Last fall I started suffering from vertigo, and I finally found a doctor at UNC Hospital named Oliver Adunka who was able to fix it with the Epley Maneuver.

Part of that treatment involved a hearing test. Every since I had my ear operated on in 2004 I’ve had hearing loss and tinnitus in my left ear. The hearing test showed that the loss was due to something in the middle ear, as the inner ear is fine. Adunka suggested that he could fix it, but first I’d have to get a CAT scan so that he could see what was going on.

Due to my schedule it was several months before we could make this happen, so yesterday I went off to get this done.

The CAT scan itself went fine. I had to go to the UNC Hospital Imaging Center which is on the same lot that used to house a restaurant called “Slugs at the Pines” where I took my Junior Prom date Cynthia. I was seen promptly and the whole thing took less than 20 minutes.

Next, I drove down the street to the doctor’s office, arriving at 9am. Now my appointment wasn’t until 10am, but I did really have an option to do anything else since I was about 30-40 minutes away from home or the office, so I sat and worked on my phone while watching Kelly and Michael on the television. They were broadcasting from Disney World, so I couldn’t help but think of my friends John and Susan, and they did have Johnny Galecki from “The Big Bang Theory” as a guest, but there were other things I would have rather been doing.

At 10am someone came out and turned the TV to Spongebob Squarepants. At 10:30 I’d had enough of the undersea hijinks so I went and asked what was up with my appointment. After a few minutes they showed me to a room, where I sat for another 30 minutes. At 11am I decided I’d had enough, and I walked out. I told the ladies at the desk that I would be happy to return when Dr. Adunka could make an appointment he could keep and they said “okay” – no attempt to see what was going on or do anything that might require them to get out of their chairs.

So I left.

I know that an hour wait is probably acceptable, but after being there for two hours I was getting a little upset. I’d be out of business if I treated my customers like that. But I think it was more that I’m nervous about having another ear operation considering the butcher job the last guy did. I really don’t want a guy who is that distracted and disorganized having a go at my hearing.

But, I’ve already dropped some serious bucks on the CAT scan, not to mention taking a shot of radiation to the head, so I want to pay someone to look at the results. I want someone good, so I looked up the hearing specialists at Duke and decided on [Dr. Debara Tucci][7]. I’m too busy to see her anytime soon, but I did get an appointment for the 25th of March. Now I just need to round up copies of my hearing test and my CAT scan.

Hope this one goes better than the last.