I have spent the last 3 months adjusting to life as a deaf person (back in May and June), and then as a moderately severe to profound hard of hearing person (after I regained some of the hearing I had lost).   It has been quite a journey.  I’ve dealt with hearing problems for many years now, but this took things to a whole new level.  I have spent a lot of time dealing with the practical aspects of this adjustment, the emotional aspects of this adjustment, and the educational aspects…for myself, but also helping those closest to me to understand each of these aspects of severe hearing loss as it applies to me and as it applies to them as well.  Even though I have been hard of hearing for quite some time, the level I have reached now has opened my eyes to an entire world I really didn’t even realize existed.  I know that sounds strange, but it’s true.  I thought that being hard of hearing was mostly just an inconvenience – yes, a person would need things repeated, but I didn’t realize how much it affects your entire life.  I suppose if a person has mild to moderate hearing loss, it might be just an inconvenience, but anything worse than that has much greater implications that I ever imagined.  Our ASL instructor, Debbie, has helped me tap into some resources that I was unaware (specifically the meeting I wrote about in an earlier post) and I feel that the information I have received from those resources has sort of helped me “complete the puzzle” I’ve been working on of how to function in a hearing world when you cannot hear much of what is taking place.  It was important for me to do the research I did on my own about the medical things I face and also about the technology out there for accessibility.  It gave me a good base from which to ask questions and a framework to fit in the information given when I was speaking with someone who is knowledgeable about these things.   Today is Chet’s and my 27th anniversary.  We celebrated on Wednesday (he had Wednesday off work, but had to work both jobs today) and went to lunch at my favorite “celebrate” restaurant, Fogo de Chao, and then we went to the movies!  That was a fun application of the new resources I’m discovering – I thought my movie-going days were over, but found info online about some theaters in our area that use captioning.  One type is called “CaptiVew” and we had to drive a bit to get to the theater, but it was amazing!  CaptiView involved picking up a device (free of charge) when you buy your ticket and having them set it for the theater you will be in.  The device has a part that fits into your cup holder and holds it in place, then a long adjustable neck that you can use to place the captioning screen so that the captions appear at the bottom of the screen (from your viewpoint).  It worked beautifully!  The captions were accurate and in real time.  They included things like “dog barking” and “doorbell ringing” which I also like.  I was thrilled!  We saw the latest Bourne movie and it was really nice to be able to do that.  We also made an ice cream stop in Stillwater on our way to church that day, so it was definitely a fun and celebratory kind of day! 🙂  I have decided to join a group called the HLAA (Hearing Loss Association of America).  They meet once a month from Sept. through May in the Twin Cities area and have speakers with the latest info on technology, medical info, political issues….basically on-going education for those who are deaf and hard of hearing from what I understand.  I think it would be beneficial for me, and also that I would enjoy spending some time with others who are dealing with the same issues.  I have also found that knowing some sign language has been more helpful even in my current situation that I expected.  Last Sunday night at flocks, Cody was leading a few songs and I couldn’t hear what numbers he announced.  Randy was sitting next to him, and used that as an opportunity to practice signing.  He signed the numbers to me from across the room and it worked beautifully!  I understood!  While it’s true that I could have looked at the book of the person next to me and found the number that way, it was great to have this avenue for communicating.  I think there will be many practical applications for using sign language even though I may not ever use that as my only means of communication.  I’m so glad I’m learning it and that so many of those closest to me are learning, too.  I really do feel like I’m moving forward in this process and am excited to see what the future holds.  I believe this situation and all that it entails will lead to things I can’t even imagine right now….many blessings to come.  I’m so thankful!

Last night was ASL class night and it is getting much more intense, but good.  We reviewed some basics like our alphabet and numbers, then divided into pairs for some practice asking and answering questions together.  After that, we all watched some video of a family signing with each other and had to figure out what was being said.  It was great practice, but also pretty hard (at least for me!).  They were talking pretty fast and using some vocabulary that we know, but different signs which makes it tricky.  Anyhow, it was intense, but a great learning situation and we have more vocabulary to learn this week.  We have enough vocabulary now to make lots of conversation with each other for practice and that’s been really great in my house because there are so many of us signing and learning the same thing.  Kinsey, my daughter, didn’t get to take the class, but her fiance, Jarryd, has been teaching her  and she signed to me this morning!  I loved it!  I’ve seen people signing across the room to each other and it is really great to see!  They are all enjoying it.

It’s been a fun day, today!  I always enjoy spending time with my church family and starting the week with God as the focus.  Today was also the day we celebrated Chet’s birthday.  He turned 51 on Thursday, and trying to coordinate 6 work schedules (all fairly irregular hours) can be tricky.  Today we all were able to have lunch together, and then most of us were able to head to the house after for presents and dessert.  Had lots of fun playing with our little grandson, Owen.  He’s almost 4 months old now and smiling and cooing and just adorable and fun in general!  I signed (finger spelled) his name to him several times and he seemed pretty interested in watching.  A couple of times he moved his hands trying to imitate me!  So cool!  I loved it!  Speaking of signing, Chet had a real life experience with it at work the other day.  He was working the drive through at Starbucks and a deaf woman came through.  He’s seen her before and this time he signed “Hi” to her and told her that he was learning sign language.  Then he asked her name and told her his …things we’ve covered in class.  She seemed to enjoy it and later his boss told Chet that it’s the first time he’s seen her smile in the store!  I thought that was such a great story!  We’ve only had 3 classes (roughly 6 hours) and I thought it was so cool that he could do that and wasn’t too shy to try it, either (yes, I know that “shy” and “Chet” don’t really belong in the same sentence!) I need to practice this week’s new vocabulary and do some reviewing before class tomorrow night.  We’re getting enough vocabulary to make quite a few sentences and responses.  I’m looking forward to it.  Now that I’ve tried a neck loop, I spent the whole time this morning in church wishing I had one.  I think I will probably get on that this week and make a final decision about which product to order.  Can’t wait to have my own!

Today was the day that Chet, Randy and I met with Mary Bauer of the Minnesota DHHS, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Division.  It was time well spent!  Mary was very knowledgable and patient and easy to talk to!  She explained much of the technology that is available to help people who are deaf and hard of hearing and had the items there for us to try out.  I had already done some research online on my own, which gave me a good base for asking questions and she was able to answer them all.  The thing that I am most interested in right now is a neck loop.  It is something that you can wear around your neck (sort of reminds me of a lanyard only a little bigger) and you can plug it into anything that you can plug headphones or earbuds into (church assistive listening device, ipod, computers, etc.).  If you have a T coil in your hearing aid (most do now – they are used with telephones) then you can put your hearing aid on the T coil program and it will pick up electromagnetic waves from the neck loop and sound goes directly into your hearing aid!  I tried one out and it was awesome!  Since I already have behind-the-ear hearing aids now, plus wear reading glasses it ends up being a lot of stuff on my ear to add some sort of headphones to that, so this would be great!  We also discussed emergency alerts and things like alarm clocks, etc.  There are a lot of products out there and she gave some recommendations for some she thinks are good.  It was very helpful for me.  Mary also gave us information with additional resources.  It was really fun for me to talk to someone else who is hard of hearing.  She understands the challenges and problems that come up first hand and there were several times she mentioned things in the conversation that I could totally identify with!  We were there for 2 hours and I was pumped when we left!  It was a very good day!

Last night was our third ASL class and I am loving it!  During class time we practice signing small dialogues and the teacher and a deaf co-trainer correct us and help us get the signing right, but also explain to us what’s going on with perception from a deaf person’s perspective, which can be quite different than what a hearing person would expect.  I find it very interesting and also helpful.  One of the dialogues we were working on in this class was answering the question “Why are you learning sign language?”  I know that most people are in the class to support me and be able to communicate with me no matter what happens down the road, but watching each person individually sign that they were learning ASL because they have a hard of hearing friend/sister-in-christ/mother/wife/mother-in-law/future mother-in-law (all me, btw!)…it made me tear up.  It really touched me.  Benita, the deaf co-trainer, also told me that she wants to work with me in particular to help me learn signing well and make sure I’m doing okay with it.  I really appreciate the support of Benita and Debbie (the instructor).  They each bring new elements to helping me on this journey and I feel blessed to know them and have their knowledge at my disposal as well as their support.  We have a lot of new vocabulary to learn each week for homework, then practice using it in class.  I’m looking forward to adding this week’s vocabulary to my repertoire and am amazed at how much we have learned in such a short period of time.

Tomorrow is my first physical therapy session for my knee.  Overall it is feeling pretty good.  I’m able to walk on it fairly normally and with relatively little pain.  It does still feel unstable (like it’s going to “go”) from time to time, but not as often as before.  It tires pretty quickly.  Walking long distances (probably not considered long by someone with good knees!) and walking on uneven ground are still difficult, but I’m handling stairs fairly well.   I just have to be careful.  I do think that whatever exercises they give me to do in physical therapy to strengthen my knee and the supporting area will definitely help.

Regarding prednisone, I feel like my side effects are fairly minimal!  That’s definitely an answer to prayer.  I do have the “moon face” they talk about and am clearly carrying quite a bit of fluid in my system.  I also am noticing that it takes longer for cuts and things to heal, but I feel pretty well and am grateful for that.

Thanks to all who are checking in on me!  I appreciate your continued interest, and your love and concern!

I feel like I am being introduced to a whole new world that I really didn’t even know existed.  I guess that’s probably because I am!  There is so much out there to learn about the deaf/Deaf and hard of hearing world.  I just learned that Deaf with a capital “D” refers to those who are part of the deaf culture, usually primarily those who were born deaf or have been deaf since childhood and take pride in deaf culture and all that it entails.  Deaf with a lower case “d” refers to those who are deaf, but not necessarily in the other category.  There are a lot of nuances to it, but that’s the way I understand it in a nutshell.  Those who are hard of hearing are also a part of the deaf category.  I also learned that most deaf people prefer the term “deaf” as opposed to hearing impaired or other terms that are often used.  Many actually consider “hearing impaired” to be insulting and negative.  I’m reading a really interesting book that is written by two deaf people to hearing people and it basically takes the questions that hearing people most commonly ask deaf people and gives detailed answers to them.  There are a lot of them and it’s pretty interesting reading.  If I understand it correctly, during the time when my hearing was at it’s worst (before I regained some of it with treatment) I was actually considered deaf.  Now I think (if I understand it correctly) that I am back in the hard of hearing category, but not really that far from the line of being considered deaf.  I was wondering about that.  It’s not that I care one way or the other which category I fall into (some people are in denial or have strong feelings about being classified as deaf) I just want to use the terms correctly and really didn’t know which way I should refer to myself.

Our ASL class on Monday was great. We all had the chance to get up front and practice signing dialogues.  It went well and that was only our second class!  It was a lot of fun and we are all learning rather quickly, just like our instructor said we would.  We have an assignment for our class that requires us to do something that involves the deaf or hard of hearing community in some way in our area.  I was trying to think of an idea, and our instructor, Debbie, suggested that I meet with a woman who is  a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialist at the Minnesota Department of Human Services to interview her and set up a tour of equipment and devices available.  I’m really looking forward to this.  I suspect there is a lot more out there that I am still unaware of.  I’ll write a paper about it afterwards for class.  I know Debbie suggested it so I would have the opportunity to learn about all of these things.  The book I mentioned talks about the fact that many hard of hearing people feel caught between  two worlds  (deaf and hearing) and don’t really fully belong to either one.  I actually do feel that way.  I think I’m trying to do what I can to function in both worlds – for the hearing one, having my captioning telephone, hearing aids, assistive listening devices, closed captioning on the tv, improve my speech reading, etc.  For the deaf world, learning more about the culture, learning sign language, investigating the organizations in our area, meeting people who are a part of that culture, finding out more about accessibility in our area.  I started this blog with the idea that this is a journey, and it definitely still feels like one.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the audiology department to get my repaired hearing aids and my new molded ear piece, and have them adjusted for my new level of hearing.  I’m ready for this!  It’s been about 10 weeks now since I’ve had the use of hearing aids that are tuned to my specifications and I’m anxious to see how much difference they will make (I suspect quite a lot!).

I saw the orthopedic surgeon today to go over the results of the MRI of my knee.  It showed that I have a torn ACL, a small tear in the meniscus, and a broken bone (a small part of the tibia)!  The doctor said that it’s possible some of the damage was from previous injuries – you can’t really tell from the MRI.  He thinks that some physical therapy should get me back to where I was before this recent injury and that I won’t need surgery.  I was glad about that!  He did say that there is a lot of wear on my cartilage and I will probably have arthritis in this knee and eventually need a knee replacement, but he’s hoping that will be another 10 or 15 years down the road!  Overall good news, I guess, although I was surprised by how much damage there was!

Today I was thinking about how easy it is to forget things.  How many times have you made some new resolution to improve something about yourself, and made a good start, but gradually over time sort of forgot to make that extra effort and found yourself right back where you started?  Look at what the scriptures have to say about the Israelites.  How often did they experience some wonderful insight, blessing, guidance, or provision from God, and then it seems like almost immediately forget all about it and start complaining? I always wonder how that’s possible when I read about those things, then I realize that we aren’t really any different.  We can experience incredible blessings and provision one day and the next not even be thinking about it any more.  Why is that?  I’d say partly a lack of focus.  We often dwell on the wrong things instead of the right ones.  I’d say lack of time in the Word and in prayer.  If we are spending time reading God’s word, it’s amazing how much difference it makes in our thinking and perspective.  The same thing happens with prayer.  When we take the time to pray, we are also making ourselves focus on the things that matter.  We need that daily renewing of our minds.

I am starting to forget that I’m still in transition with my hearing situation.  I feel like what’s going on now is “normal” and the truth is I’m still functioning without hearing aids.  I believe they will make an enormous difference in most situations for me.  I need to make sure that I don’t make any big decisions about that stuff yet (yesterday I was wondering if I am still suited to be a Bible class teacher if I have trouble understanding my students).

I have people around me who are also great at finding solutions to problems.  Last night was another flock group, and I arrived pretty much accepting the fact that I wouldn’t be able to hear anything.  Chet decided to fix that!  He set up the circle around the microphone and asked everyone to use it when they spoke.  I think some were uncomfortable doing that, but did it for my sake (thank you!) and it’s the first time in years that I have actually heard and understood every person who spoke and what they said!  Chet said it made a difference for him, too.  He has some hearing loss and understands most of the group, but the more quiet ones he hasn’t been hearing either.  I guess I see this as an example of me just resigning myself sometimes to things and having people in my life that are going to do whatever they can to find solutions for me!

Not long before the episode of SSHL in May, I had pretty much decided that it was no longer practical for me to go to the movies.  Most theaters have assistive listening devices (ASLs) and I’ve been using them for several years.  They give you volume control and put the sound directly in your ears (with headphones) and that definitely helps, but the quality isn’t always good and I still was struggling to follow all of the dialog.  The last movie I saw at the theater was The Avengers.  It should have been the best possible scenario for me to be able to follow the dialog.  It was mostly male voices (in lower tones) and there wasn’t much overlapping talking or sounds.  I still missed about half of what was being said even with an ASL.  I basically decided after that that it was a waste of money for me to go to the theater and that I would enjoy seeing a movie much more and be less frustrated if I would just wait for it to come out on DVD and use the captions.  Since my recent hearing loss, that seemed like a no brainer!  I was doing some research for my ASL class and found some information about options at movie theaters for the hearing impaired.  There is a lot out there that I was completely unaware of!  I found a website called www.captionfish.com that lists theaters in your area that have special accessibility options.  I found out that there are theaters in my area that offer CC (closed captioning – I’m still not sure if they show them for certain shows, of if you have to request that they turn them on for a particular showing, or how that works), OC (open captioning   are on all the time), DV (descriptive video – this is for the visually impaired people and describes the scenes and faces and expressions of people, etc), CV (CaptiView closed captioned – a small display screen attaches to your drink holder and has a visor for privacy so you can place it directly in front of you and see captions), and RW – (rear window captioning – a clear plexiglass screen attaches to your chair and you can put it directly in front of you and watch the movie through it …it puts the captions at the bottom of the screen and can only by seen by you – no one else is affected by it).  I was really excited when I found out about these things!  Our anniversary is coming up later this month and I told Chet that I would love to go to lunch and then to a theater that offers the RW and give it a try (if there are any decent movies out then)!  I suspect that there are many more ways of coping and communicating that I am still unaware of and maybe I’m forgetting about the fact that I still need to educate myself more about these things!  There really is a whole world out there that I was basically unaware even existed – the problems and challenges that the deaf and hard of hearing face as well as the technology and other solutions to those situations.

I want to end with a sweet moment from my life that I’ve been thinking about this week.  Several years ago Chet and I were having a conversation.  I think it was right after the doctor first told me that it is within the realm of possibility that I would eventually completely lose my hearing.  I was telling Chet that so often in movies when there’s a character that has something life changing happen – a terminal illness, paralysis, blindness, etc. – they choose not to tell their spouse or fiance or best friend.  They might break up with a fiance and make up some excuse that’s not the true reason for breaking up.  Somehow they think they are “sparing” that person from dealing with the situation.  I always thought that was so dumb – of course you want to be honest with the people you love the most and of course they are going to want to support you and help you and of course it should be their decision!  When I was talking about this with Chet at that time, I told him that it surprised me, but I did actually have one moment (a brief one!) when I had the feeling of “he didn’t sign up for this” and I felt bad that it was going to and was affecting his life, too.  He looked me right in the eye and said “I did, too.”  I asked him what he meant and he replied, “I did sign up for this.  I married you, and “signed up” to spend the rest of my life with you, whatever that means.  I ABSOLUTELY DID sign up for this.”  Still makes me tear up to think about it.  I married a wonderful man and am incredibly blessed having him in my life.

Our Ladies’ Life class last night was a discussion about our blessings.  I’ve been very mindful of my blessings and have added a lot to that list over the last couple of months.  I’ve been reading an assigned book from our ASL class and have realized a few other blessings I have in my life.  The author of the book goes into detail about her experience of sudden hearing loss and a lot of medical and technical info about the ears and their anatomy and function as well as many different options and ways that technology can and cannot help.  What I hadn’t realized is that 50% of people who have the type of hearing loss that I’ve had also have problems with vertigo (dizziness) and balance and/or tinnitus (ringing of the ears and other phantom sounds).  All of these things vary in degree of intensity, but can be extremely debilitating.  I feel so blessed that I am in the 50% that do not have major issues with those things.  Some people can’t walk because of the balance issues or can’t lift up their heads without severe vomiting from the vertigo.  I’m truly thankful that I don’t deal with these things.  The parts of the ear that cause these are right there with the parts that cause the sensorineural hearing loss, so I feel very blessed.  It really could have gone either way.  Someone last night also mentioned that seeing the number of people who are taking the ASL class so that they can talk to me no matter what happens was very encouraging to them.  I thought that was cool.  I knew it was encouraging to me, but hadn’t really thought about the impact that would have on others.  I seriously have a long list of things I consider blessings in my life (I’m sure most of you do, too).  I think I’m going to spend some time today thinking about it and trying to add a few more things to the list!  I know they’re there, I just need to notice them! It never hurts to be MORE thankful and more aware of those things!   It’s been so much fun seeing people practice signing!  We don’t know much yet, but Wed. night at church multiple people were trying to greet each other and “introduce” themselves in ASL and last night at ladies’ class we all practiced some finger spelling together!  So much fun.  It makes it easier to be “in this together.”  Cody seems to have a great memory for this stuff.  He signs to me at home and remembers things I didn’t even remember talking about in class, much less remember the sign for it!  This is going to be great!  I don’t think about the extra effort and concentration it takes for me to follow conversations as much as I used to, but I thought it was interesting that Wed. night when I was able to sign to a group as I was leaving the building, it was almost a feeling of relief!  Weird, I know, but it was just so EASY to say goodbye without having to go stand close, and make sure my good ear was turned the right way, concentrate, etc.  It surprised me that I had that feeling.  I don’t think I’ll ever have to fully rely on sign language, but it may prove more helpful than I realized in ways I haven’t really thought about yet.

I had the MRI on my knee today and was so happy it went well!  I am somewhat claustrophobic, and the only other MRI’s I’ve had were of the head (I’ve had 3 over the years relating to my hearing loss) and I had to work very hard in the past to stay calm and get through them!  The thing that makes me the most claustrophobic is when I can’t move my arms.  I’m a large person and that MRI tube is small, so when I’m in there I can’t move anything and my arms are pressed inward, so I really have to work at staying calm and getting through it.  Anyhow, when they scheduled this MRI I asked if I had to go all the way in (since it was a knee, after all!) and they told me I still had to go in up to my neck!  They offered to schedule me to test in a wider MRI machine and I happily took them up on that offer!  I’m so glad I did!  It was sooooo much better for me!  This machine was wide enough I think I would have been okay even if I had had to go in up to my neck, but they only needed me in up to my waist (makes so much more sense!).  Let’s just say I was almost giddy I was so happy and the test went absolutely fine!  Whewwww!!!!  Next step will be on Wednesday when I see the surgeon to go over the results!

We had our first ASL class on Monday night and it was awesome!  The instructor had some technical difficulties getting set up, so we got started late, but once things got rolling I thought it was great!  It was fun and informative and I believe all 22 students had a good experience.  I’m looking forward to the next session.  The instructor told me that about 3/4 of the next class will be considered a “deaf zone” and there will be no voices allowed, only signing.  That should be quite interesting, considering how little we know at this point.  This class is not a traditional ASL class.  It’s called “Easy Signing” and it’s geared to be very interactive and personalized to the specific needs of each class.  There is a book that we all have been assigned to read at home about a woman who also experienced sudden hearing loss and I have found it very interesting for obvious reasons.  The teacher gave me a copy that was signed by the author, which I thought was really nice.   I found a couple of apps for my Nook Tablet that show ASL signs and I think they will be a great help for me as I try to learn this.  My family has been signing and it’s great practice!  I need it at this point!  Cody’s remembering a lot more than I am!

Today I was thinking about controlling our thoughts.  For years I have had an odd thing happen to me….when I am deep in thought I often say out loud what’s going through my head without being aware of it.  Think about that for a second!  Does anyone really want any random thought that goes through their head to be spoken out loud without their knowledge?  I sure don’t!  It’s weird.  The kids tease me and when they were young they’d just say “Mom, you’re doing it again!”  Back then what I would say would be in more of a whisper, so it wasn’t always clear what was being said to those who could hear me.  It seems like I haven’t done it much until lately (although I’m home alone more than I used to be now that the kids are mostly grown, so maybe there just isn’t anyone around to hear it and tell me about it anymore!) Recently, I’ve been “doing it again” only out loud and in words that are discernible!  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I have lots of dark or inappropriate thoughts that are spewing out of my mouth!  Usually when I’m deepest in thought is when I’m working out a problem or frustrated and I tend to go over the “scenario” multiple times in my head or replay it saying what I should have said or how I should have handled the situation, or will handle the situation or whatever!  One of my favorite scriptures is Philippians 4:8:  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.  I think about this often and consider it one of the key scriptures for life:  you can’t really have a bad attitude about something or have trouble forgiving or whatever if you don’t dwell on the wrong things.  I was saying my thoughts aloud this morning without being aware of it, and Kinsey came in and repeated a couple of sentences that I had said.  Initially, I thought she must have misunderstood.  I didn’t think I had been thinking  those things.  Then I realized that I WAS thinking about those things!  Nothing horrible, just thinking about something I found frustrating and it reminded me that I need to be careful what I allow myself to think.  I was considering that in the context of speaking my thoughts without realizing it, then it occurred to me that we all should probably be watching what we allow ourselves to think about regardless of whether we say our thoughts out loud or not!  Of course, considering how to handle a situation is a good thing and we need to evaluate problems or issues, but there’s a difference between doing that, and dwelling on them and allowing ourselves to get worked up or stay upset or frustrated.  That’s when we need to control our thoughts.  Anyhow, thought I’d share!

Today was the day I saw the orthopedic surgeon to check out my knee.  He suspects a torn meniscus, but wants me to have an MRI to see exactly what’s up.  That is scheduled for tomorrow, then I will follow-up with him to go over the result on Wednesday of next week.  If it is a torn meniscus, then he said it’s likely (not definite) that I would need some arthroscopic surgery on it.  Time will tell!

So far, no more problems with my hearing.  I’ve been reading the book we were assigned to read in ASL class, and I can tell you that after reading some of the info it contains I am incredibly thankful that I don’t have any vertigo (dizziness)  or balance problems along with my hearing episodes.  Apparently, about 50% of people with SSHL do, and it can be very bad and life changing!  Also, many people have problems with tinnitus (ringing in the ears or other sounds), and I only have a minimal amount of that from time to time.  Really really thankful that I’m in the 50% that do not have these things.  The hearing adjustments a hard enough and life changing enough.  I can’t imagine dealing with the severe symptoms the author of this book dealt with along with that.