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bpmerillat

bpmerillat

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Hey everybody. My name is Brian. I'm a 46 year old Army veteran. I have recently been diagnosed with otosclerosis. I have a moderate-profound loss in both ears, 68dB average. I have opted to wear hearing aids for now instead of having surgery. I am getting my HA's and streamer through the VA. My hearing will continue to deteriorate until I have corrective surgery. But even the surgery is not guaranteed to work. I am completely new to HA's, and very nervous...I get my HA's in 5 days.

I hope to make friends with many of you here, and learn from each others experiences.

~Brian~
 
:wave: Welcome. Let me know how VA goes. I was in Air Force. I'm HoH, but not as much loss. Considering going to VA given the cost of HA.
 
:welcome: to AllDeaf forum.

Wow, you are late deafened. How do you lose your hearing? I noticed in your profile that you have moderate to profound hearing loss which indicate that you might have severe hearing loss. Yes, you can have hearing aid(s) to make you be able to hear sounds unless you are use to hearing the words that you could pick up but a lot of time devices are just tools and they only make sounds which you can hear, but not pick up the words. You can try it this way. It is good that you had gone to the audiologist to help you get your hearing test and get the kind of hearing aid you need to wear so that you can hear something.

As for surgery, you have to be a candidate for CI (Cochlear Implant) because you have to be totally deaf, not hard of hearing. Beside, surgery is just surgery and it can be complicated if you want to go through it.

As for me, I am deaf and I do have only one hearing aid which I wear it on my left ear. My right ear, I am totally deaf. I don't go for CI. No way. I am perfectly happy being deaf since I was born with it.

I hope you have fun reading and posting here. See you around here. :wave:
 
Welcome! :wave: You're in the right place, pull up a chair and stay awhile!
 
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

soulchill, I'll let you know how it goes on Thursday. So far, the VA has been fantastic with me. It's been a slower process that I would like, but I understand why, with as many people that use the VA system.

Bebonang, the surgery I need is not for a CI. My hearing loss is conductive and hereditary. I have a condition called Otosclerosis. It is the hardening of bones in the middle ear, preventing the ear from vibrating in response to sound waves. My loss has been very slow & gradual. Both my grandfather & great-grandfather had this condition. The surgery I require is called a stapedectomy. They remove the stapes bone in the middle ear, and replace it with a prosthesis, to allow normal movement of the middle ear bones. They only do 1 ear, then see if the surgery is successful. Success is deemed anything over a 10dB gain. There is a slim chance that the surgery is unsuccessful, and I could wind up completely deaf in that ear. That is why I am delaying surgery until HA's will no longer help my situation.

dereksbicycles, where are you at in IL? I'm about an hour south of Chicago, straight down I57.

Again, thanks for the warm welcome! I look forward to talking to you all again soon!
 
bpmerillat said:
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

soulchill, I'll let you know how it goes on Thursday. So far, the VA has been fantastic with me. It's been a slower process that I would like, but I understand why, with as many people that use the VA system.

Bebonang, the surgery I need is not for a CI. My hearing loss is conductive and hereditary. I have a condition called Otosclerosis. It is the hardening of bones in the middle ear, preventing the ear from vibrating in response to sound waves. My loss has been very slow & gradual. Both my grandfather & great-grandfather had this condition. The surgery I require is called a stapedectomy. They remove the stapes bone in the middle ear, and replace it with a prosthesis, to allow normal movement of the middle ear bones. They only do 1 ear, then see if the surgery is successful. Success is deemed anything over a 10dB gain. There is a slim chance that the surgery is unsuccessful, and I could wind up completely deaf in that ear. That is why I am delaying surgery until HA's will no longer help my situation.

dereksbicycles, where are you at in IL? I'm about an hour south of Chicago, straight down I57.

Again, thanks for the warm welcome! I look forward to talking to you all again soon!
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I'm in Evanston(60202).
 
bpmerillat said:
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

soulchill, I'll let you know how it goes on Thursday. So far, the VA has been fantastic with me. It's been a slower process that I would like, but I understand why, with as many people that use the VA system.

Bebonang, the surgery I need is not for a CI. My hearing loss is conductive and hereditary. I have a condition called Otosclerosis. It is the hardening of bones in the middle ear, preventing the ear from vibrating in response to sound waves. My loss has been very slow & gradual. Both my grandfather & great-grandfather had this condition. The surgery I require is called a stapedectomy. They remove the stapes bone in the middle ear, and replace it with a prosthesis, to allow normal movement of the middle ear bones. They only do 1 ear, then see if the surgery is successful. Success is deemed anything over a 10dB gain. There is a slim chance that the surgery is unsuccessful, and I could wind up completely deaf in that ear. That is why I am delaying surgery until HA's will no longer help my situation.

dereksbicycles, where are you at in IL? I'm about an hour south of Chicago, straight down I57.

Again, thanks for the warm welcome! I look forward to talking to you all again soon!
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Thank you for setting me straight about your condition that I don't know nothing about. So pardon me and I am sorry for not understanding what you are trying to say about your condition. I hope the surgery will be successful. :fingersx:

I do hope you enjoy it here. :)
 
Welcome, and thank you for your service to our country. :wave:

Hubby and I are Navy retirees, so we know what it's like dealing with the VA. Sometimes it's frustrating but overall we've gotten good medical care from them. Hang in there. :)
 
Bebonang said:
Thank you for setting me straight about your condition that I don't know nothing about. So pardon me and I am sorry for not understanding what you are trying to say about your condition. I hope the surgery will be successful. :fingersx:

I do hope you enjoy it here. :)
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No need to be sorry, Bebonang. You didn't know. I didn't fully explain my situation or condition when I introduced myself. So the blame falls on me. I am sorry.

And thank you for your service & your hubby's as well, Reba!
 
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Welcome Brian. I have family in Deerfield, IL. Hoping to go visit early next year. Sorry not a Cubs fan, San Francisco Giants all the way!!!

There are terrific people on this site. I have learned so much and the support has been amazing. Good luck!!!!
 
bpmerillat said:
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

soulchill, I'll let you know how it goes on Thursday. So far, the VA has been fantastic with me. It's been a slower process that I would like, but I understand why, with as many people that use the VA system.

Bebonang, the surgery I need is not for a CI. My hearing loss is conductive and hereditary. I have a condition called Otosclerosis. It is the hardening of bones in the middle ear, preventing the ear from vibrating in response to sound waves. My loss has been very slow & gradual. Both my grandfather & great-grandfather had this condition. The surgery I require is called a stapedectomy. They remove the stapes bone in the middle ear, and replace it with a prosthesis, to allow normal movement of the middle ear bones. They only do 1 ear, then see if the surgery is successful. Success is deemed anything over a 10dB gain. There is a slim chance that the surgery is unsuccessful, and I could wind up completely deaf in that ear. That is why I am delaying surgery until HA's will no longer help my situation.

dereksbicycles, where are you at in IL? I'm about an hour south of Chicago, straight down I57.

Again, thanks for the warm welcome! I look forward to talking to you all again soon!
Click to expand...

Hey Brian. I have otosclerosis too. But I have cochlear otosclerosis as well, so I have nerve damage as well as conductive loss. Don't let the stapedectomy scare you too much, that slim chance is slim indeed. I'm not a typical person with otosclerosis, my aunt and mother have it. I started losing my hearing at 20 though, before my mother. She got her stapes bone replaced last November and sent me her hearing aid because she doesn't need it anymore. Actually I'm not sure why, it isn't nearly powerful enough for me lol but it was nice of her. My Aunt had it done yeeeaaars ago and as far as I know hasn't had to have it redone. That can happen if the otosclerosis is still progressing. I've spent most of my adult life without health insurance so I haven't have it done, but it's too late for me now, it wouldn't do any good. I have too much nerve damage, which the stapedectomy cannot fix. But if there had been interventions I wouldn't have become as be as deaf as I am now. I'm 37, it's been progressing for 17 years, my last hearing test my right ear is profound and my left is profound to no response.
 
ambrosia said:
Hey Brian. I have otosclerosis too. But I have cochlear otosclerosis as well, so I have nerve damage as well as conductive loss. Don't let the stapedectomy scare you too much, that slim chance is slim indeed. I'm not a typical person with otosclerosis, my aunt and mother have it. I started losing my hearing at 20 though, before my mother. She got her stapes bone replaced last November and sent me her hearing aid because she doesn't need it anymore. Actually I'm not sure why, it isn't nearly powerful enough for me lol but it was nice of her. My Aunt had it done yeeeaaars ago and as far as I know hasn't had to have it redone. That can happen if the otosclerosis is still progressing. I've spent most of my adult life without health insurance so I haven't have it done, but it's too late for me now, it wouldn't do any good. I have too much nerve damage, which the stapedectomy cannot fix. But if there had been interventions I wouldn't have become as be as deaf as I am now. I'm 37, it's been progressing for 17 years, my last hearing test my right ear is profound and my left is profound to no response.
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Ambrosia, I'm not that scared about having the surgery. I just can't afford the downtime right now. My loss has progressed very slowly over the last 20+ years. I never really noticed it til last year. Asking everyone to repeat themselves, volume up on the tv or stereo, etc. If the otosclerosis becomes more aggressive, I will get the surgery done as soon as possible.

Also, thank you too Angel & Bottesini for the welcome! Everyone has been so friendly. :)
 
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