God Bless the Audiologists

An audiologist is on the front line with those of us who've sustained hearing loss. And they work to make our lives easier and more productive, in spite of our audiogram levels. They tell us the naked truth about our hearing tests and then hand us tissues when we cry out our frustrations. They are masters of hearing devices and use their skills to program each one to our unique needs. Sometimes it's not enough. Like us, they are limited by our individual capacity to hear (or not hear) and the technology they have available. God bless the audiologists.

I've been asked to speak next week to a college class of audiology students. My school district's audiologist teaches the class and said my story was inspirational.

I've been trying to think of something to say about my hearing loss and how much my life has changed that's worthy of the word inspirational.

I haven't come up with much.

The truth is-- I don't see that I'm much different than anyone else who's faced adversity in their life. I cope and adapt and keep plodding on. And like so many others, I cry and whine and complain a lot, too. It's just the way it is.

I think the message I want to purvey to these future audiologists is how unfriendly the world is to anyone with any health conditions that make them "needy".  And the deaf and hard of hearing are a fairly needy group. It's that "neediness" that's so unfortunate to me. Really. I hate it.

I need people to be patient and understanding. I need them to speak up. I need them to articulate and speak clearly. I need people to face me when they are speaking.  I need people to take turns when having a conversation instead of jumping in while others are speaking. I need them to understand that even in the best conditions, I still miss about a fourth of the conversation and information that is spoken. I need closed captioning on TV and often in movies, too, and I can't talk to people while I'm trying to listen and read captions. I need special accommodations to continue working my job, and those accommodations are just as much a nuisance to me as they are to others. I need people to understand how utterly exhausting hearing and listening has become, so when I take my hearing aids out at night for a break, I need them to stop telling me to put my hearing aids on.  I need them to know that hearing aids and a cochlear implant don't "fix" my hearing, and I am still hard-of-hearing with them.

It can be maddening, at times.

Enter the audiologist. Mine has saved my sanity -- more than once. She assures me often that I am not crazy or needy or demanding or whiny. I'm deaf, that's all. She's my lifeline. I couldn't have made it without her.

And I want these audiology students to know how important they will be to their patients, too.

Know Your Medical History

I need to complain.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss deafened my left ear three years ago. Because I've also had bouts of sudden sensorineural hearing loss in my right ear, I've earned regular checkups with my otologist twice a year even though the ear has remained stable for over two years.

I had one of those checkups last week.

I had complained previously that I'd had a couple of dizziness episodes after flying, and asked if it could be related to the cochlear implant surgery. I am a frequent flyer, and I'd never had any problems before with changing pressure or dizziness. My doctor explained that my sinus disease was the more likely culprit, and suggested I use decongestants and nasal spray prior to flights to keep them open. So I did. And I added a Dramamine tab, too. Since then, I haven't had any other problems when flying.

So his casual statement last week that he wanted to see me THREE times a year to monitor my Meniere's came as an outright shock. "I don't have Meniere's," I protested -- probably a little too loudly.

He stumbled and stuttered in his response, and tried to tell me that I had the disorder in my right ear. And the irregular hearing loss and occasional dizziness were symptoms. I felt like he knew he'd been caught off-guard and was covering his tracks rather than admitting he'd made a mistake.

I argued, of course. I pointed out that I had none of the symptoms of Meniere's and that he had told me on more than one office visit that my dizziness after flying and the continuing irregular hearing loss were related to sinus disease and Eustachian tube dysfunction, not Meniere's. I even told him he probably should check my chart again. I protested that the increase in checkups to every four months instead of six months wasn't necessary since my audiogram showed my ear to be stable.

He disagreed, and marked my discharge paper for 4 months. Then he smiled as he walked me out. The appointment desk wouldn't budge on the date either. I tried.

Checking my online health report at home, I noticed he'd coded my chart with a diagnosis of idiopathic acquired sensorineural hearing loss, just as he's done for the three years since this all began. Not Meniere's. I guess he looked back at my chart.

I am still flabbergasted that he would toss out a misdiagnosis so easily. I believe he may have confused me with other patients or he didn't review my chart before he came in to see me. But I was diligent.

There's no excuse for any doctor to enter an established patient's room and make such a mistake, in my opinion. I pay him to be better than that. And he is making decisions about me that could affect my health for many years to come. He is a highly skilled surgeon, and he is very knowledgeable about hearing loss and diseases of the ear. But I am more than a little ticked at this misstep. I'm not fooled easily. I am fully aware of my medical history and diagnoses. You should be, too.

I have not decided if I will keep the appointment in four months. Or if I will keep this doctor.