It's hard not to over react when it's your own body- especially when, in the early post Tx, we're all waiting for the other shoe to drop. I started noticing parts of my anatomy, like the salivary glands alongside the cheeks and thought they were a new tumor. My H&N surgeon and I had a good laugh over that one (after the fact of course).

I had to take prednisone only a few months ago for a fluid buildup that just wouldn't go away. ENT's can easily see this with a simple otoscope exam. Sometime the swelling jams up the eustacian tubes and an anti-inflammatory, like prednisone, is the ticket to reduce the swelling so they can start draining normally again. Antibiotics don't work in these cases.

If your eardrum does rupture you will know it. First, the pain will stop abruptly and your ear will drain blood and pus for a while. You want to avoid this as ruptured eardrums will decrease your mid range hearing sensitivity. This is good enough reason to get a faster appointment with your ENT.