The Nose Knows Nothing

I have a pain in my neck.

It's been there since November.
It doesn't hurt. Never has. Just something that I am "aware" of.
Went to the doctor in December.
They told me it was my tonsils.
My throat didn't hurt.
Gave me meds.
It didn't go away.
Gave me different meds.
They made me sick. (even had to leave my screenwriting class on the first day)

Today, I finally went to an ENT. The appoinment went a little something like this:

After describing my symptoms...
P.A: Do you have heart burn?
Me: (confidently) No.
P.A. Are you sure?
P.A. Well, yes.

So, she says I have cryptic tonsils. I have to gargle with hydrogen peroxide. That's fine. But still, no answer to my question.



Enter the physician...

After a question and answer session, and a numbing of the nose, he stuck a probe with a little camera attached to the bottom up my nose and it curled down into my throat. I've never had a nosebleed, but today it wouldn't stop. On the plus side, I can breathe easier.

I'm not sure if the problem was ever really addressed. We talked about my name. Which seems like an odd thing to talk about while a probe is down your nose -- but I suppose it is as good a topic as any.

"So, you must be Greek," he says as he's lubing up a long tube-like apparatus. "Leah...that's not Greek. That's Hebrew."
"Yes, yes it is," I say. I didn't expect to get probed with any thing today and am mentally preparing myself for it.
"Know what it means?" he asked.
'Weary." ( My parents almost named my sister Rachel, which I think I might have taken offense to now knowing what it means, but that is an entirely different story...plus, I had a probe down my nose and tears running down my face -- didn't feel like explaining that one.
"My daughter's name is Leah. We didn't know if it was the best name for her as my wife was giving birth but thought, ah, what the hell, we like the way it sounds."

He showed me the pictures of my nose, throat, tonsils, etc. I did a lot of "uh, huhs" and "hmm, interesting" but really, I had no idea what I was looking at. Everything, he said, looks "normal."

He says I have acid reflux.

"I don't have any of the symptoms," I tell him.

He gives me a pamphlet.

"Look it over," he tells me. "Maybe you'll have some of the symptoms."

He gave me the pamphlet and I looked it over.

I don't have any of the symptoms.

But I do still have a pain in my neck.

My nose knows nothing about it.