As the ear throbbs

My visit to the doctors yesterday went pretty well. I was given two ear drops and an antibiotic along with assurance that I would feel better in two days or less.It sounded good to me and I believed it until last night that is. As I prepared for bed, I noticed that the right side of my face was significantly larger than the left. Looking into the mirror revealed that this side from my ear to my neck was bright red. I didn't sleep much but OTC Tylenol and Ibuprofen kept me from crawling out of my skin. This morning It took all I had to get Mike and the kids off to work and school before I was rummaging through the medicine cabinet looking for some relief. I found a bottle of Vicoden that seemed to do the trick for four hours, until it wore off. After four hours though I had definitely gotten worse. I decided to take another Vicoden only I could not open my mouth wide enough to pop it in,let alone eat with it like directed.I was finally able to squeeze the pill in along with a sip of water and called Mike at work, though I could barely talk on speaker phone ( there was no way that phone was going to get to my ear)Mike left work early and called the doctor on his way home. The doctor ruled out medicine reaction as only half of my face and head were swollen to pumpkin size, but suggested a trip to the ER.I waited until Cindy got home from Nursing school at about five and decided to go once she freaked out and started yelling at me about what could go wrong if I kept waiting. Of course the ER was overflowing but I was given a " fast track " option. Now for those of you who like me don't know what this is, it is where you wait almost as long as in the ER but more like an immediate care where there is no chance of you getting " bumped by a more critical patient. Though I don't think this was any faster on this occasion,the word fast had me agreeing. an hour or so later , after severe pain set in ( when my vicoden wore off), My 1/2 pumpkin face/ head started to spread into a 2/3 pumpkin face/ head and a pumpkin neck, my breathing became labored ( due to neck swelling) and I broke down sobbing for pain medication, I was taken into an exam room, promptly given oral Vicoden and the doctor was called in. She inserted a wick into ear which was now completely swollen shut. An IV was inserted to draw blood,administer cortisone and some other steroid mixture to stop my swelling,I even had some additional pain meds thrown in. As I started to feel at ease,I was taken for a Ct scan to try to find the cause for an average ear infection to mutate into a major Emergency. No huge abscesses were found and I was let go with strict orders to come back if I even started to swell any more than the steroids had left my 1/2 puffy face. Most importantly, though I left with a prescription for vicoden. As I signed my discharge papers, the one nurse asked the doctor." Vicoden for an Ear infection ?""yep" replied the doctor "wow ! " Yea my feelings exactly Wow !