Benttriker
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2012
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
Hi - I just found this site when looking for some help ... I have a lot in my life - kids, grandkids (6 of them!), I teach CERT classes for my city, hold a First Dan degree in TangSoo Do/Wun Hop Kuen Do, love riding bikes (my recumbent trike when my balance is really bad), reading and writing!
I am severely hoh (diagnosed when the teacher found out I couldn't hear at age five - when I went to school). The doctors don't know what caused it - whether illness or a medication to treat ear infections - over 50 years ago lots of stuff was experimental! So, I have degenerative nerve damage. Bottom line - at some point I was told I would be totally deaf - thought I would ignore that little piece and get on with my life!
Well, life has a funny way of getting in the way when you are doing other things ... thought something was wrong with my hearing aids and had the audiologist check them out. Then she goes - well, we haven't run a baseline on you in a couple years, let's see where you are now. LONG time waiting for the test to start (thought she just forgot about me, you know those sound-proof booths?) and FINALLY got going. Hmmm, sure didn't last as long as I remembered... then she said - "It isn't the equipment, it's the operator."
Interesting things happen when you are living life - somewhere along the line I lost an additional 30+ db in a short time and those darn decibels just keep travelling on a different path where I am not. Now - well, we are in the last level of hearing aids, and then maybe Cochlear Implants. Oh _____ (fill in your favorite expletive - I did.) Cried a bucket of tears and wondered what do I do now?
Well, I found out that I can't crank up the TV or the stereo without causing damage (the speakers tend to blow, and the other people in the house get cranky...) Closed captioning on the news needs dramatic improvement in that department, movie theaters really need to get on board with ADA and offering open captioned movies, and my hubby isn't handling this with anything that remotely resembles grace.
Can't work in the field I used to (Certified Nurse's aide) - I have to find the humorous side in this: people who don't have teeth (I can't lip-read very well) and are hoh themselves, are not good patients with an aide who can't hear them telling you that they need clean pants or some such... but then, when they are cranky and yelling, you can't hear them anyways cussing you out!
I had to laugh and cry alternately when I was reading some of the postings - it is like many of you have been there and I thank you for being there now. I am hoping to make some new friends (all my old ones think they are too old to learn ASL) and maybe finding some people willing to laugh and live life fully too! I have had many blessings and just perhaps losing the rest of my hearing will turn out to be the best blessing of all!
Cheers, Cindy Lou in Tigard (Portland), Oregon
I am severely hoh (diagnosed when the teacher found out I couldn't hear at age five - when I went to school). The doctors don't know what caused it - whether illness or a medication to treat ear infections - over 50 years ago lots of stuff was experimental! So, I have degenerative nerve damage. Bottom line - at some point I was told I would be totally deaf - thought I would ignore that little piece and get on with my life!
Well, life has a funny way of getting in the way when you are doing other things ... thought something was wrong with my hearing aids and had the audiologist check them out. Then she goes - well, we haven't run a baseline on you in a couple years, let's see where you are now. LONG time waiting for the test to start (thought she just forgot about me, you know those sound-proof booths?) and FINALLY got going. Hmmm, sure didn't last as long as I remembered... then she said - "It isn't the equipment, it's the operator."
Interesting things happen when you are living life - somewhere along the line I lost an additional 30+ db in a short time and those darn decibels just keep travelling on a different path where I am not. Now - well, we are in the last level of hearing aids, and then maybe Cochlear Implants. Oh _____ (fill in your favorite expletive - I did.) Cried a bucket of tears and wondered what do I do now?
Well, I found out that I can't crank up the TV or the stereo without causing damage (the speakers tend to blow, and the other people in the house get cranky...) Closed captioning on the news needs dramatic improvement in that department, movie theaters really need to get on board with ADA and offering open captioned movies, and my hubby isn't handling this with anything that remotely resembles grace.
Can't work in the field I used to (Certified Nurse's aide) - I have to find the humorous side in this: people who don't have teeth (I can't lip-read very well) and are hoh themselves, are not good patients with an aide who can't hear them telling you that they need clean pants or some such... but then, when they are cranky and yelling, you can't hear them anyways cussing you out!
I had to laugh and cry alternately when I was reading some of the postings - it is like many of you have been there and I thank you for being there now. I am hoping to make some new friends (all my old ones think they are too old to learn ASL) and maybe finding some people willing to laugh and live life fully too! I have had many blessings and just perhaps losing the rest of my hearing will turn out to be the best blessing of all!
Cheers, Cindy Lou in Tigard (Portland), Oregon
