Here’s a little peek into what’s been going on in life lately…
Several trips to the doctor’s office.
Soaking up snuggles with this girl after her surgery.
Don’t worry – she’s okay and back in action now!
I didn’t teach or work out strenuously for the first five weeks and have kept exercise low-intensity for the most part, but am starting to jump back in to teaching and my own high-intensity workouts (hallelujah!). Ellie hasn’t seemed to mind all of the extra walks we are getting in these days, though 🙂
There has also been a lot of asking and answering questions about Sudden Hearing Loss (SHL). Here’s a few things I felt were worth sharing…
–This link takes you to an Instagram video that gives you a good idea of what my SHL experience has been like. Not hearing yourself touch your hair, breathe, and chew on one side is SO BIZARRE!
–SHL can happen for a variety of reasons, such as trauma, infections, autoimmune diseases, circulatory problems, inner ear disorders, acoustic neuromas (benign tumors), and more. In my situation, we will never know for sure but my doctor thinks it was a virus. Obviously, I’m not a physician nor an expert in SHL (I’ve only been riding this train for a few months!), so talk to your provider and check out this site for more info.
–My ear is essentially now a low-pass filter, which Tim identified immediately upon seeing the hearing test printout and the doctor confirmed at my visit. This means some low frequencies are passing through, but high frequencies do not. This is why I’m not hearing or understanding speech…
“Consonants like “s,” “h,” and “f,” have higher frequencies (1,500 to 6,000 Hz) and are harder to hear. Consonants convey most of the meaning of what we say. Someone who cannot hear high-frequency sounds will have a hard time understanding speech and language.”
– CDC
–My prognosis is unknown. There’s a small chance I’ll spontaneously get more hearing back, but I’ve been told to not expect to ever fully recover (but hey, a positive outlook and attitude never hurt!). If I’m open to it, a hearing aid may be in my future.
–A few things I want you to know about SHL:
- Even though it’s not life or death, it is an EMERGENCY. Timing is CRITICAL in possibly restoring your hearing.
- Even though it isn’t life or death, the adjustment has been overwhelming for me. There’s a lot of fear over not knowing exactly why this happened and wanting to protect my good ear at all costs. It feels like sensory overload when I’m in situations with a lot of noise (think: public places, riding in the car, attending meetings with a lot of people, running a dishwasher, etc).
- As an “invisible” condition, it can be challenging to know how much to share with others. It can feel humiliating to feel scared, overwhelmed, frustrated, and other negative emotions when you know that your situation compared to someone else’s may not be as serious. However, these feelings are still VERY real and are absolutely worth acknowledging. We need to remember to not compare our life to someone else’s.
Life lately has been figuring out how to live, work, and teach with one good ear. There have been triumphs and failures (let’s talk about how many times is socially acceptable to ask “WHAT?!”), but I’m fortunate to have an amazing support system riding this roller coaster with me.
Life lately has been making the decision every day to focus on the good. I am searching to find the lesson and my purpose in this journey and am positive that there is one to be found.
