Off to the vet's later..... doesn't look good....

Yesterday, Scooter was so sociable! He was going tap-tap-tap with his paw like he used to, tapping for attention or to tell us where exactly he'd like to be scrunched and tickled. When I hung out the washing, he had his head in the peg bag, investigating. Then he was pawing the washing and lying across my feet.


Later, he meowed through the open door, demanding someone come out and pay him due attention. I took a blanket out and stretched it on the grass in the sun. There, for nearly an hour, I was making a fuss of him, and he was stretching out on his side, purring and rolling over onto the back of his head.

Then he lay on the garden table. I sat with him, and he decided he wanted to be IN my cardigan the same time as me. He tugged at the fabric and then patted it down so he could sit on it. I was stuck for quite some time till I managed to get my arms out, making a little tent for us, at which point Luvbug took this photo of us.

Indoors, he jumped up onto the sofa next to Luvbug, something he used to do, but hasn't for ages. And in the evening he sat with mum.


He ate steamed white fish, wolfing it down and licking his chops, and took his medicine.


Now, what a difference a day makes...


This morning he is purring quietly. That snorting that had been a problem for weeks has gone. But he doesn't seem able to close his mouth, or maybe it is that he is breathing through it. One side of his nose is very runny, with gluey, blood-stained mucus. He won't eat or drink. And he has taken to sleeping in his litter tray, which he doesn't usually use; I have a clean one there 'just in case' for him, but he always prefers to go out to his patch in the garden. So strange that he is suddenly asleep in his tray.....


Vet appointment is 4.40pm. I just keep thinking how Fluffy took to sleeping in her tray near the end. And I can't tempt him to eat or drink.... I've got his medicine down him by grinding it down, adding it to some creamy food and squirting it into his mouth. It took him by surprise but then he sat there lipping his lips. I think he liked it in the end. It has helped a wee bit, maybe. But him being asleep in the tray is like a 'this is it' sign to me...... any thoughts from the cat people out there??


Meanwhile I have to pull myself together as I have an appointment with an ENT consultant myself this afternoon, about my hearing loss. It has taken months to get the appointment, otherwise I'd cancel it and stay with Scoot.

bleagh

Sorry peeps; lack of posts is due to bad bug- still!

I've just got back from another trip to the doc's. Still no anti-biotics. OK I know they're not a cure if it's a virus, but after a month I'd like to try them, esp. as they can't know if it's bacterial or viral, not for sure, not without tests.

Grrr. Or, I would go grrrr if it didn't hurt.

It has now spread to both sides of my throat and both ears and I feel bleagh.

Snow is on the way, so I hope the cold doesn't make this worse, or kick start my asthma!

Oh what a jolly post!!! Sorry!!

I'm off for a lie down while the washing finishes. Off to mum's midday. Fluffy is meow, meow, meow and had me up till 4. I can't get her meds down her.

HELLPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And NOW I have SAND in my pants.

Had the appointment with the ENT doc last week.
Went for (1) the labrynthitis that my GP said was causing my dizziness these past 7 weeks, and-
(2) why has my hearing on my right side been reduced for years- GP thought it might just be sinuses, even though I can breathe fine. I can't pinch my nose, blow and make my ears "pop". They just won't clear. And on the right side it really affects my hearing.

So!

Imagine my shock when, after 90 minutes in the clinic (plus 75 mins in waiting rooms) I discover that I actually have a disease called Otosclerosis, which causes progressive hearing loss.

Otosclerosis- you know those three tiny bones in the ear, and one of them is called the stapes or "stirrup"? They vibrate and this sends soundwaves through to your inner ear-???
Well in this condition they harden till they just stick fast and don't move, hence the deafness.

AND!!! As though this wasn't enough!
- this describes the first stage,
The SECOND stage is when the disease goes into the INNER ear, in which case it actually interferes with the nerves, and how the sound messages are sent along to the brain.

The test for this is with a tuning fork- he made the fork vibrate then held it in front of me and asked WHERE I heard it- to my surprise it sounded like it came from over on the right of me. He carried on putting it in different positions and asking me where I heard it. It was so weird, but I heard it from other directions most of the time, not from where it actually was. (No wonder I can never tell where helicopters are!!!)
The worst one was when he actually touched my head behind my left ear with the fork, and I heard it over on the front right.
So! I was positive on this test, meaning the disease has already got to my inner ear.

Then I had a hearing test-
VERY pleased that my left ear comes up as within normal range. But VERY shocked my results of my right ear- I knew that it was mostly low sounds I can't hear too well as I have noticed this with music; no bass in the right ear, always tinny. But in the test some low noises I couldn't hear on the right till they were at 40 decibels.

The tester also did another test for the spatial hearing. She produced a chart that showed a particular pattern that the ENT doc said confirmed otosclerosis in the second stage. I've since googled it till the cows come home and have at times found examples of this chart with just the same pattern on it. On a positive note I am really pleased to have found a doc that knows his stuff!

SO now I have an appointment in May for a hearing aid fitting! And then another appointment with the ENT doc re the dizziness-

Oh yes! The dizziness! It wasn't labrynthitis at all! SO just as well I got the referral to the ENT as the GP was wrong on that. Wish I hadn't taken all the stuff he gave me for it then, hurrumpff hurrumpff....

The dizziness was something called BENIGN PAROXYSMAL POSITIONAL VERTIGO. This is what it is-

you know that bit in the ear that coils round like a snail's shell? (Cochlea?) Well! A tiny bit of calcified matter had broken off and was floating about in the liquid in this bit. So! The ENT did a procedure called The Epley manoeuvre which means he lay me down till I went dizzy, holding my head in his hands. Then he turned my head right, back, up, down, left etc etc, steering the little bit of matter out of the coil. And it worked! The dizziness has gone! Amazing! Wonderful to see someone who knew what to do!

Mum has very little hearing in one ear and her dad was the same, and yes, otosclerosis is genetic. I've emailed my siblings to let them know....

You can have the gene and not develop the disease, and different things can spark it off. One thing that can is having a virus. This fits, as I can trace my hearing loss back to the late 1980s when i had a bad head cold that made my ears blocked and itchy. My GP back then didn't give me anti-biotics, so maybe that was because he thought it was part of the cold virus and not an ear infection. But since then my right ear has never felt 'open'.

The ENT said my ears were clean, nothing to block them and ear drums are normal. SO it isn't a pressure thing. He doesn't think my Eustachian tubes are working well though, so he's going to test them when I go back.

This last week I have been in shock and upset at the news, and trying to imagine losing my hearing. Mum has been sympathetic and supportive. We have had a laugh about it- with her it is on the left and with me it's on the right. SO I said, we better make sure you always sit on my left in future or we'll both be sitting there going "Ay? What? What you say?"

I just didn't need this news on top of other stuff, which have been stressful too. I have been on the floor with big belly-sobs, so low and upset. I feel like I am disintegrating inside lately. I wish I could go somewhere on my own for a bit and just rest and watch the world go by. I really need to get away on my own and clear my head. Which is odd, really, as I feel so lonely.