On Day Four of steroid treatment, plenty of water and a very, very low salt diet, young Dr. Kildare was right: my hearing has almost completely returned. Thankfully. I hope it remains normal.

It freaked me out so much I didn’t want to talk much about how bad it was. How music was completely distorted by tinnitus. How terrible the sound in my left ear was. How I feared it wouldn’t clear up.

This was an incredibly scary freak occurence, another sign of what M. calls the “Traitor Body” of these older, but not yet old, years.

Despite being a Google-fanatic and information-maniac, I did two things differently this time. Instead of Googling my syndrome, as the young doctor recommended, I avoided Google completely. And warned my sister, also an avid Googler, not to tell me anything bad.

Because, with the “wounded sanity of the neurotic,” I knew I’d fixate on the worst possible scenario.

I also made a point of not reading the drug package information and warnings. I asked M. to read them and not tell me any details, just anything I needed to know.

In this way, I avoided taking Tinker the dog’s Xanax to deal with anxiety. Which was good, because old Tinker’s doing great on it.

Google is a fantastic tool and I love the way it makes every little detail available at our fingertips.

But sometimes it’s smarter not to use Google’s power. Especially if you’re neurotic.