Headaches and Glass

Let’s see, we have
• The repeated karate chop to the side of my head.
• The spear poking through the crown of my head.
• The classic temple throb.
• The Oh My God, my root canals have failed ache.
• The screw to the old jaw hinge.
• The cold-seawater-is-in-my-ear and now cold-wind-is-blowing-on-my-ear ache.
• The coffee cup suctioned to the base of my head.
• The good old crink in the neck.
• And what’s worse, a constant 6 pain, or a 3 with pulses up to 8?
Through all this my doctors refused to give me any painkillers stronger than anti-inflammatory drugs. Narcotic prescriptions are written on a special color of paper, and I guess you have to be basically on your way out to get them. The problem was that I didn’t have the correct diagnosis of sinusitis until the head ENT doctor returned from Samsun and ordered a brain scan (of course this made me think I had a tumor and all sorts of dire thoughts). When he saw the x-rays he said, “OK, you can have that much pain.” He also said if my sinuses don’t drain after the new course of antibiotics and steroids (!) he suggests surgery (I will be better by next week).
My ENT doctor is a very successful glass artist and has decorated his offices in flamboyant color. He also has the most amazing rings on his hands I’ve ever seen, like finger armor. Life is full of surprises.