Deaf

There is a history of hereditary hearing loss in my family.

My grandpa is deaf, my mom and brother have significant hearing loss.

I grew up with my mom saying "Look at me when you talk to me."

It wasn't because she wanted us to pay attention, it was because she was reading our lips.

She really needs hearing aids, but would rather spend the money on other things.

My husband and friends are always asking me if I'm deaf because of the volume that I prefer things at.

If there is ANYTHING going on around me I can't hear the person speaking to me. This can get a bit frustrating to the kids when we are in the car. Because I can't read their lips (too dangerous) and because of the road noise they have to either wait until we get there or shout at me to talk.

I've always told people that I have a hard time hearing things and am now saying the same words to my children. "Look at me when you talk to me."

So a couple of weeks ago I finally went to have my hearing tested.

It wasn't exactly what I was expecting or what I wanted to hear.

There are several things that I didn't understand about my ears that make more sense now, but I'm not sure if I can explain them well, so bear with me.

1. I have a huge sensitivity to high pitched noises.

2. I have hearing loss in both ears, but it's worse in my left ear.

3. My hearing is at the very bottom of the "normal" if there is only one sound that I'm listening to and this sound is in the normal range.

4. If there is more than one sound at a time (music, voices, etc.) my ears can't seem to differentiate between the two, making it difficult for me to hear either clearly.

I was surprised to see how wide the "normal" range is. The doctor told me that if I was older he would recommend a hearing aid. But since I'm in my 30s he wouldn't for the simple reason that once I can hear well again it would be extremely difficult for me to ever go back to not wearing them and he hated to see me dependent at such a young age. So he told me to come back in 5 years and be tested again. Since most of my friends and family know to look at me when they talk, and since the hearing aids will cost over $8,000, I agreed with him.

So there you have it. I am hearing impaired, but only slightly. It sucks to know that I'm only going to get worse, although my family is learning sign language so that will help. But it's also nice to know that it isn't just me not paying attention.