Fuck Tinnitus

There I was, laying on my yoga mat, doing my daily stretches when I experienced a tight ball of pain in the middle of my skull, and I felt it travel to the bridge of my nose and then through my sinuses. It felt like a fist wrapped around a glowing stack of quarters. Then I heard an intense ringing in my left ear. I thought I was having a stroke, and there I was, alone in my apartment... I crawled to my friends house next door (I never experienced vertigo before). My left ear was ringing like mad and the pressure inside my head was intolerable. We rushed to the ER. The last place you want to be in the midst of a pandemic! They said they couldn’t help me, and referred me to an ENT.

Days later that ENT briefly examined me and sent me in for an audiology test. The audiologist found negative pressure on my right side and slight hearing loss in the left (which was never my concern - the ringing was). However there was no follow-up appointment. I told that ENT I was supposed to get on a plane later that week to go see my family. He wrote me a letter that said to ‘take some Sudafed and use Afrin on the airplane flight coming up” and that the hearing loss was “slightly down in a big picture, but not of any real concern”.
I know now that had I listened to him I could’ve ruptured my eardrum.

Thank God I remembered the ENT that Arif Mardin (my former boss and friend at Atlantic Records) sent me to many years ago, Dr. Gwen Korovin. I called her office and they got me in right away. Upon her first examination (and scoping my sinuses) she discovered a raging sinus infection. She started me on medication right away. MRIs (one with contrast, one without) confirmed fluid build-up in my inner left ear. If it wasn’t for Dr. Korovins care and skill I’m not sure where I’d be with this infection. Had the first ENT caught it weeks ago I could’ve been much further along in the healing process. The ringing hasn’t stopped since that first night.
It’s wained at times, but it comes back. It’s going to be a long road.

Unfortunately Dr. Korovin is out of my insurance network, and so my medical bills are stacking up. Thankfully her office was able to get the tests approved by my insurance company, but I have a very high deductible ($5,500). I get affordable health insurance through NY State of Health; the drawback is the high deductible.

I’ve been depleting my savings, and gratefully my dear friend Richard loaned me the money to cover Dr. Korovins office fees (for her time and in-house tests). My goal with this fundraiser is to raise enough money to cover my deductible and pay Richard back.

For those of you who know me, you know how important music, and the sound of music has been to me in my personal and professional lives. Imagine walking around for months with a blown left channel in the amplifier of your mind! It’s going to be a long road to recovery, but thanks to Dr. Korovin and my dear friends and family it looks like there’s light at the end of this long dark tunnel.

I know we’ve all been struggling through Coronageddon, and I wouldn’t ask for help if I didn’t need it. Please donate what you can, if you can.

Most Sincerely,
Michael Mercer