Boy Goes to The Doctor with Hearing Problems. The Doctor Gasped as He Looked Inside
The doctor carefully examined Timothy’s ear and was surprised at what he saw. This was not something that he had seen before in his career and was definitely not something that could be fixed with a simple visit to the doctor. Teresa watched in silence, hopeful that the doctor would be able to help her son. However, it quickly became apparent this would not be the case. The nurse had examined Timothy’s ears from the inside and found something that caused her to gasp in surprise. She quickly excused herself and left the room, leaving Teresa and Timothy wondering what could be wrong.
“Timothy,” said Teresa, staring into space, lost in thought while Teresa tried to make sense of the situation. The nurse’s worried expression did nothing to ease Teresa’s nerves as she entered the room again with a doctor in tow. After a quick examination, the doctor placed a hand on the boy’s head and began explaining what he had discovered. While his words were reassuring, the gravity of the situation was not lost on Teresa. It had started about the time that Timothy had turned 9 years old, a few months earlier, when Teresa noticed that he was replying to her with fewer and fewer questions. She started to get worried. At first, she believed he was going through a period in which he would disregard her more. However, this was to no avail. Despite his best efforts, Timothy was never a popular child. He had always favored being alone over interacting with other children at the playground. He grew accustomed to spending extended periods of time in front of the TV, playing video games with a headset covering his ears. By patting him on the shoulder, Teresa would get his attention.
Teresa was concerned that her son’s passion could become an addiction to gaming or, at the very least, make it more difficult for him to interact with other children his age. However, she also felt some responsibility for their lack of interaction. She concluded that the best way to assist him in avoiding these possible issues was to be more stringent about his playtime. Timothy, despite his effort to not have the best of beginnings, the primary reason was Teresa’s connection to Bjorn, Timothy’s dad. Though she loved Bjorn, they had grown apart long before Timothy was born. Bjorn didn’t want to keep Timothy because, at the time, he didn’t feel emotionally or financially prepared to be a parent. Teresa, however, always wanted to have children, even if she didn’t plan for them, so she had the baby, having convinced Bjorn that they could be successful parents. But by the time Timothy was two years old, Bjorn’s anger had reached a boiling point. The relationship between Teresa and Bjorn was hopeless, and it ended in the couple’s divorce.
Being raised without a father figure made it harder to mature into an adult. Teresa had personal experience with this subject matter. On the other hand, Bjorn and Timothy never developed a particularly close relationship. There was nothing that he could do to assist Teresa until she begged him. After his departure, there was consequently very little to almost no discernible change. Teresa knew her son had struggled even though Timothy was too young to remember most of it. In light of this, she couldn’t hold her son accountable for seeking solace in a medium such as video games as he got older. But this was getting out of hand. There was cause for concern, and she felt it. If Timothy’s hearing loss was a direct result of his prolonged use of the gaming headset, he had to take it off. Teresa told Timothy about her worries and immediately began limiting his gaming time and, more importantly, prohibiting the headset use to some extent. She hoped it would help. Teresa hoped that now that Timothy wasn’t allowed to use the headset, she noticed a change in his attentiveness. However, this wasn’t the case. Despite Teresa’s watchful eye on the headset, Timothy’s issues appeared to be getting worse. It was everywhere, and Teresa couldn’t help but notice it. It was like Timothy had never taken off the headset.
Finally, someone else had taken note beside Teresa. Teachers started contacting Teresa to discuss Timothy’s worsening behavior in class. At first, they assumed he was distracted or disobedient, but eventually, they started to worry. The most notable example is when Timothy’s English teacher expressed concern to Teresa that he might go deaf. She also proposed an unexpected explanation for why Teresa was concerned about Timothy’s apparent hearing loss. So she talked to his instructor. The teacher gave an unexpected answer. She had noticed Timothy had a bad tendency to stick pencils and pens in his ears. Perhaps that led to some extensive damage, or maybe something got trapped and couldn’t move. Teresa’s reaction to the teacher’s theory was beyond worry. She had initially chalked it up to attitude, but now it was clear something else was at play. The problem with Timothy’s ears required her immediate attention. However, she knew Teresa would have to visit a doctor with Timothy, someplace she’d been hoping to stay away from for some time now. Because Teresa had a hard time getting to the doctor, Timothy was still technically covered by her ex-boyfriend Bjorn’s health plan, but she couldn’t afford it. Each declared payment, however, would require his approval. Teresa had considered dropping the plan, but she promised herself she’d stay with it in case of an emergency with Timothy. Did she need to risk Bjorn getting mad? There was only one option left for Teresa.
She knew it was time to talk to Bjorn. She figured if she explained the situation and asked permission to have Timothy’s hearing checked, he would agree. After all these years, she had never once asked him for anything else. She initially ignored Bjorn’s calls. The voicemail confirmed that Teresa’s ex had kept the same number even though it was clear he didn’t want to talk to her. But Teresa persisted because she knew how important medical treatment was for Timothy. After five days of unsuccessful calling, Bjorn finally picked up. Even after hearing an angry, “What do you want?” Teresa managed to keep her cool. She needed to pull through. Bjorn swallowed his pride and gave Teresa a chance to explain herself. Teresa informed him of Timothy’s diminishing hearing and growing pain as soon as she could regarding how going to the doctor suddenly seemed to be the only choice. She explained to Bjorn that she needed to use his insurance to pay for their son’s medical care because she couldn’t afford it herself. The news that Teresa could use Bjorn’s insurance for Timothy’s appointment nearly caused her to collapse with joy. To top it all off, she couldn’t believe it when Bjorn assured her that he’d cover any medical expenses related to Timothy if anything were to happen. Teresa felt relieved and couldn’t stop thanking and praising Bjorn, but he brushed that off as well, rationalizing his absence from fatherhood by saying it was the least he could do.
Teresa received a phone call in the evening before her scheduled visit. She was shocked when she looked at the screen to see who could be. It was Bjorn on the line. Sweat beamed down from her brow. Perhaps now when they needed his help, he’d back out. She answered the phone with trepidation, expecting bad news. But Bjorn kept to himself and was even a little shy. “Please let me know if you and Timothy will need a ride to the doctor on Monday, suppose you don’t mind my asking,” he said. Astonished, Teresa stared at him. Never before had he proposed something so selfless. Early the following morning, Teresa and Timothy rose to get ready for their scheduled appointment. Teresa was prepared for the possibility of taking the bus because she thought Bjorn might not show up or come after an hour. Bjorn still hadn’t shown up. There had been no contact from him by phone or text, and in Teresa’s opinion, this was normal. Naturally, he’d let her down. Teresa had just about given up when the doorbell rang three times. She hurried to the door and opened it to find a red-faced Bjorn standing there shakily. He explained that his alarm clock hadn’t gone off and he rushed over as soon as possible. There was a brief look at the clock from Teresa. Rest, astonishingly, he arrived promptly.
The car ride to the doctor’s office was expected to be eerily quiet. Bjorn didn’t know how to be a father because he’d barely known his son. Timothy looked at the window and then at his feet, wriggling around restlessly. The whole thing was shaping up to be quite unpleasant. When they arrived at the doctor, the nurse asked them to follow her. The doctor came in after the nurse and finished examining Timothy and quickly introduced himself to the parents. The doctor said he had a full schedule today and Timothy’s severe hearing loss was the only reason he could see him so quickly. Before continuing the examination, the doctor inquired Timothy about the severity of his current pain. Timothy asserted that he was not, since he had never before encountered ear pain that was even remotely bothersome. His hearing disability was no longer a problem because he’d grown accustomed to dealing with it. Timothy cooperated with the doctor’s examination by remaining calm and quiet. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, so he tried to keep his composure as much as possible.
The physician’s eyebrows knitted together as he examined Timothy’s ear canals. Teresa’s stomach lurched and the lump formed in her throat. “What does that mean?” she asked. The doctor turned back to Timothy’s parents. “I noticed that the side of his ear looked very different from the other. He seems to be missing a chunk of his eardrum and the infection caused by Timothy’s repeated stabbings looks quite severe.” Teresa stumbled over her speech. “What does that mean? Just what happened to cause him to lose an eardrum? Please, he’s a kid.” The doctor continued by saying that Timothy couldn’t simply lose a piece of his eardrum. There should have been significant damage to the area, and both Timothy and Teresa would have noticed if they hadn’t already. Teresa was perplexed as to why Bjorn would continue avoiding eye contact with her. Why didn’t he recognize that his son had such an odd health problem? The statement of the doctor, which everyone was startled by, came after Teresa had pressed the doctor for clarity. Simply put, Teresa hadn’t given it any thought. Timothy’s injury is unlikely to have flared up again recently, and no harm has been done here. Even though this medical condition is relatively rare, it’s almost certainly inherited.
Teresa was taken aback when she learned this. She never heard of this problem growing up, and neither had her doctors. She looked over at Bjorn, who was swallowing his shame. The obvious thought on his mind was, “Not this.” “Oh man,” Bjorn mumbled. “I knew it was a possibility,” as he looked pitifully at Timothy. Teresa scolded Bjorn. He should have just told him everything he knew about them by now. Teresa restrained herself from screaming and asked him to explain. After he’d gathered up enough nerve, he managed to speak. Bjorn claims that this genetic anomaly runs rampant in his family since his dad and uncle had it. Bjorn assumed that Timothy wouldn’t be at risk of contracting it because he wasn’t Bjorn’s son or one of his brothers. But that, alas, wasn’t the case. “Timothy’s hearing wouldn’t have deteriorated as much if the problem had been addressed sooner,” the doctor told Bjorn and Teresa. As a result, Teresa experienced a sense of betrayal. Bjorn’s only concern was himself. In any case, it wasn’t something you wanted to keep from the mother of your child. She had no idea what could have possibly delayed him so long in breaking the news to her. “Why didn’t you say anything?” she sobbed and made an effort to relax. The doctor said that fortunately, he had good news, trying to brighten the mood. “The surgical correction of this condition is feasible and the patient will recover quickly. Timothy won’t even be absent from class.” Even though it was terrible news, this was a welcome development. Timothy could handle it, of course.
The return trip was as silent as the outbound one, but it wasn’t due tense this time. Before Timothy was out of earshot, Teresa held her wrath in. Teresa told Timothy to head to his room as they neared the house, adding that she would follow suit shortly. Timothy burst in and Teresa looked at Bjorn, who was preparing to unlink. She was about to give him the scolding of his life when she saw tears well up in Bjorn’s eyes. Before Timothy was born, she had never gotten such a reaction from him. Even though she didn’t comprehend why he was just now displaying his emotions, she felt a little more receptive. Bjorn broke down in tears, revealing how tough it was for him to accept that he wouldn’t be a part of his son’s life. There was no real chance for him to start over because he hadn’t been in a stable relationship since Teresa and hadn’t fathered any other children for quite some time. He’d meant to call them and make amends for their past mistreatment, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Uncharacteristically, Teresa experienced a twinge of compassion for Bjorn. He was as guilty as they come, yet it seemed he had a significant karmic debt to settle first.
A short time later, Teresa found herself in a position to forgive Bjorn. The expression of modest relief spread across Bjorn’s face; it lit up. They avoided talking to Timothy by spending some time together in the car. Bjorn said he would cover the surgery cost in full and check in with his dad to see how the rest of the family was handling the news. He was making an effort to start over with Timothy and Teresa. Bjorn picked them back up on the day of Timothy’s surgery, this time setting multiple alarms in case he forgot. The operation went smoothly, and the surgeon assured Teresa that Timothy would probably be able to hear normally again. The idea was almost so far-fetched that she was almost in disbelief. Finally, Timothy’s life returned to normal. Bjorn paid many visits to Timothy while recovering from surgery, giving the youngster a variety of tiny gifts and sweets. However, no one could have predicted that he intended to remain there permanently. Teresa and Bjorn had called it quits on their relationship, but Teresa knew that Bjorn’s relationship with Timothy was just getting off the ground. “If you like the video, please give it a thumbs up and consider sharing it with someone who may find it interesting. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next video.”
