ugh, thats the worst. hopefully yours ends up ok. i got mine with a gun a long time ago, and when you get it with a gun it just pushes cartilage out of the way, rather than removing some of it, so it usually causes a bump of scar tissue on the back of the ear. but yeah i got mine with a tiny stud, so tiny that it went through the hole then got mass infected.
id say its been long enough that you can change it if you want. make sure everything is clean.