Hi from North Bay, Ontario

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skipper

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Just a short hello, my name is Bruce, I'm 35 - divorced, and I live in North Bay, Ontario. I've been severely hoh since about age 5 after a bout with mumps or measles (or something, LOL) ..... I have normal speech thanks to my mother getting me to speech therapists at a young age...

I don't sign - and due to some recent problems I have encountered with my hearing, I've been doing some research...which led me here after soem google searches. :)

I am an approved candidate for a Cochlear implant in Sunnybrook hospital (toronto, Ontario) but since I was still "getting by" on hearing aids... I decided to wait....

A month ago - I came home from work, couldn't eat, just feeling under the weather..... and suddenly, my hearing aid stopped working. The sound was like I had total blockage with wax or something...Weekend went by, no improvement. Went to a doctor who said no blockage.... nothign she could do, no infection. Audiologist did a check, and it seemed all my upper ranges fell off the map.... needed almost 20db more for me to hear the pitches and maxed out the machine...

Retested a week later with the same results... and now I am awaiting an appointment with an Ear Nose and throat, though I suspect that's a lost cause..

I wear Unitron US80 and for now, the other one sits on the dresser. I have tried many digital makes recently, as well as FM systems, etc..... and have not found any to my liking. I can't get used to the digital sound after 30 years with analog.

I'm here looking for some new friends... support, advice, and wisdom!?

I am refusing to believe my ear just went "poof" just like that.... so i'm naive and maybe in denial! Has this happened to anybody?

I have a LOT of questions..... and I'll post them after I've done some reading first, my main concerns are really about the implant, and what to expecvt from it...

I look forward to hearing from everybody!

Bruce
 
Hey Bruce.. welcome here... I'm sure ya will get lots of replies about what to do for CI surgery and etc... and hearing aids as well.... and as ya another Canuck in here eh?? So am I... and next door to ya... over to the west....lol...
 
skipper said:
Just a short hello, my name is Bruce, I'm 35 - divorced, and I live in North Bay, Ontario. I've been severely hoh since about age 5 after a bout with mumps or measles (or something, LOL) ..... I have normal speech thanks to my mother getting me to speech therapists at a young age...

I don't sign - and due to some recent problems I have encountered with my hearing, I've been doing some research...which led me here after soem google searches. :)

I am an approved candidate for a Cochlear implant in Sunnybrook hospital (toronto, Ontario) but since I was still "getting by" on hearing aids... I decided to wait....

A month ago - I came home from work, couldn't eat, just feeling under the weather..... and suddenly, my hearing aid stopped working. The sound was like I had total blockage with wax or something...Weekend went by, no improvement. Went to a doctor who said no blockage.... nothign she could do, no infection. Audiologist did a check, and it seemed all my upper ranges fell off the map.... needed almost 20db more for me to hear the pitches and maxed out the machine...

Retested a week later with the same results... and now I am awaiting an appointment with an Ear Nose and throat, though I suspect that's a lost cause..

I wear Unitron US80 and for now, the other one sits on the dresser. I have tried many digital makes recently, as well as FM systems, etc..... and have not found any to my liking. I can't get used to the digital sound after 30 years with analog.

I'm here looking for some new friends... support, advice, and wisdom!?

I am refusing to believe my ear just went "poof" just like that.... so i'm naive and maybe in denial! Has this happened to anybody?

I have a LOT of questions..... and I'll post them after I've done some reading first, my main concerns are really about the implant, and what to expecvt from it...

I look forward to hearing from everybody!

Bruce
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Welcome to AD..:welcome:

Do you think you had a virus that may triggered the hearing lose since you said you were feeling under the weather? I'm sure the E.N.T. Dr. will help you on that issue.

I have heard that some Autoimmune diseases can cause sudden hearing loss. It is rare,... and to see a HOH person to have sudden hearing loss is almost unheard of. :dunno2: I hope you can find out what happened. I'm sure other AD's will have better information for you.
 
Babyblue said:
Welcome to AD..:welcome:

Do you think you had a virus that may triggered the hearing lose since you said you were feeling under the weather? I'm sure the E.N.T. Dr. will help you on that issue.

I have heard that some Autoimmune diseases can cause sudden hearing loss. It is rare,... and to see a HOH person to have sudden hearing loss is almost unheard of. :dunno2: I hope you can find out what happened. I'm sure other AD's will have better information for you.
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my doctor and audiologist both suggested a virus... if I put my hearing aid in, it's just deep bass sounds and nothing decipherable at all... picture turning treble all the way down, and bass all the way up on an equalizer. That is whta my sounds sound like..

For a bit, we thought I had developed recruitment.... but it turnedo ut I mixed up my spare hearign aid with my good one as I was troubleshooting to see if it was my BTE or me!

and if it was a virus, it should have cleared up by now... I am naively just waiting for it to go back to as bad as it was t begin with! lol. With BTE in, speech test I had 0%. did not get one word.... with good ear I got 30% or something..

I have been reading the CI moments thread for the last hour, and all I can say is wow. however, I already know I can hear waves, crickets, and things with my US80's.... I get by on the phone.... but barely.. Owning my own company, and the daily struggles of "getting by" the CI could make, or break me (if it goes bad)
 
Hi Bruce!
Welcome! Your experiance seems to be wicked common for postlingal kids.
I would go and see the ENT. Sometimes sterioids etc can reverse a drop in hearing.
 
deafdyke said:
Hi Bruce!
Welcome! Your experiance seems to be wicked common for postlingal kids.
I would go and see the ENT. Sometimes sterioids etc can reverse a drop in hearing.
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really? my audiologist and doctor both said it was rare for somebody to experience such a sudden drop..... and I've been freaking out.... I'm still trying to get on a cancellation list for the ENT. I wish I could find more stories and feel more support, alas this website is all I have come across do far.... I can only kill so many hours in a day reading! lol

thanks for mentioning this - it's good to know, and to have some hope.

I'm really freaked out about having to get a CI... I have SO many questions to ask that I didn't get answered yet.... ugh!! thanks for the replies!
 
:welcome: to AllDeaf forum. I am happy to find someone from North Bay which is not that far from the Manitoulin Island. My grandfather was born in North Bay. I am sorry that you have a sudden drop in your hearing loss. I was born deaf and am an old lady of 62 years old. I don't know much about CI and I would not have one in my head, beside it would be like an hearing aid only you can decide if you want to have it in your head for the rest of your life. If you don't want to hear the sounds that make you crazy, so the problem is how to turn off the sounds. I don't know :dunno: But anyway, welcome aboard to the threads. Enjoy talking with all of us, ADers, here (hearing and deaf) :wave:
 
Thanks Bebo.... I have some family out on the Islands.... I have visited once or twice before in my life.

I agree, deciding whether I want this in my head is a big thing..

Right now, as I have been reading the CI moment thread forever... I hear people talking about hearing harleys, fireworks, crickets, and music... this is what concerns me. I have always been able to hear these things.... with my profound loss and US80 BTE. It is my speech comprehension and discrepancy that messes me up badly... I cannot be in a room with more than 2 people, I cannot participate in group chat, and I need to be 5 feet from people to talk. I use my T-coil - and depend on others to return calls 30-40% of the time...

I also love music.... and it's boggling to try and figure out whether I will be farther ahead with a CI. I want to be able to enjoy a movie in the theatre, and go to a restaurant with my friends, and not sit in silence all night, or have then writing notes on paper, or tapping me to get my attention... :(

those are the answers I am tryign to find....

Hey Northstar..... where are you? I am guessing Sudbury?
 
skipper, I have seen a lot of posts out there from folks who have experianced sudden drops in their hearing.
 
It was probably just a flu or a temporary thing.

I've had clogged hearing before a couple times because I had allergies during season changes.
 
Hey i was born hearing and i had a sudden drop in my hearing..they thought it was due to me having so many ear infections over the years (200+) but i got my adenoids and tonsils out and that lessened them a lot..now i only get one or two if im lucky a year so thats good..but ya back to the subj. Def go to the ent and talk it out, and research ci, since you have good speech you maybe would do really well with a CI, there are some CI users here who mite have around the same hearing as u and usually do better on hearing some sounds.

As for getting ci i know if u go to med-el, advanced bioncs, or cochlear america i think 2 out of 3 have a info package all about the ci and what not. I got one from cochlear and it came with a video and a bunch of info which was great, it was pretty speedy too. Im only moderate hoh but my loss so far has been progressive so if i ever need to get ci i'm already informed:)

O and btw im from ottawa, on so another canuck in the houseee
 
Skipper..naw I aint in Sudbury.. .I am over in the next provience to the west of ya....ya know where.. lol...
 
hey skipper my Canadian friend!!! welcome to the ad'rs Jungle.. :giggle:

Ouchie, about what you are going through!!! well I think since so much of the virus is going around so I think I would just wait and see... Is this the first time it really got progressively worst as the years go by or only one time only??? As for me, it's about the same since I was a kid... so.. hopefully nothing bad happened to ya.. I would keep getting second opinions from other sources if you can!! smile

Talk to you later my friend, huggs
 
Canuckian_Chick said:
hey skipper my Canadian friend!!! welcome to the ad'rs Jungle.. :giggle:

Ouchie, about what you are going through!!! well I think since so much of the virus is going around so I think I would just wait and see... Is this the first time it really got progressively worst as the years go by or only one time only??? As for me, it's about the same since I was a kid... so.. hopefully nothing bad happened to ya.. I would keep getting second opinions from other sources if you can!! smile

Talk to you later my friend, huggs
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Hey long time no see! :) Yes, this is the first I have ever had a drop in any kind. I would have to say it has gotten progressively worse over the last 30 years, but not in a manner noticeable over night. I mean, I attended regular school with some difficulty. Attended 2 colleges with even more difficulty, without FM or extra help, but relying on ability to memorize and understand textbooks (am a quick learner)

To suddenly not be able to hear literally overnight is shocking, and not something anybody had ever prepared me for, nor had I considered. It is amazing how much we take some things for granted.

Anyway, I got my ENT to bump me up to MArch 25th, but geez, it's still 7 weeks away... (but better than 4 months) I just hope it isn't something that he could have treated "immediately" with success, and will fail to do so after waiting so long... :(
 
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