I am a Bad Man…

Yes, I know you’re reading this blog post title and laughing your head off.

That’s okay.

But I can’t help but look in the mirror right now and be humored by the fact I look like I’ve been in a street brawl, a war, battling zombies, maybe fighting the Predator, or something along those lines. And then that oh so famous line from “Gone in 60 Seconds” hits me… “I am a BAD man…”

So I thought I’d share to bring a little humor to your day at my expense.

Anyway, this is what I look like post-surgery. Today, I had my 3rd round of surgery in this ongoing battle with cholesteatoma. After two surgeries on the left ear, I somehow managed to grow another one of these crazy tumors in my right ear.

The good news? Pretty much everything this time. Dr. Thedinger indicated to my wife following surgery (while I was completely zonked out; let me tell you, there is NO sleep like surgical sleep!) that the growth in my right ear was not very extensive. It has not degraded any of my bone structure yet, so that means that once everything heals up, my right ear should be pretty close to 100% of my “normal” hearing capability. So yes… good news for sure.

The bad news? Simply that I’m going to have to rely on my “bad” ear for all hearing while the “good” one heals. Dr. Thedinger performed some sort of laser heat-treatment today on the eardrum of my left ear to try to improve what hearing capability I have, but I don’t know that I can really expect too much help there. Thanks to my previous cholesteatoma, I have no normal bone structure in there, so I’ve got a really whacked out frequency response. The good news is that this issue can be corrected with a hearing aid (hopefully only temporary until my “good” ear heals). I’ll take that trial run… if it improves my quality of life in terms of hearing, I’m all for it.

Anyway, all said, today was a good day in my battle with cholesteatoma. And the plus?

A little over a week of “unplanned” vacation in which I plan to get FULLY rested. Yeah, I’ll work from home to keep up (thanks to a very understanding boss!), but I’ll take that any day.

For those of you dealing with cholesteatoma, remember… this condition isn’t the end of the world by any means. Be thankful that your condition has been identified, and that it can be treated.

Sure, it would be better NOT to have it at all. I think about that at times. But if you’re a person of faith, you’ve gotta believe there’s a higher purpose for your suffering. Maybe that’s only to make you appreciate what’s yet to come beyond this life. Maybe it’s to give you a story to share about how Christ sees you through. Maybe it’s something altogether different.

I can tell you this.

You can’t change the reality of what you’re dealing with.

You CAN, however, change your ATTITUDE about your circumstance.

Sometimes, that makes all the difference in the world.

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For more readings on my battle with cholesteatoma, check out these posts:

Also… if you want to connect with me and others battling cholesteatoma? Check out this Facebook page for “Cholesteatoma Survivors”.