It is raining. I can hear the raindrops drumming on the roof. We needed the rain. I suffered another Vestibular Migraine Episode a week ago Wednesday, complete with nausea and vomiting. I contacted my surgeon's office and was given a Migraine Diet. It seems to be working. I am just amazed at how much salt there is in processed foods.
Now that I have had two full-blown Vestibular Migraines four months apart, I absolutely know my "triggers" and what to avoid. Weather is definitely my first "trigger." I met the woman I have been mentoring at the hospital. I met her father. My mentee and I share the same surgeon and same audiologist. She was at the hospital to meet with our surgeon and to make a decision whether to go with a second CI. We discovered that we had both been sick a week ago Wednesday night. We were "twins" for a night. We talked to the surgeon's nurse while we were at the hospital.
I had never met anyone who had misgivings about a second cochlear implant.
This woman's father has never really been exposed to deafness, and the same is true for the sisters in this family.
Our surgeon examined my mentee, and told us that his recommendation was that she go ahead with a second cochlear implant in her unimplanted ear. The father said to the surgeon that he hated for his daughter to go through all that (the surgery) again and couldn't he just give his daughter another shot in the ear?
Our surgeon was firm in his recommendation that my mentee have the second cochlear implant surgery. He explained that because she has Meniere's and the disease is quite active, they hoped to preserve what vestibular function was left. My mentee wants the second cochlear implant. Her father doesn't want her to go through with the second cochlear implant surgery.
We met with the audiologist, who tested my mentee's hearing, and sure enough, the audiogram revealed further loss of hearing in the unimplanted ear and established her candidacy for the second cochlear implant. The Audiologist also mapped the cochlear implant processors, and explained the benefits of a second cochlear implant.
As my mentee was deafened as an adult, she has what we call hearing memory. She did very well on the speech discrimination tests in her implanted ear and is making great progress. She scored a big fat zero on speech discrimination in her unimplanted ear, which we had expected.
While my mentee was in the testing booth, her father and I were in the waiting room and I had a window of opportunity to discuss with him what was happening with his daughter. He has difficulty grasping what deafness is, so I explained deafness to him in terms he could understand. He still did not understand why the second cochlear implant was necessary, and referred to his daughter as "almost normal," with the inititial cochlear implant.
This experience was an eye-opener for me. I had never dealt with a hearing person who really didn't want his daughter to have a cochlear implant in the first place, and wanted her to "preserve" what "natural hearing" she has. It also affirmed for me the difficulty people have in grasping that a hearing disability is real, although invisible. The same is true of having a disease like Meniere's. The disease is invisible to most, and only becomes apparent when the person staggers, struggles with balance, or falls to the floor, or is so dizzy nausea and vomiting result.
My mentee has dealt with her permanent hearing loss a lot better than others.
The loss of hearing has been gradual over a period of three years, accompanied by vertigo and imbalance issues so severe, she has been unable to work and had to go on disability from her job.
I gave my mentee a signaling system that will alert her to sounds she cannot hear without the cochlear implant. She and I have to take off the cochlear implant processors to sleep, shower, and bathe. During those times, we are deaf and cannot hear a doorbell, telephone, smoke alarm, door knock, tea kettle. I had purchased a newer signaling system prior to getting my first CI, and hadn't set it up. When I found out my mentee didn't have a signaling system, I was glad to give her my older signaling system. She gave me a gift of canned pickles and salsa she made herself. Yum!
I don't know if her father realized after our meeting that it was and is possible for his daughter to lead a full life with cochlear implants in spite of her deafness. Right now, all he can focus on, is that his daughter is now DEAF and he questions whether the second cochlear implant will be beneficial to her, or lessen or eliminate the vertigo and Meniere's attacks.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. She has a surgery date set for October 31st. At that time, it will have been eight months since the first CI. She is going ahead with the surgery in spite of her father's misgivings. I am confident that her father and her sisters, over time, will come to the realization that being a bilateral cochlear implant recipient is the best thing to happen to their daughter and sister.
My mentee and I are deaf individuals who lead full lives in spite of our deafness. The miracle of cochlear implant technology allows us to hear with our cochlear implant processors on.
We have faith, optimism, and hope. One of my greatest joys right now is the fact that I am able to be a blessing to other deaf individuals who are new cochlear implant recipients, and to be blessed by them as well. We share our experiences, our setbacks, our frustrations, and our "WOW"! moments.
What a Hearing Journey it has been. I just look back at my Activation Day experience in November, 2010, and just laugh. I have come a long way since that initial day of wild and crazy sounds.
Hearing with two cochlear implants is such a blessing.
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