Taboo and Tinnitus?

"It's square, on a house, when you are sad, you look out the..."

"WINODW!" screams my Taboo team. "Yes!!!" I cheered.

We started singing, "We are the champions..." but it was a little too soon. My team lost by one point. We are all such strong competitors, that I must admit we were sore losers.

This weekend there were about fifty of us who got together for a Pre-Thanksgiving dinner. We had a great time of food, fellowship, and a friendly (or not so friendly) game of Taboo. Everyone was screaming out answers, cheering on their team, and taunting the other team. It was great fun, until I got into the car when I left and noticed something in the silence.

Ring......Ring......Ring.............

I tried not to pay much attention to what seemed to be a high pitched ringing in my right ear and when I got home I just got in the bed and assumed it would be gone when I woke up the next morning. However, when I woke up the next morning, the ringing was still there. I began to get worried as the ringing persisted throughout the day. It was especially annoying when all I could hear between studying Theology was: RING........

So being the worrier I am, I decided to look up on the internet what was going on with my ear. After a quick search on "Ask Jeeves," I discovered that I had a symptom called tinnitus. As I read and read I began to get more worried: may cause loss of hearing, may result in need for surgery, may need draining of the inner ear...

"Lord, God please help me. All I did was play taboo with a bunch of loud friends!" I whispered to myself.

After my reasearch I decided if I woke up on Monday morning and was still able to hear the ringing, that I would make an appointment. I was really worried. I discussed it with my mom and she looked at me like I had lost my mind! I got in my bed and began to pray, "Lord, you healed the lame, made the blind see, and the deaf to hear...surely you can stop this ringing in my ear!"

A little dramatic, I know, but doesn't God want us to cast all our cares upon Him?

Monday morning came. I still heard the ringing, so I got on the phone to make an appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. I was not expecting to get an appointment before the holiday, but God in His grace orchestrated it in a way that allowed me to get in at 3 p.m. I did not want to go by myself, so my sweet friend Virginia offered to leave her job early to go with me just in case they started sticking needles in my ear, I could squeeze her hand!

I drove out to Medical City Dallas, and had a seat on the examining stool. The doctor came in and asked me some questions:
"Did you go to a rock concert this weekend?" No
"Were you exposed to a loud, persisting noise?" No
"Did someone scream in your ear?" Well, not directly
"Were you exposed to loud voices in an enclosed area?" Actually, yes

There it was. My doctor's theory of the ringing in my ear was due to the loud voices in the house. Can you believe that?

"It was only Taboo," I thought to myself.

He guided me down the hall into a huge booth for a hearing test. I had to repeat a bunch of words, listen to a bunch of beeps and raise my hand, and the test came back...PERFECT! What a relief. My hearing in my right ear is actually better than my left ear. Go figure!

So, my doctor prescribed me some medicine to take away the rining in my right ear, told me to lay off the cafeeine (is he serious?), and to remove myself from loud voices. I have started the meds, and I think the ringing has either gone away to a faint ring, or my mind is playing tricks on me..that's a whole other issue...

I guess next time I'll just stick to playing Spades!