...and we have a lift off!

Oh this is so good! But y’all everything is sort of loud in the world of the hearing folks!

Yep, today Dr. D checked the ear and poked around and even shot purple dye down into my ear canal and then said, “Do you want to put your hearing aid on?” I did and he was standing there with Dr. Smith and started talking and I jumped. Hold everything!! I haven’t even turned up the aid yet and it’s too loud?!! WHA??!!! Oh my gosh, is there going to be this big of a difference? There were smiles all around the room then he gave me the pep talk and the caution talk as well.

I then went across the hall to Mary Martha’s office and she made a new ear impression for a new ear mold. I’ll have a new one with the air vent so I can let the heat and moisture out when I’m training. That was the caution part. I’m still really in the infection zone right now so I have to continue the drops every night and clean with alcohol. That’s doable.

I told Mary Martha that I didn’t realize her office was so loud. She has an air vent and a return in her office and it sounds like you are sitting in a jet. She was telling me that it’s hard for people with hearing impairment to hear in there because of that.

The rest of the afternoon was spent much like the first day I got my new hearing aid learning sounds. When a coworker in the next office coughed this afternoon it sounded as though it was in my ear! No, I didn’t have it turned up.

I was really hoping to get out and test sound on the bike this afternoon but once again the afternoon pop up thunderstorms are rolling through. I can hear thunder so I’m not going out. Instead I’ll work on donor letters tonight.

Ok, so what did I learn from this experience? I learned that I’m not as strong in the fact of sickness as I thought I was. I wondered if it would have been something that was going to be permanent if I would have handled it different? I didn’t have to learn sign language even though I think I will now. I saw the world in a different way. No one meant to but it is a world of isolation sometimes. Many people have no idea how exhausting it was to sit through a simple meeting. People naturally turn their heads while they talk but when you are forced to read lips it can wreck you. Some people don’t move their mouths very much so it’s hard to follow there speech. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just hard to keep up.

So it makes me think really hard about this ride and what it means. I wondered if after the recovery period if I’ll have a different outlook on the ride and how I can help those kids that can’t hear … oh boy, you have no idea how it has changed me! No idea!

All for the kids!
Geo.