There are times in your life when you think you should have listened. Times when, despite the instructions telling you otherwise, you decide to do your own thing.
Let me take you back to Friday morning. There I was doing my usual bathroom routine and, as per normal, giving my ears a quick clean with a cotton bud. After a few seconds I thought all was not right and I noticed that there was no cotton wool on the end of the stick. I checked my ear and it didn’t seem to be there and then looked on the floor and it wasn’t there either. I decided that I didn’t know the answer to the question of where the end of the bud had gone and so just carried on. I got dressed and then made my breakfast and tucked into my soda farl. Only every time that I chewed I could hear a sound like cotton wool tearing in my ear. This did not seem normal.
So I went to work and said to my boos I thought I’d better go and get my ear checked and went to the NHS walk in centre a few minutes walk from where I work. Generally they can see people within twenty minutes. Two hours later I finally saw the nurse. She looked in my ear and found the offending item, but couldn’t remove it. So then I had to see another nurse and he syringed my ear and within a matter of seconds all was well. I am not one who is normally very good at seeking medical assistance and would usually have to have a limb having off to even consider it, but I remembered this story and thought it best to get it sorted sooner rather than later.
I learnt a few things on Friday:
- Sometimes it is best to follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
- NHS walk in centres can be incredibly slow. I think each nurse was seeing about six patients an hour.
- I thought there seemed to be a lot of bureaucracy for the nurses that meant if they spent twenty minutes per patient the majority of that time was used to deal with updating the computer etc after the patient had left.
- I am not sure that it is great to hear the nurse dealing with you tell you how much she dislikes her job and is looking to leave.
- I didn’t find out the medical complaint of the person before me, but it certainly involved the nurse having to use a lot of air spray. The mind boggles.
- The walk in centre deals with about 10 patients a day who need their ear syringed.
- I got the distinct impression that what was in my ear was tame compared to most other people.
- It’s true that the smallest thing that you should put in your ear is your elbow.
But there is one thing that is still a mystery. What possible use is there for a cotton bud if you can’t stick it in your ear?
6 comments:
that is pretty funny, i'm sorry but it is. if it makes you feel any better, when i had my endoscopy done back in february, i flew back to school and was laying on r's bed. the ball from the ring and ball earring i wear ahd come out so i asked r to put it back on. not thinking i was laying with my ear up and she dropped it IN my ear. i thought i was gonna die. after a lot of shaking i got it back out and put it in standing up. it was quite an experience =D
no subject - believe me G found it funny too. I think I would have been very disturbed to have something like that dropped in my ear. By the sounds of it a magnet could have helped solve your problem!
I use cotton wool buds to clean my watch with. Good for getting in those gaps between links on the strap.
kahless - well based on the number of cotton buds I have, I would have a very clean watch. Surely that it is on a stick makes it ideally suited for the ear though?
Not that it is one for me (I prefer the ear use myself) but how about cleaning your belly-button?
kahless - yes that could be a good use. Although my belly button is obviously impeccably clean at all times anyway. I iamgine it woudlbe more difficult to lose things in there, which has to be a good thing...
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