DUer needs your help - just lost his hearing and is lost

[grantcart]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8671842

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Thanks grantcart - got your PM and this thread..

I am responding to her.

[gateley]

2. Thanks grantcart -- I was just heading over here to get the url to post a link

to these fine people.

Here's to you all (and to you, grantcart!) :hug:

[Leftist Agitator]

3. Hi, everyone.

I guess I should have been checking this group out as I've been hard of hearing for more than a decade.

Now, as grantcart mentioned, I am deaf. Not completely, I still have a restricted range of hearing at 4% capacity, but ah, fuck it, I'm deaf.

For those of you who became deaf later in life, how did you manage? Do you have any tips on coping with this disability? What did you do about talking on the phone? TDD is great and all (and at least I'm 'lucky' enough to have gone deaf in the era of text messaging and e-mail) but have you encountered any situations in which TDD didn't suffice?

Fuck, I'm just going to up and say it. As a newly deaf person, what the fuck am I supposed to do? What do I need to do to enjoy the same quality of life as I had previously? ASL, lip reading, some sort of gelatin dish?

Seriously, I have no idea where I go from here. I can't hear anything anymore, it's bothering the fucking shit out of me, and I feel like a lost child.

Help me. Please.

[grantcart]

4. when I first went into the ER with sudden tinnitus they just referred me to

a general physician who referred me to a board certified ear specialist.

He just tried to get me to accept it.

I did a lot of research on the internet and came back with a two page letter.

One of the questions I had in the letter was

"is this a clinical diagnosis or a laboratory one"

meaning is it something that he is guessing at or that he is running a test at.

He leaned back and I could tell that he was never going to treat me again - he was afraid of a malpractice suit.

He said "You are a good candidate to go to the University clinic - they are doing advanced studies".

So I go to the UCSD Ear clinic and the guy looks at me for two minutes and says "Meneire's".

When I handed him the letter he had no problems with it and said they would confirm it with the test which they did.


My point is that you have to keep reading and direct your own treatment. And don't worry about the money. Be honest that you don't have money and they will either not charge you or bill you.


Remember this. There is life, there are your relationships. Everything else is paper. Who fucking cares if you run up a big bill? Its just paper. Your not trying to steal your trying to get help and you deserve it.

And you will find that many people will sympathize and help you without charging.

You also need to find a County social worker who can help you get benefits, for example Medicaid. If the County doesn't have anyone the hospitals might.

Keep fighting and never never give up.


edited to add:

Don't be afraid to ask for counseling help.

As I said in the thread - no one - even your family isn't going to understand what your going through. Ten years later my wife still doesn't know which ear doesn't work and doesn't understand why every couple of months I will pick something up and throw it against the wall. If it would stop that noise I would cut my ear off.

So find a group in your area that has people who have gone through what you are going through and share with them.

[uppityperson]

5. Thank you for writing all this.

I am not totally deaf, but can foresee a time if it keeps progressing as it has. Thank you for your advice and support for others.

[grantcart]

6. What is your situation now any update?

[FunkyLeprechaun]

7. I was just reading your post on the D/HH forum

I hope my response a month later isn't too bad for you!

I was born deaf but I do know people who went deaf later. Those who went deaf later went for testing to get Cochlear Implants surgery and when they did, they basically got their lives back. They had the blueprint to be hearing (I am still learning how to identify sounds whereas late-deafened people know how these sounds sound like).

Wondering if you had looked into that for yourself!

Regards,


Funky