Audio Baseline Test

"Trouble knocked on the door, but, hearing laughter, hurried away."

- Ben Franklin

Late this afternoon, I had a doctor's appointment with an Ear/Nose/Throat specialist to do an audio baseline prior to my treatment. Fortunately, there is a good doctor just 3 minutes away at Warminster Hospital.

The nasopharynx is the top of the throat where both the nasal passages and your ears connect with your throat. So, nasopharyngeal cancer often spreads to the ear, causing ringing in your ears, hearing loss, bleeding in your ears and other really unpleasant stuff . . . which thankfully I've had none of.

One of the potential chemo side effects that is critical to measure, however, is whether or not the dose of Cisplatin that I'm receiving is causing me any hearing loss. To that end, Dr. Sherman sent me to see Dr. Maurice Roth, right here in Warminster.

At the appointment, I had a little trouble with the administrative staff and my co-pay. They wanted me to pay double what I've been paying everywhere else and what is printed on my card. Unfortunately, I've seen a lot of terrible administrative people at Penn and Warminster Hospital. Some have been great, but often these folks are rude or just plain bad at their jobs. I imagine it's not an easy or particularly high paying job, and they probably get sick of seeing cranky, selfish patients all the time. Nonetheless, dealing with these folks is more of a pain than all of the needles and post-surgical soreness I've faced. I digress.

Dr. Roth comes in to see me. He says he overheard my conversation with his staff, and he apologized. He also said that any time I came back to his office . . . I would never pay another co-pay. He was a very cool doctor, who asked about my condition. He was very familiar with Dr. Weinstein and the folks at Penn.

Dr. Roth's job today was to test my hearing to see if I'd suffered any healing loss. During my treatment, if I get any ringing in my ears or if Dr. Sherman thinks I need it, he will send me back to have my hearing tested and compared to today's results. At the end of my treatment, I will also be tested. The good news is that my hearing test today showed that I had perfectly normal hearing.

So, great results. Meeting Dr. Roth was a good experience, and life's too short to be worried about the negativity of his office staff. One of the things I've learned is that stress and negativity are always going to be out there. You may have to encounter and deal with it, but there's no reason why you have to carry it with you. I just move on, and leave it behind.