Figuring you’d rather read about my exciting produce purchases, my fun new recipe discoveries, and my exciting life with teenagers – I have spared you the details of my silly but very annoying physical malady of the past few weeks. But, lucky you, now I’m going to share. It’s Gratituesday, after all – and this is something I’m very thankful for. Praise God in everything, right?

Christmas day (yes 6 weeks ago), which also happened to be the day we left for a long road trip to California, my left ear plugged up. Typically when an ear plugs, you can yawn to pop it, right? Not so for me this time. Figuring it would pop any minute, and knowing my chiropractor was closed for the holiday, I did nothing but wait (and yawn a lot).

As it was, my ear remained plugged through our entire drive and visit to California. I went to my chiro immediately after returning home. He adjusted me. He did acupuncture. I went to my homeopathic doctor. I went back to my chiro. I did ear candles. I used essential oils. I went to my massage therapist. I stood on my head (not even kidding). I prayed. I prayed. I prayed. My ear remained plugged.

I had not been sick. I was not in pain. I simply couldn’t hear well in my left ear, and every time I talked I heard my own voice loudly inside my head. Argh! So annoying! I gained a new appreciation and compassion for those with hearing loss. No wonder they struggle to be in large crowds of people.

Bless my family for having to say everything twice. Matt would whisper something sweet into my left ear and I would respond with a blank stare. Poor guy. ;)

Finally I recognized that my ear issue had nothing to do with drainage or lack thereof. Took me long enough, right? Hey, I’m not one to just run to the doctor for every little thing. Typically ear issues can be treated easily and entirely by the chiropractor or with a specific ear draining massage. I wanted to exhaust all other possibilities first. So I did. Since nothing else worked, I finally went to Urgent Care.

This turned out to be an ear wax impaction. They flushed my ear out and two minutes later I was a new woman. The nurse yelled, “THERE NOW, IS THAT BETTER?” Come to think of it, she probably used her quiet inside voice. It just seemed so loud and clear to my freshly cleaned out ear. (You’re welcome that I’m not going into detail about what was flushed out. Wow and wow again.)

So yay for me (and for my family)! I can hear again! From typing on my keyboard to hearing trains go by, I am noticing all the sounds I’ve been missing the past several weeks.

Of all things, today I am thankful for conventional medical treatment and a doctor who didn’t question me or suggest that I take some sort of medicine that would only treat the symptom and not the real issue. That is, after all, why I had avoided going in the first place. Had I known 6 weeks ago that none of that would happen and that all I needed was a date with a high powered water blast through my ear….

In the meantime, my chiropractic adjustments and massage benefited my health, so nothing was lost on those appointments.

So please, leave a really loud (or really soft) comment telling me what you’re thankful for this week. I’LL BE ABLE TO HEAR YOU!!!! How great it is to be reminded of the little things (like hearing) that we take for granted.