One Blip on the Trip

If you were ever wondering what an ear cartilage infection looks like, here you go.  Every vacation has some blip (and some vacations have many blips).  The only real one we encountered this year was a weird one.  We are still not entirely sure how it happened, but Stephen developed an infection in the ear cartilage on the top of his left ear.  The most common cause of such an infection is a piercing in that area.  (It was hard to convince my Grandma that Stephen had not pierced his ear.  She was skeptical!!)  Since that was not the origin here (it could have been a bite, an abrasion, an ear trauma like wrestlers or boxers get according to the doctor), we are left with little certainty as to how it happened.  But regardless of its origin, the treatment for it ended up being much more involved than you would think.  Take a look:

Ouch!  This is a few days into our trip.  The pain and swelling started around the first day, and it was minor in the beginning but then got increasingly worse.  Stephen texted a doctor friend of his and got some antibiotics ordered, which we were able to pick up and start when we got to El Paso.

The antibiotics helped with the redness and some of the pain, but fluid remained in the top part of the ear, which produced pressure and soreness.

This is his other ear to compare.  There isn't a lot of space for expansion in the top part of the ear -- hence the pressure and pain.


Because the ear wasn't healed by the time we got home, we made an appointment with an ENT for Monday afternoon.  When the ENT saw Stephen, he told him that he had to have an emergency draining and packing procedure and that infections like this can actually kill the cartilage and severely deform the ear if not treated properly.  The doctor said it was good that Stephen got on the antibiotics but that a procedure was immediately necessary.  The last patient the doctor had treated for this was in the hospital for 6 weeks on IV antibiotics and had to have three reconstructive surgeries on her ear!!  This is what Stephen looked like after the first procedure...

He had to keep the head wrap on for 6 days.  It drove him crazy! He couldn't do much of anything while it was on, and he is not good at taking it easy for long stretches.

The procedure had to be repeated twice, and then he actually had to have surgery on his ear at the hospital the next week because it wasn't fully healing. The infection was gone, but the fluid buildup and irregular shape wasn't.  They had to insert a drain and suture packing into his ear.  And he has had to take strong antibiotics for several days.

 His poor ear!  So for over two weeks he has had some form of head wrap or bulky bandage on and has been in pain.  The stares and comments he has gotten have been persistent and sometimes funny.  When he was finally able to go back into the office for work, one lady went up to him and said, "Excuse me, sir, but you have something on your ear," and she started to reach up to remove the gauze, as if it was there by accident!  When she realized it was a medical wrap, she became embarrassed and apologized.  Stephen just laughed.  He has had to tell the story of what happened to nearly every one he comes into contact with.  He is now just saying he was attacked by a Grizzly on vacation.  Or a shark. Something cooler than the real thing.

One of his friends said, when Stephen had the head wrap on, that he looked like the guy from the Backstreet Boys who wore a white knitted head wrap -- AJ McClean.  We thought that was pretty funny!

With the number of piercings and tattoos he has, AJ has probably had an ear cartilage infection too. :)  "Tell me why, ain't nothin but a heartache..."

We are just hoping that the surgery was successful and that we can get rid of this vacation souvenir for good!  We find out in a couple days when he goes back in.