Archives
September 2004
9/26/04
9/15/04
GOOD NEWS and NO (not yet) NEWS
9/13/04
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
12:31:00 AM EDT
Feeling Hopeful
Hearing Buddy Guy
Had my appt. with Dr. Dennis Moore, the neurotologist (the proper term) yesterday. (No, you Monty Python fans, he doesn't use "lupines" to treat hearing disorders). Started with the audiologist. Verdict is my hearing acuity is near-perfect: they've never had an adult patient score as high as I did. They even were skeptical that I'd ever played in rock bands.
Apparently, I can detect the ultrahigh frequencies at much lower volume than most humans--that's what makes the harmonics produced by attack transients on strings sound like actual notes--and seeing as how they don't differ in pitch according to which string, they clash with the other strings. Dr. Moore could not find any structural abnormalities in the nose and outer ear, save for a mildly retracted eardrum indicative of a waning cold. He pulled me off all my ear meds except Biaxin and Claritin, and had me schedule an MRI.
Parkside/Lutheran General is not on my insurance plan, but the independent center he uses in Buffalo Grove is. I can cancel the appt. I made for next Mon. at Parkside,
because I did the MRI at the other place today--saving at least $1K. (See below).
Got one piece of great news today—the bone scan showed only a little uptake, right at the fracture—and it was gray, not black, indicating inflammation instead of cancer. Whew! Dr. Newman thinks that the fracture happened as a stress fracture during the bone graft harvest in 1996, broke completely as a result of time, weightbearing and either any one of many bumps to the hip I’ve taken getting in and out of airplane seats or the spill I took on the ice in Dec. ’02 on my way to the theater during the run of Christmas Spirits. It was held in place by my fat, and when the cells shrank from my recent 45-lb. loss, the shard drifted, causing the tendon to catch on it. Treatment right now is conservative (with a small “c,” thank you very much): relaxation ( but not bedrest), use of a cane, OTC pain meds, and perhaps a cortisone shot a month down the road. If surgery is necessary at all, it’d be arthroscopic removal of the shard, not repair.
Wish I could say the same about my hearing distortion. It improved briefly this afternoon but after my MRI it deteriorated to as bad as it’s been in days. Broke my heart to walk into the acoustic room at Sam Ash (same strip mall as the MRI center) and not be able to tell a difference in sound between a D-28, D-15, nylon string Taylor and Carlo Robelli cheapie—and I couldn’t tune them to my satisfaction either. Bought some guitar polishing stuff to distract me from actually having to play, and a set of EQ’ing filtered earplugs that roll off the frequencies above 10kHz—maybe that’ll take away the string noise without muffling things—they only reduce the entire spectrum by 6dB. Meanwhile, I notice that individual notes sound okay when I play an arpeggio or a scale, but chords are what clash. And oddly, harmonica, blues guitar (especially electric with distortion), trumpets, celli and basses are fine. Acoustic guitars (especially 12-strings) sound like cheap Autoharps with worn felts; clean electrics aren’t any better. And piano and violin? Owwwwch.
Found an MRI center Dr. Moore likes that takes my insurance plan, so I had the MRI waaaay out in Buffalo Grove this afternoon. This was a pleasant facility with a brand-new scanner—they gave me earplugs and it was lighted inside the tube—no claustrophobia at all. The magnet sounds were varied, unlike the MRIs I’d had for my knee in ’91 and ’94 (which I could swear were saying “bloody humans” over and over). I then had a contrast dye injection and some more films. The tech said the radiologist would be reading them late this afternoon and would get the report to Dr. Moore in the next couple of days. Moore had warned me about a lag time of up to a week—there’s a chance now I’ll know one way or another before I leave Fri. for my gig in Mishawaka with Susan. (Speaking of which, for her song “Vittorio,” I wrote a dulcimer arrangement of the chorus of “Nessun Dorma” ). Meanwhile, they gave me copies of the MRI films. but Bob says he could read the Upanishads in Sanskrit before he’d be able to read brain films. Just great. Well, I at least know what an advanced malignant tumor looks like—though not Meniere’s, acoustic neuroma, meningitis or encephalitis—I may take a look if I can’t sleep.
On the frivolous side, got my bleaching trays from the dentist today. Hey, I may end up losing my hair or worse—but I’ll have nice bright teeth.
Written by sandina Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
12:31:00 AM EDT
Feeling Hopeful
Hearing Buddy Guy
GOOD NEWS and NO (not yet) NEWS
Had my appt. with Dr. Dennis Moore, the neurotologist (the proper term) yesterday. (No, you Monty Python fans, he doesn't use "lupines" to treat hearing disorders). Started with the audiologist. Verdict is my hearing acuity is near-perfect: they've never had an adult patient score as high as I did. They even were skeptical that I'd ever played in rock bands.
Apparently, I can detect the ultrahigh frequencies at much lower volume than most humans--that's what makes the harmonics produced by attack transients on strings sound like actual notes--and seeing as how they don't differ in pitch according to which string, they clash with the other strings. Dr. Moore could not find any structural abnormalities in the nose and outer ear, save for a mildly retracted eardrum indicative of a waning cold. He pulled me off all my ear meds except Biaxin and Claritin, and had me schedule an MRI.
Parkside/Lutheran General is not on my insurance plan, but the independent center he uses in Buffalo Grove is. I can cancel the appt. I made for next Mon. at Parkside,
because I did the MRI at the other place today--saving at least $1K. (See below).
Got one piece of great news today—the bone scan showed only a little uptake, right at the fracture—and it was gray, not black, indicating inflammation instead of cancer. Whew! Dr. Newman thinks that the fracture happened as a stress fracture during the bone graft harvest in 1996, broke completely as a result of time, weightbearing and either any one of many bumps to the hip I’ve taken getting in and out of airplane seats or the spill I took on the ice in Dec. ’02 on my way to the theater during the run of Christmas Spirits. It was held in place by my fat, and when the cells shrank from my recent 45-lb. loss, the shard drifted, causing the tendon to catch on it. Treatment right now is conservative (with a small “c,” thank you very much): relaxation ( but not bedrest), use of a cane, OTC pain meds, and perhaps a cortisone shot a month down the road. If surgery is necessary at all, it’d be arthroscopic removal of the shard, not repair.
Wish I could say the same about my hearing distortion. It improved briefly this afternoon but after my MRI it deteriorated to as bad as it’s been in days. Broke my heart to walk into the acoustic room at Sam Ash (same strip mall as the MRI center) and not be able to tell a difference in sound between a D-28, D-15, nylon string Taylor and Carlo Robelli cheapie—and I couldn’t tune them to my satisfaction either. Bought some guitar polishing stuff to distract me from actually having to play, and a set of EQ’ing filtered earplugs that roll off the frequencies above 10kHz—maybe that’ll take away the string noise without muffling things—they only reduce the entire spectrum by 6dB. Meanwhile, I notice that individual notes sound okay when I play an arpeggio or a scale, but chords are what clash. And oddly, harmonica, blues guitar (especially electric with distortion), trumpets, celli and basses are fine. Acoustic guitars (especially 12-strings) sound like cheap Autoharps with worn felts; clean electrics aren’t any better. And piano and violin? Owwwwch.
Found an MRI center Dr. Moore likes that takes my insurance plan, so I had the MRI waaaay out in Buffalo Grove this afternoon. This was a pleasant facility with a brand-new scanner—they gave me earplugs and it was lighted inside the tube—no claustrophobia at all. The magnet sounds were varied, unlike the MRIs I’d had for my knee in ’91 and ’94 (which I could swear were saying “bloody humans” over and over). I then had a contrast dye injection and some more films. The tech said the radiologist would be reading them late this afternoon and would get the report to Dr. Moore in the next couple of days. Moore had warned me about a lag time of up to a week—there’s a chance now I’ll know one way or another before I leave Fri. for my gig in Mishawaka with Susan. (Speaking of which, for her song “Vittorio,” I wrote a dulcimer arrangement of the chorus of “Nessun Dorma” ). Meanwhile, they gave me copies of the MRI films. but Bob says he could read the Upanishads in Sanskrit before he’d be able to read brain films. Just great. Well, I at least know what an advanced malignant tumor looks like—though not Meniere’s, acoustic neuroma, meningitis or encephalitis—I may take a look if I can’t sleep.
On the frivolous side, got my bleaching trays from the dentist today. Hey, I may end up losing my hair or worse—but I’ll have nice bright teeth.
Written by sandina Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
