Safire
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- Joined
- Oct 6, 2010
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When I was 18-24 months old, I became very ill. Nobody knows exactly what it was but I got infection after infection, almost died, and almost lost huge chunks of my skull. I've been hoh since. My mom always knew something was wrong but since I adapted so well, learning to read lips on my own, nobody could really tell. It wasn't until I was *4* that I took a hearing test to make me eligible for a school contest. I passed the sight test and bombed the hearing. (Of course.) It took us years to get my dad to even GRASP the concept of his "messed up" daughter. (Yes, I literally heard him say that.) Nothing was wrong mentally, I had an IQ of 130: Genius level.
I got my first pair of hearing aids at age four and since I got sick, we have found 9 document surgeries out of 14. The rest of the records were lost during my parent's divorce.
3 months ago, I was your "normal" 16 year old, moderately to severely impaired, in band, and just being a kid. 3 months ago, you'd had thought there was nothing wrong. I was still writing poetry, still having a blast in school. Thank god for ARD meeting requirements. It had been two years since my last hearing test so I was long overdue.
Boy, was I in for a shock. I struggled to stay awake in the testing box, not hearing anything, yet knowing that that alone was a horrible sign. I was right. The test showed I had a 20% increasing loss in both ears. This meant that my classification changed and I was only hearing 20% of the world. I have an 80% loss of hearing. I knew I had lost hearing, I just didn't think it was that much. Sure, I couldn't hear anything past a trombone or the drum major's whistles, but heck, I got along okay. I could handle the incapitating headaches after school from focusing so hard. I was passing everything even though I struggled in spanish where everything sounds the same. There really were no warnings.
The next morning I awoke with a terrible ear infection that cast doubt on the first test. I went in about a month after and got almost the exact same results.
Both of my doctors recommended me to Houston where I met a doctor named Dr. Chang. Mom called him a "superspecialist" because he had degrees in both hearing and neurological stuff. Once I finally got to my appointment, I was upset to see my estranged dad there. (BLEH!) I was led into another testing room. They did bone tests that literally hurt and all kinds of other stuff. Finally, I met the man that could help me hear again.
As I gingerly took off my hearing aids, he was shocked to see the constant allergic reaction inside. I am allergic to my earmolds but deal with it each and every day. I hardly take them off, I am too afraid at night to sleep without them. My normal doctors both agreed I would need cochlear implants and after hearing only good things about them, I was excited. He made me do the "drunk walk" and noticed I neurologically was a bit off. He took note of my constant tinnitus and dizziness I sometimes get. During the implant surgery, Chang is thinking about putting another patch on my left eardrum that refuses to close. For the first time in my life, I was diagnosed with a birth defect, the telltale sign being my short and narrow ear canals that I can't hear out of it they swell. He said the defect didn't cause the illness, it just opened the door to it. I will probably be getting cochlear implants this summer. My band director has offered to let me work in the pit crew in band because I know how to play piano on top of alto sax.
So far, I've already gotten my meningitis/pneumonia shot. I still have to get my MRI and fail another test to prove to the FDA that I need the implants.
I got my first pair of hearing aids at age four and since I got sick, we have found 9 document surgeries out of 14. The rest of the records were lost during my parent's divorce.
3 months ago, I was your "normal" 16 year old, moderately to severely impaired, in band, and just being a kid. 3 months ago, you'd had thought there was nothing wrong. I was still writing poetry, still having a blast in school. Thank god for ARD meeting requirements. It had been two years since my last hearing test so I was long overdue.
Boy, was I in for a shock. I struggled to stay awake in the testing box, not hearing anything, yet knowing that that alone was a horrible sign. I was right. The test showed I had a 20% increasing loss in both ears. This meant that my classification changed and I was only hearing 20% of the world. I have an 80% loss of hearing. I knew I had lost hearing, I just didn't think it was that much. Sure, I couldn't hear anything past a trombone or the drum major's whistles, but heck, I got along okay. I could handle the incapitating headaches after school from focusing so hard. I was passing everything even though I struggled in spanish where everything sounds the same. There really were no warnings.
The next morning I awoke with a terrible ear infection that cast doubt on the first test. I went in about a month after and got almost the exact same results.
Both of my doctors recommended me to Houston where I met a doctor named Dr. Chang. Mom called him a "superspecialist" because he had degrees in both hearing and neurological stuff. Once I finally got to my appointment, I was upset to see my estranged dad there. (BLEH!) I was led into another testing room. They did bone tests that literally hurt and all kinds of other stuff. Finally, I met the man that could help me hear again.
As I gingerly took off my hearing aids, he was shocked to see the constant allergic reaction inside. I am allergic to my earmolds but deal with it each and every day. I hardly take them off, I am too afraid at night to sleep without them. My normal doctors both agreed I would need cochlear implants and after hearing only good things about them, I was excited. He made me do the "drunk walk" and noticed I neurologically was a bit off. He took note of my constant tinnitus and dizziness I sometimes get. During the implant surgery, Chang is thinking about putting another patch on my left eardrum that refuses to close. For the first time in my life, I was diagnosed with a birth defect, the telltale sign being my short and narrow ear canals that I can't hear out of it they swell. He said the defect didn't cause the illness, it just opened the door to it. I will probably be getting cochlear implants this summer. My band director has offered to let me work in the pit crew in band because I know how to play piano on top of alto sax.
So far, I've already gotten my meningitis/pneumonia shot. I still have to get my MRI and fail another test to prove to the FDA that I need the implants.