Sorry?

There goes, well, everything.

As some may remember, I lost some hearing in both my ears, back at the end of 2018. It’s gone down a little since then, too. Welp, last week, my right ear went completely deaf for roughly half an hour. Not much has come back.

I went to my ENT this morning, and did a hearing test. The doctor came back in, looking rather concerned. He asked about things like, if I have an autoimmune disease, family history of some disease I’d never heard of, and other things like that. The answers were all “no”. The test showed a greater than 70% loss in that ear.

So, he says that Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL) can sometimes be treated with steroids. “Sometimes” being the key word. So, I’ll be on that for a week, then go back to see if it’s worked. If not, there’s a possibility of steroid injections in my ear. Yeah... not going there. If this round of steroids doesn’t work, I’m just going to have to accept it.

Side note: I’m going to be on a high dose of said steroids. As most of us know, steroids wreak havoc on our moods. So, I get to message my med manager and ask for something to keep me steady. Awesome.

At this point, I don’t know how much longer I’ll have any hearing. The local deaf center has ASL classes, but they fill up with people who just want to learn it, and those of us who actually need to learn it are just out of luck. And I’ve found that the deaf community doesn’t welcome those of us who didn’t grow up deaf, or with a deaf family member. They get impatient, and call us “hearing-minded”. Well, yeah, I’m hearing-minded. I had supersonic hearing until I was 31 years old. Should I say you’re deaf-minded, and exclude you from hearing places and activities? 

I did not choose deafness. It’s not like I’m trying to fit in where I don’t belong. Hearing people are much more accepting of the deaf, than the deaf are of late-deafened. Side note: This is my own observation of my experiences in my area. This may not be the case everywhere. 

If you’re wondering what my world sounds like, put a small piece of tissue in your left ear, followed by an earbud, and completely block off your right ear.

Prayers and good vibes currently being accepted. Here’s to the steroids working 🍻