Another Small Prick in the Ear

After a week of playing the equivalent of he loves me, he loves me not with my hearing, the appointment for my second Intratympanic injections to treat sudden hearing loss — University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (uhsussex.nhs.uk) comes round. In a sense, it is a relief. The build up to it has made me about as much fun to be around as a sea urchin on the bottom of your foot would be.

I sit in the dreaded waiting room once more, realising I can still hear the background noise as well as I did last week, which is a good sign. My focus turns to a young man, clearly at the start of his journey. ‘Are you Mr Singh?’ a member of staff asks, approaching the patient in his seat. ‘Yes, I am so sorry,’ he replies, giving off a nervous laugh as he realises he missed his name being called out the first time, and, embarrassed, he scurries off to his appointment.

Five minutes later, a young woman stands at the top of the waiting room and I can just about make out ‘Hedges.’ She has a bit of an accent and I struggle with accents at the best of times — even with the one duff ear and the other slightly duff one. Unfortunately, this is even more the case now with two duff ears.

Another example of this was when I was checking in at Reception. I recall telling the lady behind the screen my name, the time of the appointment and whom I’m supposed to see…