Understatement

So, my left ear has been bothering me a few weeks. Work has been too nuts with my boss out of the office two of the past four weeks to do much more than take ibuprofin and ignore the pain--getting in to see the doc just wasn't a priority. Finally, yesterday it got bad enough. I admitted it: my ear hurts. So, after a restless night with pain that could not be ignored and that vicodin was only taking the edge off for 2 or 3 hours, I went to the doc this morning. She examined my ear. Stated it had been infected for a while, how long had it been bothering me. Three weeks, I said. Three weeks! She shook her head. You have a high pain tolerance, she said. What an understatement. I laughed. I laughed because my pain tolerance had been a subject of conversation this weekend--the Dom, Nick, who had pushed me to my limits and beyond, because he wanted my safe-word. There was something about my laugh that concerned her. So she started asking the domestic violence questions. None of them applied to me, but I appreciated her concern. She's a good woman, a good doc. I'm glad I found her. Antibiotics, enough vicodin for 3 days. If there is no improvement by the 4th day, come back in for a different antibiotic. She stressed the last. I told her I would. Really. I can't take much more if it, anyway.