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Singing and music with one ear...

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vjw1218:
As a singer and avid music lover, I am concerned with the impact of hearing loss - either minor or profound - will have on me. Will I be still be able to hold my pitches? Will it be harder to blend in an ensemble or to find a part?

My AN has only affected my hearing so far in the high frequencies and I have not noticed it at all. Only the hearing test revealed the degradation. I'm just wondering how much I'll miss when I have the AN removed via microsurgery?

Forgive me if I placed this in the incorrect forum.

I would appreciate any and all thoughts.

(Does anyone who has undergone microsurgery regret their decision and wish they'd chosen a radiation-type treatment? I don't read too many totally positive outcomes on this board, so I'm just wondering.)

Boppie:
Until hearing is lost one doesn't appreciate how much the bones in the head tell us about sound. 

Pre-op (when the hearing in my AN ear had dropped to 30%) I could sing just fine and had no hint of loss of pitch.  I found that I developed an increasing irritation with bad singing.  Our church choir singers are mostly untrained volunteers, so I run across a wild one once in a while.  I have natural  ability to copy, sustain, and find a pitch.  I harmonize by ear.  For twelve years I have been the person in the choir who calls the office to get the piano tuned again.  I have retained all of that ability in spite of my 2005 Translab and SSD.   

Post-op I have less tolerance for off-key or bad pitches. Post-op I have better luck singing alone, with a well tuned soprano, or accompanied by a well tuned instrument backup.  I still harmonize well and hear myself in my head and with my good ear.  I have natural pitch and I read music a bit.  Others tell me my singing is the same.  Since I started using a bone conduction aid I am better able to hear myself singing, and I am better able to hear nuances of the string chords.  I doubt I'd be able to sing with a loud group or near brass instruments.  My tinnitus would be too outrageous.

So, I encourage you to keep on singing, learn to ignore tinnitus.  Continue to enjoy your vocal gift.

I can't say I regret surgery.  My tumor was ready to come out.  I was not prepared to have it swell and wait for it to die, not at my age.  I am 65.  I want to be positive with you.  If my young family member had a small tumor I would investigate treatment that might promise preservation of the some hearing.  Of course, even my family members have the right to make their own informed decisions.  There is a lot to consider I know. 

FlyersFan68:
Hearing loss to some degree is extremely common with most AN patients over the years and regardless of treatment. Some manage to hold on to quite a bit for while many others immediately or gradually lose over time but your one good ear does pretty good. It's a really good thing if you don't have tinnitus which usually spikes when I'm around loud music or singing. One cannot predict the future so enjoy what you have.  :)     

ixta:
vjw 
ya it sux.
was melancholy with some smashing pumpkins last night.

Not trying to be a downer, but realistic. I do find though with some songs, I still get the fervent fever feeling I had before, not on the hearing level of course but the metaspiritual level that music has always given my spirit. trance, techno is difficult because there are so many different levels.

nancyann:
Well, even though I loved to sing before surgery, friends would say (laughingly),'Nancy, why are you punishing us?  what did we do?'
Now, I can tell I'm more off pitch than ever !, but couldn't sing in the first place !  So, singing in the shower I go !!

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