Deafness

[Lozzles]

I had another hearing test and it is pretty much as it was before. Serious loss in my left ear and a small loss in my right.
All my blood results are back now and they are normal.
The CT scan is not an emergency, but will be done within a few weeks. It is just being done to rule out a benign growth on the nerves in the ear. If there is a growth there, they will see how big it is and whether to remove it.
The thinking is that I am just one of those unlucky people who have been hit by sudden hearing loss.
I will continue on the steroids for the next few weeks (which is the treatment of choice) and also have an injection of steroids into my left ear. This may not change anything, but is worth a go.
The chances are my hearing will never come back so I have to learn to live with all that entails...continuous fullness (like having a head stuffed with cotton wool), tinnitus and no hearing at all in my left ear. I can live with that. If the steroids don't work and the CT scan is ok then I have to start thinking about a hearing aid. Just saying that makes me feel about 80.
Probably like most people I thought being hard of hearing, meant just that. I wasn't aware that I would have this continual 'thickness' in my head and poor balance. I have some exercises to do to retrain my brain, so that should improve in time. I have been told to start dancing again as I need to challenge my brain! That's good, but I don't know how my ears will cope with the music and chat in social situations. I have found that I can hear with my good ear in quiet rooms, when only one or two people are speaking, but add any noise, and I mean anything from, the kettle boiling, the washing machine or music for example, the messages to my brain get scrambled and I can hear nothing but white noise. So tricky times. I'm a bit up and down with it and still getting over the shock of suddenly going deaf, but I'll get there xxx

[Diflower]

You poor thing Loz, it's so sudden isn't it, quite apart from being a horrible thing to happen anyway.

Like a lot of things I suppose, most people wouldn't know the full implications unless they've been around someone close with the same problem
I was brought up in the same house as my Mum's mum, who was almost completely deaf and had been for a long time. She lip-read, and as far as I know didn't have the problems with tinnitus etc, but I might just not have known about it.

My other grandmother was also very deaf but different, she definitely had the problem of noises, 'interference', etc. She wore a hearing aid - the newer ones really are unnoticeable - which did mean she could hear fairly well, and also helped block out the 'head noise' as she called it. Don't know about the balance, presumably she'd got used to that by the time I was born.

My stepmother is completely deaf in one ear, and quite a lot in the other. She used to get problems with tinnitus etc, but hardly at all now. She refused hearing aids for a long time but has admitted she was silly to put it off. You honestly can't notice them, but I'm sure it must have taken her a while to get used to them.
((((((Loz))))))
xx

[tonicha]

Aw, Loz, have a huge hug xxxxx

My dad was completely deaf in one ear and partially deaf in the other - he blamed bombs from during the war, but I think he was just trying to make light of it.

We had a lot of laughs, as he would often mishear words or sentances and would come out with the most bizarre responses

Grumpy is getting worse, he has tinitus, due to working with lots of wood-working tools on building sites for many years, and he hates it, can't seem to get through to him that it's just the way things go.

I'd send you a sunshiny hug, but it's peeing down at the moment

[Workingman]

(((((Loz))))) Of course you will get there, that's who you are.

The steroids might still do something, even if it is only a partial return, so you cannot give up.

I am glad that you have been given balancing exercise and are keeping up the dancing. I can't quite yet do up/down on one leg with arms outstretched and eyes closed, but I only need a light hand on the wall to balance nowadays. I still do that Gordon Brown thing to clear my ears of the "fullness", and I just ignore the tinnitus.

Good luck with the CT scan, you never know it might show up a fixable problem.

xxx

[Kaz]

Dear ((((((((Loz)))))))))) you will cope with this admirably because as WM said that is who you are! This must all be a massive shock, such a sudden change to your life - no wonder you are up and down with it all

Like others here I grew up around a profoundly deaf person,my dear Aunty Rose who almost died of diptheria as a small child but thankfully recovered - at the expense of her hearing! She only has a small amount of hearing in just one ear but manages amazingly well. She lip reads quite well, so as long as someone faces her whilst they are talking she is fine.........

I am sure the CT scan will be clear, and that you will move forward from whatever this brings with your usual good sense and good humour xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Osc]

Oh my dear Lozzles, I know you are strong and practical, but don't be afraid to let those qualities desert you occasionally as you struggle to cope with this new situation, even if it's to come on here and shout and scream. My maternal grandmother was deaf, and as she died in 1964, you can imagine that her hearing aid was very old style, and I do remember that she spoke very loudly! (She wasn't that nice a granny anyway ) Mr Osc's brother went deaf quite suddenly some years back, he is 57 and has a hearing aid in each year, but retired early because he could afford to and is now very happy studying all sorts of god knows what. Do try the dancing, because it has been our experience that a couple of hours dancing relaxes the mind wonderfully, although I appreciate that may have difficulty coping with the music and social noise - give it a go though. ((((((Loz))))))

[Lozzles]

Oh I will Osc, I have to dance My teacher Steve is wonderful and I will have a couple of private lessons so that he can help me with the balance, the embrace and the music, before diving back in.
Hearing your experiences of people with hearing loss are good to read, so thanks for sharing them x

[Osc]

Oh I will Osc, I have to dance

I certainly understand that! You can dance for a couple of hours, and even though the problems will still be there, you are more relaxed and able to deal with them - it's got us through loads of stuff in the last 9 years.

[JoM]

(((((Loz))))) You will get there, and you'll have us with you all of the way xx

[Aggers]

I do sympathise with you, Loz. I have lost a lot of my hearing, due to exposure to loud
industrial noise over many years, but the loss has been gradual. I used to suffer with tinnitus
but, as Frank says, you can learn to ignore it and it will go away.

It must be a terrible shock to lose your hearing so suddenly, but let us hope that your
medical consultants can come up with a solution. I'm sending lots of vibes for you.