Noise Cancelling Headphones for the Hard of Hearing Girl...Probably Not a Good Idea

I have these noise cancelling headphones that I love. They go into my ear so I can't fit them in there with my hearing aids and naturally the hearing aids have to go. Yesterday I was getting out of my car and a car was driving pass when the driver stopped and backed up. I thought she wanted my spot until I turned and saw that someone had gotten into the car beside mine and was backing out. I had not heard her at all; I didn't hear her get into the car or start the car. And then today I was walking and almost walked in front of a car. I didn't hear it coming. That kind of made me nervous. Maybe noice cancelling headphones are the best for me since I can't hear anyway. But I really like them; I like just being able to hear my music and none of the other noises. I'll just have to be more vigilant and look around to make sure I know what's going on around me. I usually do but my mind has been somewhere else this week.

Beautiful Language...ASL

Because I discovered I was hard of hearing and needed hearing aids I decided to take American Sign Language. My audiologist has told me many times that my hearing will only get worst and that there is that possibility of going completely deaf. So when I made the decision to go back to school to finish my English degree I decided to do a Bachelor of Arts and take ASL for the language core. I don't regret it at all. While it hasn't been easy I love learning ASL and talking with my hands. It still surprises me that I can understand it and I can have full signed conversations. I've discovered a new culture of people who know what I am going through and understand the frustrations I may have.

Last semester I had a pretty tough professor, Mr. Holland, who required a lot out of us and gave us so many assignments that required us to get up in front of the class and do presentations. He also required us to go to Deaf events which allowed me to meet some people. It felt pretty good to be able to have conversations with them. Because Mr. Holland was so tough he forced me to take the language that much more serious and I worked really hard to learn new words and am able to sign better. I love learning this new language and look forward to learning so much more.

What Its Really Like to Have Hearing Loss

Did some more research trying to find something when I came across a few websites that depict hearing loss very well. I've posted the links below. If you know someone with hearing loss and want to know what it's like these websites are really good at letting you experience that.

Starkey Hearing Loss Simulator

Hearing Like Me Simulator

Youtube Video Hearing Loss Example

NPR Article

I was searching Google for hearing loss blogs when I found this NPR article that talks about hearing loss. What's so interesting about this piece is that it added soundbites of what it sounds like when you have hearing loss, which is really cool. It was spot on. It depicts what I go through when I am trying to hear things without my hearing aids and even talks about recruitment, which is a weird phenomenon where as sounds get louder, they quickly go from being inaudible to painfully loud. And it really hurts and is uncomfortable. I thought this site was interesting so I've added it below so that people who don't deal with hearing loss can see what people who have to deal with go through and maybe help them understand.

The Real Sounds Of Hearing Loss

This is picture is showing that you can either wear the protective earmuffs when in loud situation or you'll be wearing hearing aids later. Powerful.

Furstrations of a Hard of Hearing Girl

For my ASL 2010 class I had to read chapter 4 of The Deaf Community in America: History in the Making and there was this section explaining what it is like to be deaf and hard of hearing. As I read I was like "yeah, that's right!" People seem to think that just because you have hearing aids everything is perfect. It is still artificial hearing and sometimes I still can't hear what people are saying. Sometimes the hearing aids are uncomfortable or everything is too loud so I don't wear them. On top of being hard of hearing I have this sensitivity to sounds. When things, the world, is too loud the sound gets distorted and it hurts. My audiologist told me the name for this and why it is happening and I understand but others don't always get it. People have said to me "How are you hard of hearing but something is too loud?"Even after explaining exactly what it is that is going on I still get the same reaction and it is so frustrating. I like how this text explained it and I will now do the same when people act ignorant or are just rude and not understanding.

HARD OF HEARING

• Hard of hearing people can hear many sounds, but not all sounds.
• Hearing aids are often helpful for hard of hearing people.
• People who wear hearing aids usually cannot hear everything. If you see someone wearing a hearing aid, don't think the person can hear everything you say.
• Being hard of hearing is like watching television with the sound turned low, so that you can barely hear.
• Or it is like trying to play with a toy car that has two wheels missing. You can play with it, but it does not work as well as a car with all four wheels.
• Some hard of hearing people with hearing aids understand only a few words; others understand many words.
• Some hard of hearing people have good speech; others do not speak clearly.

With this list I fall in the category of the hard of hearing person that can sometimes only understand a few words with my hearing aids especially if the person speaks really low or has a soft voice. I also do not speak clearly, I mumble according to others but it sounds clear to me. I also sound loud to myself so I don't like to speak too loud because it is weird. Reading that list just resonated with me because I could relate and it was like they were talking to me. I get so frustrated and angry when people who should understand just don't. They think you're making things up or just being difficult when that's not it at all. I can understand that dealing with someone who has a "disability" is difficult but you should really think about the person who has the "disability" and try to image how hard it is for them to live with it and deal with it without making it harder.


Reference
Melvia M. Nomeland. The Deaf Community in America: History in the Making (Kindle Locations 929-931). Kindle Edition.

Fall Semester '14

I am nervous about this upcoming semester because I have to take creative nonfiction and a theory class. I don't know what to expect of the creative nonfiction class. I guess I'd have to write true stories but that's what's so frightening. Maybe I could write about my hearing problems, or Hannah, or my ankle issues. I'm not sure. I guess I'll find out when the class starts. The literary theory class really scares me because I took the lower division class and I did not do well in it. I didn't quite understand the point of the class or what was being taught. It's not like I have a choice I have to take these classes. Oh well. I'll see how it goes. *Sigh*

Surgery was a Success!!!

I went to the hospital on Wednesday morning (4/30) and I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be. I checked in and it didn’t take that long before I was taken back to my room. The nurse who took my blood pressure and inserted the IV was really nice and friendly. She made it easy to not be as nervous. After a while I was given some medicine to relax while they gave me a nerve block. The needle was huge but the block was worth it. My leg stayed numb for 24-hours. It took a while longer before they wheeled me back to surgery because we had to wait on the doctor to finish with his other surgery.

Around 8:45ish the nurses came and wheeled me to the operation room and put me onto the table. They had me breathe in and out this mask and the next thing I know I’m waking up coughing and struggling to breathe. Because I couldn’t talk I was using ASL to communicate. I signed 'Water' and was going to Fingerspell it before I realized that they didn’t understand. I was having trouble breathing and coughing because they used a breathing tube on me since they put me under general anesthesia. They rolled me into recovery and got my dad.

I learned that my tendons were just fine. They weren’t torn or anything. I did have an excess amount of scar tissue and inflammation and there was still some bone spurs or bone fragments from before. Instead of a cast I was put into a splint which I can remove at home in a week. I will be non-weight bearing for only 2 weeks now then start physical therapy. I won’t have to use my whole summer to recover now and I can get an internship and find a job.

I’m happy for that and happy that my ankle can be better after this surgery. I will do everything the doctor and physical therapist tell me to so that I can recover fully and live pain free.

Big Day Tomorrow!

Tomorrow’s the big day! Finally time time for my surgery. I’ve stressed myself out so much now I’m calm and just ready for this to be over. Ready to start the recovery process and healing this ankle.

It's Official

I went to the doctor in the beginning of this month and it’s now official: I need surgery and am going forward with it. I have scheduled my surgery for April 30th. I am really nervous about it because I’ve had surgery on the same ankle before and worry about it not being necessary like the other one. But the constant pain and inability to do anything lets me know that something is seriously wrong with my ankle. Six years of pain is enough. I have to do this surgery and hope and pray that everything turns out okay.

Bad News...

Today I was fired from my job. I had bronchitis and had to miss almost a week. I work in a call center and they worked on a point system. You could only get 14 points before they fired you and it didn't matter your reasons or anything. It sucked to be let go from another job; I liked the people I worked with. My boss looked like she was going to cry making me almost cry but I held it together. When I got home I got onto the computer to apply for unemployment. There was nothing I could do about the job so I needed to move on and try to find another job and in the mean time see if I can get some assistance from the unemployment office. I really liked that job. It was fun to work there and it was right up the street from school.