hearing aids/ earmolds get in the way. Anything that could block my hearing is a bad thing, so the nurse flushed out both ears today. Begone, you waxy substances!!
We’ve coped with the whole flu visit by resting a lot, drinking liquids, and prioritizing. I did a minimum of laundry — underwear and socks. If anyone needs more, they’ll have to wash it themselves. I cleaned the smallest bunny-litter box, and the other one will have to wait. Or Husband will have to do it.
I slept better last night. So did Amigo. Our coughing jags are less frequent, so we’re not waking up at night hacking and barking. We only do that by day. Um, that’s good, I think.
I’m doing too much thinking. Time to make lunch and take a nap while I still can. Tomorrow we rejoin the world.

>Disabilities are part of our family, our daily life, the little things, the big picture. Doctors’ offices? A familiar place, a comfortable setting. Amigo saw two doctors in two days last week. He noted the fact, but didn’t complain or think it was negative.
He’d been complaining of minor discomfort in his right ear. When he told me it was getting worse, that his ear hurt, I called the pediatrician’s office. Nine times out of ten when Amigo complains of ear pain, he has an infection. He is almost never wrong. Sure enough, his right ear was (as Dr. put it) “a prototypical infection”. Then she took one more step, and asked if we would allow the medical student to come in and take a look at it. Her logic was “This will give the student a chance to see a poster child for an ear infection, but in a child who will sit still.” Amigo is in his teens, and the medical student would get a good look at an infected ear without the squirming of a toddler or two-year-old. Amigo was personable and friendly with the medical student, discussed her alma mater’s basketball team, and showed her a perfectly infected eardrum.
The next day we headed to Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee for an annual check-up with the pediatric neurologist. She’s an amazing professional with incredible depths of knowledge about children and their brains and bodies. We discussed Amigo’s participation in a study, and she agreed that yes, his participation would be a good thing.
The only issue is money. This is no simple blood test. The cost estimate is around $1300. I am gathering my courage to call our insurance company. I’m certain they will say no; they really balked at the genetic counseling recommended for us. Next, I’ll apply for financial aid through the research center itself. Their forms, however, are on a web page still under construction.
I’ll keep at it. Project 3000, as the study is called, is an ambitious and worthwhile undertaking. We’ll do our part for Amigo’s sake and for the sake of others with this cause of blindness. Fortunately, doctors’ offices are familiar and comforting places for our family. That makes it, not easy, but at least a little less difficult.