Adventures in Hearing Loss

As my luck usually goes, I managed to catch a cold right before leaving for Turkey. As you can imagine, this made for a rather unpleasant flight experience. Having never flown with sinus congestion before, I didn't know the pain that was awaiting me. During the descent of each flight on my journey to Turkey I experienced immense pain in my ears. Unfortunately, the problems with my ears didn't end upon arriving in Turkey. It didn't take me long to realize that my hearing was not returning to normal after the flight. The hearing in my left ear remained muffled like I was underwater. I decided to wait it out a while, assuming it would return to normal with time and decongestants. Unfortunately, after about a week, I was getting really annoyed and a little concerned. My hearing wasn't returning and it had also begun ringing all of the time. It would even pop from time to time but my hearing would remain the same. It was at this point that I decided I better see a doctor about my ear, fearing I would be asking people to repeat themselves for the rest of my life.

My wonderful friend, Tuba, agreed to come along with me to the student medical center to translate for me. The doctor I was sent to there looked at my ear, saw no infection, and resolved that she would not be able to help me. She said since it wasn't infected, she didn't know the problem and I would have to see a specialist. I really wasn't excited about this diagnosis.  Though the student medical center was free for me, I had no idea how to find a specialist and whether or not it would be expensive. Despite these fears, I was even more afraid of feeling like I am under water for the rest of my life. I spoke with our contact on campus and he wasn't sure if they would be able to help me but he pointed me to the international coordinator's office on the other Hacettepe University campus that houses the medical school and several hospitals. 

Yesterday Tuba and I set out again on a mission to find a doctor that could help me with my ear.  It turns out that most of the doctors at Hacettepe were at conference, but the woman working international coordinator's office (her name was Nese) was wonderful and managed to hunt a doctor who was willing to see me. Nese led Tuba and I to one of the hospitals on campus. Going to the hospital made me a bit nervous, because I generally don't like hospitals and I feel even more vulnerable in them not speaking the language. However, it is always interesting to see the differences in medical care facilities between countries and everyone was extremely nice to me. I saw one doctor who spoke a little bit of English. He looked at both of my ears and remarked that my left ear did not look normal. He said that something was very retracted but I didn't quite understand what he meant. The doctor ordered a hearing test and said that if I was found to have a lot of hearing loss that they would have to admit me as that was considered an emergency. 

Nese, Tuba, and I all trekked down to the basement for the test. There appeared to be a lot of people waiting in the halls there but I was called in quickly. The women administering the test only spoke Turkish, so Tuba had to go into the little quiet room with me to translate the instructions.The hearing test found that I only had mild hearing loss. After receiving the results I was shuttled off to see yet another doctor who was an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. He spoke some English as well and explained to me that the Eustachian tube in my left ear is blocked and that this should be easily treatable. I was given a prescription for a nasal spray and was given various exercises to help loosen the blockage. I am very relieved to know that my hearing should return shortly and very thankful to Tuba, Nese, and the doctors who helped me yesterday. I was told that the hearing test is normally very expensive but I was not charged for anything except my prescription. Healthcare for the most part is free to Turkish citizens. I am not sure if I wasn't charged because I am a student or for some other reason. 

After the little excursion to the hospital, I got the opportunity to hang out with Nese and Tuba for a few hours and get to know Nese better. Though she speaks little English and I speak little Turkish, we able to learn a lot about one another and enjoy each other's company. I do have to admit that Tuba had to do some translating from time to time. Nese complimented me on my Turkish and said that I was learning very quickly, which made me feel more confident. Everyone has been very encouraging so far when I try to learn the language. I've noticed at times that I feel more comfortable trying to use the Turkish I know than I felt when speaking French in Senegal.