Please advise! Risk health and go big or play safe and go home?

[lux7]

Hello everyone,

This website has given me so much it's befuddling I haven't thought of you to get some nice suggestion.

BACKGROUND
I had planned a big 32 days trip around Asia, my first time there.
All the flights planned but no hotel booked.

THE KINK
Of course just as I had planned everything and this morning was going to board the connection flight... yesterday evening my left ear's hearing got to almost 0.

I take the plane anyway as the destination airport in Europe had a clinic.
The airport clinic tell me I better go to hopistal. They "strongly advise to go", so I comply and lose my main flight.
That's not even the main issue, becuase the final diagnosis is: sudden deafness.
Tough luck.
My hearing might come back but... it might as well not.

HEALTH RISK
There's only a small, tiny chance the sudden deafness might have to do with pressure changes and only a small, tiny chance flying could affect my illness.
If I go back I could use my health insurance to get checked again and rest and.. Don't run the risk of plane and getting worst in an unknown location with lower level clinics.
I asked the doc what she would do in my shoes. She says she didn't know and then... Maybe she would go.

OPPORTUNITY LOSS
I moved to a new job and I can't transfer the holidays.
It's either I go now, or I have to wait at least a year to reorganize.
if I stay with GF and wanna visit parents, might take much longer till it's possible to reschedule... And who knows, by then I might even have lost the will :S.

And this is without considering the financial loss and time I already sank in it.

WHAT TO DO?
Tomorrow I can either re-book and go for the all planned trip or... Book a flight or train back home. Safe, but feeling a bit like a dog with the tail between his legs.

What do you suggest?
Risk health and live life or play it safe to play again better tomorrow?

I look forward to your thoughts..

 

[ray_zorse]

Well did your ear hurt when you took the initial flight? Because if not, you're good to go. Your body will inform you if there is a problem. Unless it is caused by infection, or trauma, both of which would be intensely painful, then I see no harm in seeking treatment in your home country after you get back. The people you spoke to probably know this, but have to cover their asses by giving conservative advice, as you'd expect. Anyway, your hearing could well resolve in the next 30 days, it doesn't sound like they have any idea of the cause so they of course must paint a worst case scenario to avoid giving you false hope. I presume they've checked for blockage due to earwax and so on, so it's either it gets better by itself or you endure months of going to different specialists looking for the actual cause of the problem (it seems unlikely the hairs on your eardrum spontaneously fell out or you sustained nerve or bone damage but whatever, they can work out what it is).

Good luck.

-Ray

 

[Thedoctor]

Lucifer,

Risk health and live life or play it safe to play again better tomorrow?

Nothing is worth you doing permanent damage to yourself like that. It's your body though. If you think it's worth the the risk....

-John

 

[Smith]

Lucifer,

When it comes to your health, I would strongly advice you don't take any chances.
Of course, you might get your hearing back within a few weeks or even a few days, who knows, but I think it's best to plan for the worst when it comes to your health simply because early treatment can save you a lot of trouble and money(!) down the line. You can always earn back the money you lost if you don't go on this trip, but you might not get your hearing back if you couldn't get the treatment you required when you're oversea. And can you really enjoy your trip knowing that your left ear's deaf and you should be resting? Do you want to possibly end up with a hearing aid for the rest of your life?
But it's up to you, hope you think this through before you make your decision.

 

[lux7]

Smith, John and Ray.. Thank you so much!

 

[ray_zorse]

I was thinking about this some more and thinking I should get a slap on the wrist and be told to go sit in the corner for being so reckless... but actually I went to specialist with a jaw problem and was told I must eat baby food for the rest of my life, I really made an effort to stick to this for some months and then had specialist getting angry with me for having eaten some pizza and some muesli, didn't even let me explain I had prepared it myself to make it as soft as possible... well I was miserable and eventually decided to ditch the specialist and return to eating normally, best decision (jaw hasn't got worse). Bottom line, you're responsible for your health and your quality of life too.

But that's not the reason I'm writing, wanted to point out you may have a blocked Eustachian tube, that's honestly the only thing I could think of that could cause this (and I know a fair bit about it cos I wear hearing aids myself). What happens when you cover your nostrils, close your mouth and blow gently, do you feel both ears popping out slightly? If so your Eustachian tubes are clear... forgive me if I'm stating the obvious or they already checked this of course...

If it isn't something simple then I want to explain about a treatment or rather a diagnostic that I had done in Switzerland by a Dr. Carl Fisch when I was 5, what they did was to put me under a general anaesthetic and then put a very fine needle in my eardrum, the vibrations in this needle confirmed my eardrum was functioning normally and led to a diagnosis of nerve damage, nowadays they have bionic ears and so forth (for when the eardrum is no good but the nerves are OK) so I'd imagine this kind of test is more streamlined but hopefully this info at least gives you a jumping off point for searching the web and so forth (you should never just rely on the specialist, they give incomplete or misleading information at times).

-Ray