Hi There....I am New Here....

[Harrybaby617]

I just thought I would introduce myself, I am Harold, a 43 year old college student who has suddenly found himself moderate to severely deaf from diabetic nerve damage. I suddenly lost my hearing in both ears 2 years ago and have been waiting on my first set of hearing aids for 4 months. I am getting the Oticon Epoq V hearing aids with the bluetooth streamer accessory and I cannot wait until next week to see how well they work....In short, I am going nuts with adjusting to not hearing as well as I used to. I am still not sure about reading Audiograms but I believe that I have a 55 percent loss in my right ear and a 65 percent loss in my left ear.....

 

[Bottesini]

Hello. You mean db loss? As hearing loss is not measured in percent.

 

[Harrybaby617]

LOL...Whoops...I had the silly measurements stuck in reverse...LOL

Yes, I guess I must have....seeeeeee, this proves I am new to the hearing loss world....LOL

 

[stefan2832]

Hi there!..actually I'm new here as well! Steve.

 

[Phillips]

Hello

 

[Hutt5asl]

Welcome!! My husband is also a Diabetic and has nerve damage, but not in his ears. His is in his extremeties and in his internal organs, which causes quite a bit of pain.

 

[Harrybaby617]

Hi Steve.....

Hi there!..actually I'm new here as well! Steve.

Tell me, have you been finding it as hard as I have to adjust to the hearing loss? I am having a very hard time dealing with having to ask people to repeat themselves and they actually get annoyed with me....I hope your having an easier time than I am.....

 

[Harrybaby617]

Hi there Hutt....

Welcome!! My husband is also a Diabetic and has nerve damage, but not in his ears. His is in his extremeties and in his internal organs, which causes quite a bit of pain.

I most certainly hope that your husband gets to feeling better...Neuropathy (Nerve Damage) is not a fun thing....and I certainly hope that he doesn't lose his hearing because of it....my grandmother lost some of hers, and my father has lost some to neuropathy as well...me, I lost mine suddenly and on the day we laid my grandmother to rest to boot. This is a very hard thing to adjust to when one has been able to hear for all of his life and then just loses it as suddenly as I have.

 

[LDNanna]

Hi! Welcome. You should check out Jillio's late deaf forum, very nice forum.

 

[stefan2832]

Tell me, have you been finding it as hard as I have to adjust to the hearing loss? I am having a very hard time dealing with having to ask people to repeat themselves and they actually get annoyed with me....I hope your having an easier time than I am.....

No..for me also it has not been easy. I find I don't join in when people are talking..1 person I can lip-read, but when several people are talking I stand no chance! I also know those who get annoyed!..but thats their problem, they have no understanding of our problem. I think it's easy to become isolated and withdrawn when your hearing goes so it's up to us to adapt and learn new skills and work out ways of understanding people as best we can!
All the best!..Steve

 

[Bebonang]

No..for me also it has not been easy. I find I don't join in when people are talking..1 person I can lip-read, but when several people are talking I stand no chance! I also know those who get annoyed!..but thats their problem, they have no understanding of our problem. I think it's easy to become isolated and withdrawn when your hearing goes so it's up to us to adapt and learn new skills and work out ways of understanding people as best we can!
All the best!..Steve

 

[Bebonang]

to AllDeaf forum, Harrybaby617 and Stefan2832. I know it is painful when you have lost hearing while for me I have been born deaf. You both will learn a lot about our Deaf experiences and Nan Mathews had made the suggestion that you visit Jillio`s thread, which is in the sticky thread for the late deafness in the General Chat forum. Go for it. Anyway, you both have fun reading and posting all the threads here. See you around.

 

[sallylou]

Welcome HB617!

I'm hard of hearing and I've had my HAs about 2 years. I've found that I have to be more assertive about making other people accommodate my needs. Some people act like it's too big of an inconvenience. If they want me to communicate with them, they have to make that possible. Otherwise, I refuse to make the effort to communicate.

I'm changing my primary physician because she won't take the time to talk directly with me. She's too busy filling out charts to even look at me when she speaks. She doesn't listen well either. Bad communication skills make bad doctors!

You find out who your real friends are, too. A friend that doesn't help you is not a friend.

It does get easier to cope. I've adjusted quicker than I ever imagined. You will adjust, too.

 

[stefan2832]

to AllDeaf forum, Harrybaby617 and Stefan2832. I know it is painful when you have lost hearing while for me I have been born deaf. You both will learn a lot about our Deaf experiences and Nan Mathews had made the suggestion that you visit Jillio`s thread, which is in the sticky thread for the late deafness in the General Chat forum. Go for it. Anyway, you both have fun reading and posting all the threads here. See you around.

Thank you for the encouragement!! I look forward to making a few new friends here...I hope!!

 

[Pepsi]

Hi

 

[Bebonang]

Thank you for the encouragement!! I look forward to making a few new friends here...I hope!!

You are very welcome.

 

[~SG~]

Welcome to AllDeaf!

 

[Simown]

 

[rosie]

Welcome to ADF!

 

[Harrybaby617]

Well Thank You All For The Warm Welcome!!!

I am pleased to say that I received my Purple Oticon Epoq V hearing aids today, and I am immediately noticing a huge difference. I never realized just how many things I have not heard in quite some time...ordinary things such as the turn signal click in my car or birds chirping outside. I am also amazed at how much smaller the hearing aids are from say even 10 years ago (I have a friend who has been deaf since birth and I have seen his huge hearing aids), and the receiver in the ear concept is really nice, although it takes getting used to.

I have to admit though that I have had some serious emotions with this hearing loss...I began to fear driving my car while waiting for the hearing aids, I would get angry because I couldn't understand what others would say and have to constantly ask them to repeat themselves, and I would have to deal with these people getting annoyed at me because of this. I suppose that my fears are typical of one who loses his or her hearing late in life, as opposed to those who have been deaf all their lives, but the bottom line is that I have a complete understanding and appreciation of what deafness and being HOH is.