Restoring the Balance

by Nicky Phillips
^{(creative writers at http://www.morewriting.co.uk)}

Harry was desperate to get rid of his last four letters and win the game of Scrabble. He never won and was always being teased by his clever-clogs sister, Tamsin. At 14, she was a bright kid and knew it, often outshining him at spelling and grammar. He didn't really mind; music and science were his passion. He spent all his spare time - when not revising for his A2s (he was taking physics, chemistry and biology) - either listening to music or playing it. Right now he reckoned he’d rather be playing his guitar.

He looked again at his letters - I, I, S, T - and the Scrabble board. How could he get out with that lot? The word GUITAR was on the board, so he could add IST to the end of it. But that would leave him with an I and he so wanted to prove to Tamsin that someone apart from her could win.

Suddenly he saw it: the word Labyrinth. Tamsin had put LAB down - which he reckoned wasn't a proper word, but his parents had let her have it. Then Dad had added the YRINTH. Smiling smugly, he put the ITIS on the end.

"There! That's a word, isn't it?"

His dad grinned. "Yes, well done, old boy, you out?"

"Yep, and it's a double word score, too."

Tamsin wrote his score down and started adding up.

Harry moved closer to his father.

"Remind me what it is, Dad. I know it's something medical."

Harry's father was a GP in the local medical practice.

“It means inflammation of the labyrinth in the inner ear and is generally caused by a viral infection.”

“Oh yes, I know about the labyrinth; that’s made up of fluid-filled channels that help control balance and posture, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right. Funnily enough, I was called out to a patient with labyrinthitis this week. Poor chap couldn't get out of bed at all without being sick and was anxious it might be something serious, like a stroke. He was suffering all the usual symptoms: intense dizziness with sickness and difficulty hearing with the bad ear.”

"Well, you won, Harry," piped up Tamsin. "You beat me by 6 points. Dad was next and ... sorry, Mum, you were bottom."

"So what causes this labyrinthitis?"

Tamsin sighed, raising her eyes to the heavens. "Come on, Harry, you could at least help clear up."

"You leave it, Tam, and go and do whatever it is you go and do these days. I'll clear up with Dad - I'd like to know more."

After Tamsin and her mum had gone into the kitchen, Harry continued.

"Dad, what causes it?"

“Usually a viral infection. This chap had just had a bad throat and cold, so his was probably because of that. It’s uncommon for it to be caused by other things, but some conditions – meningitis, injury, tumours or a bacterial infection in the middle ear, for example – can produce labyrinthitis in addition to other symptoms.”

“Is it simple to diagnose, or do you have to do any special tests?”

“Depends, really. Generally it can be diagnosed on the basis of symptoms and examination, but if symptoms suggest anything other than a viral infection, or don’t settle with three to four weeks, then further tests can be helpful.”

“Such as … “

“Hearing tests, balance tests, maybe a scan. There’s also something called Ménière's which people often confuse with labyrinthitis. Sometimes I think people suffering the symptoms of labyrinthitis are frightened by their severity and sudden onset, and assume they have something more than a viral infection.”

“So, how does your patient get rid of it then? Does it just go of its own accord?”

“He’ll just have to stay in bed until the worst of the infection is over, which is normally a few days. I prescribed him some anti-sickness medication to reduce the vomiting and reminded him to drink plenty of fluids. Some GPs prescribe steroid tablets, but I’m not convinced that they do any good.”

“Will he be back to normal in a few days then?”

“Maybe – his doesn’t seem to be a particularly bad case, but symptoms can continue or recur for several weeks before clearing completely. The important thing for him is to recognise that he’ll need to stay in bed when the symptoms are bad. Occasionally people suffer for months and years. If that’s the case, I suggest they go on the Internet and look at www.labyrinthitis.org.uk.

It’s a website set up specially for those people. I hope my patient gets over it soon; he wouldn’t know how to turn a computer on, let alone find the website! I’ll call on him again in the next few days to check how he’s doing.”

“Thanks for that, Dad. Tell you what – you’ve given me an idea for the next game of Scrabble, too. If Tamsin puts MEN on the board, and I’ve got the right letters, I can go out by putting INGITIS on the end!”