Hopefully the end of the ear infection

So, it has been a week since we went to the doctor and my ear infection proceeded to get worse, not better. My dad made some calls and found us a private ear, nose and throat doctor we could go to here. Since healthcare is universal here, it is difficult to get care if we do not have Israeli insurance. And as we found out later, the clinic that we went to last week usually does more harm than good.

We were able to get an appointment with the doctor on Friday afternoon (which is rare in Israel, since the weekend is Friday and Saturday). Her office was in an apartment building and when we got there, we realized that her office WAS her apartment. She took us into a room with a desk, a doctors bed, and some kind of machine that was covered with a sheet. I told her what the other doctor said and did, and told her that I had gotten worse, and I thought that I had a sinus infection. She then whipped the sheet off the machine in the room and it was a large stainless steel suction machine! On top, she had many glass bottles, which was reminded me of an apothecary from the middle ages. She then looked into my ear, and said she couldn't see, so she started to suction out my ear. I thought she was suctioning out my brain! She then said I had a definite ear infection and that the doctor who I saw last week probably made the infection worse. She then put a piece of cotton on a stainless steel skewer and put it into my sinus! She then let go of the metal and it stayed there, like sticking straight out of my nose! We wish we would have taken a camera to the doctor. Anyway, she said I didn't have a sinus infection, but very bad allergies, which is not surprising because the dust here is unbearable. As much as I try to sweep and mop and clean, the dust is everywhere. The doctor gave me an antibiotic, more ear drops and an antihistamine. So far, 24 hours later, nothing has changed, but I'm hoping tomorrow morning I will wake up better! I hope this is the last post about our adventures with the Israeli medical system.

Sarah

ps. Oze is beginning his hike from Eilat all the way up to the north of the country tomorrow, GO OZE!!