I’m just climbing out of a two-plus-week bout with the flu. I don’t remember ever being so sick, not since I had cancer 12 years ago. I’m am still regaining my strength but was finally back in the swimming pool this morning at 6:00 AM, doing laps, a sure sign that the flu will soon be entirely behind me.
But not quite.
Along with fever, chills, headaches, mucus, coughing, body aches and intense malaise, I also developed a middle ear infection. Two weeks ago, I woke up unable to hear out of my left ear. Instead of sound coming in from the outside, sound was arising from the inside in a steady stream—tinnitus.
As I write this post, this sound fills my ear, a soft ocean, a steady constant roar. When it is quiet, the sound grows louder. When others ... [Continue Reading]