What Did You Say?

BY ANGIE ARLINGTON

Early Years

I have lived with hearing issues all of my life. As a child, I had over 4 sets of stationary ear tubes put in my ears. I remember whispering too loudly and getting my “good worker paper” taken away often. In high school, I had to have my right eardrum repaired by taking skin from behind my ear to close the hole. I have always had difficulty understanding people with accents or who mumble. When people talk the sound carries in the direction they are facing. So when people turn away from me, I do not always hear every word spoken. I can read lips enough to follow along if I need to, but it is difficult to follow if there are too many sounds around me!

In 2014, I had my hearing tested and found that I needed hearing aids. When I started wearing my hearing aids, I heard sounds that I had never heard due to being very low or very high in frequency. My hearing aids were molded to cover my entire pathway to hearing, but I felt clogged throughout my ears and sinuses. I wore my hearing aids for 2 years and then I could not tolerate them any more.

At the end of 2022, I had both of my ear drums burst and had bloody fluid come out of one of my ears. Even after 2 rounds of antibiotics, nasal spray, and prescription ear drops- it took 3 months for my ears drums to completely heal. Then in May of 2023, I woke up with thick yellowish puss coming out of my left ear. My ear popped a bit, but my hearing seemed to diminish. I was given more medications to clear the fluid behind my middle ears. But when I returned- my left ear still had a hole in my ear drum. The hole had not closed on its own and the 3 tiny bones that help move sound were not working property.

From my Journal starting 2023:

• August 3: Can hear the foreman grill sizzle, can hear the sound of the keys on my computer, can hear my voicewhich even at a whisper is so loud! Volume 100 on my TV was not loud enough to hear- now I can hear it fine

at 30! I could hear my dishwasher softly, but now it sounds like a waterfall. My air conditioner outside is loud- can’t believe I could not hear it. Rustling of paper is distracting.

• Sept. 2: I have noticed that the wind is very loud- my hearing aids seem to amplify the wind and I have noticed that I can not hear people talking to me when outside.

• Sept. 18th: I have tympanoplasty surgery- where the surgeon makes a curved incision behind your auricle, which is the crease in your outer ear. They used that to repair the hole. Then, the doctor put packing under and above my ear drum. It is so hard not being able to hear again in my left ear. It will be nearly Christmas, before I will know the true outcome. At least I have my hearing aid to wear in my right ear to hear- without it I would not hear much of anything!

• Sept. 26th: I keep answering my phone putting it up to my left ear! Never realized how natural

that action was until now. I have noticed that I can hear people much better from 10 feet away compared to standing in front of me.

• October: Start to be able to use hearing aid in ear and can hear.

• November: Sick with cold/flu thing- hearing decreases- can barely hear with hearing aid.

• December: Fluid behind ear- no infection. Eardrum looks good, but Tympanometry results are flat in my left ear.

2024

• Feb. 1: Results of the hearing test basically the same- Tympanometry in the left ear is flat. I am tired all the time, struggling to hear.

• March 6: CT scan on ear, ENT consult, and I agree to surgery. He tells me, “I think it is only thickened on the outer part of the eardrum, but will see how it looks on the opposite end of the eardrum in surgery.”

• May 4-5: Energetic, no pain, no dizziness

• May 10: Post op appointmenteardrum looks good

• May 18: Can’t hear between both earseven with a hearing aid in my right ear. Outside is hard. Takes a lot of energy to focus and trouble sleeping due to rolling over on the left ear. Start ear drops for 2 weeks to dissolve packing.

• June 14: Returned to ENT to remove the packing left in my ear and I could hear her talk!!!

• July 14: Hearing is good, but wearing both hearing aids is so loud and gives me a headache. Do not have to put the TV or radio in the car on full blast to hear it.

If you have hearing loss, you should have your hearing tested at least every other year. This was an abbreviated version of my journey to help educate and raise awareness of living with hearing loss. I know many people who are hard of hearing or deaf and their individual stories are theirs to share. Thankfully, babies are tested at birth for hearing concerns. If the test shows anything, families are referred to the Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education for early interventions services.

Vocabulary:

• Eardrum: K nown as the tympanic membrane, the eardrum is a thin, semi-transparent membranous wall that stretches across the ear canal and separates the outer ear from the middle ear.

• Inner ear: The third (innermost) section of the ear where sound vibrations and balance signals are transformed into nerve impulses. The inner ear contains the cochlea (organ of hearing) and the labyrinth or vestibular system (the organ of balance).

• Middle ear: Part of the ear that contains three tiny bones (called ossicles)—malleus (hammer), incus (anvil) and stapes (stirrup)—that conduct sound from the eardrum to the inner ear via the oval window.

Resources:

Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) www.hearingloss.org/ Hear Indiana www.hearindiana.org

Center for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Education (CDHHE)

Provides the full continuum of communication options to ensure children who are Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing from birth to 21 years old in the state of Indiana. www.cdhhe.isdh.in.org