Dr. Doctor,

Dr. Doctors of the World,

We would very much appreciate it if you would stop having your nurses call us to give us lab results. Your nurses, while very kind and well-intentioned, do not understand what they are reporting. They are able to read "positive" or "negative" and repeat as many times as is necessary to get us off the phone, but ask them a question and they are lost. We pay you a LOT of money. Seriously, pick up the phone and call us yourselves.

Sincerely,
Your Patients

So, yeah, Aaron's on ear infection #10. On Monday only his left ear was infected, but since then his right ear has started draining nastiness, so I feel pretty sure it's infected now too. I have adamantly refused to put him on any more antibiotics until a lab culture reads positive for some kind of bad bacteria. But, alas, two cultures in a row have come back negative. The nurse on the phone seemed just as baffled as I was as to why the good doctor was so very sure there were bacteria eating away at my son's eardrum when the lab results show the opposite. Last time she told me perhaps the ear infection was viral. At my next visit the doctor he said that he didn't think that was the case and ordered another culture, which came back negative today. This time the nurse told me directly that she just didn't know why the culture would read negative. I asked her why we were treating a non-bacterial infection with antibiotic ear drops (which I did reluctantly agree to use because the doctor assured me it was necessary, even if we didn't give him an oral antibiotic), and she didn't know. I asked her if I should bring Aaron back in to be re-examined, and she didn't know. I asked her how I would know if the ear tube got blocked or if it healed itself. She didn't know. I asked her if I should have the newly infected ear looked at, and she said she didn't know. She diligently wrote down my questions and told me she would call me back with the answers. I asked her why the doctor couldn't call me himself, and she assured me he was very busy with surgeries. I think I'm done with this doctor. Anyone know a really good ear, nose, throat doctor in Knoxville?