Neal ~
Thanks for the very encouraging update. I'm pleased to learn about your excellent recovery. I trust that you'll find a workable solution to the SSD problem, in time. However, many of us who are SSD do learn to handle it and devise strategies and coping mechanisms that we use to function with only 50% hearing. Body placement that puts your 'good' ear closer to a speaker is basic, as is avoiding very noisy environments and not being afraid to tell someone that you're deaf in one ear. In a group, I'll often subtly turn my body so that my 'good' ear is toward the center of the group. Eventually, these small actions become automatic. I'm fortunate, like you, in that my 'good' ear has excellent hearing acuity. SSD is a deficit but it can be managed. I do it on a daily basis and so do many other AN patients.
I'm surprised you weren't impressed with the BAHA unit. Almost everyone who has tried one has raved about it. Of course, it isn't 'natural' hearing but it does seem to help. I gradually lost my hearing in the AN-affected ear over a 5-year period and slowly but surely adjusted to it. It was about gone by the time I told my wife of the problem. She had began to suspect I was getting 'hard of hearing' (I said 'what? quite often). This gradual loss helped me to learn coping skills and they have served me well. I don't feel the need for a hearing aid (I'm retired and that's a factor) but if I ever did, I would definitely consider the BAHA unit.
Again, congratulations on your successful surgery and impressive recovery. May it only continue.
Jim
Jim,
Thanks for the great response. While I do want to explore all my options for dealing with my SSD I would not be surprised if in the end I ended up with a strategy much like yours. Besides the frustrating times when I find myself saying 'what?' a lot, there are those other times I find that I can rest my head--good ear down--into the palm of my hand and block out all sound around me, unknown to those around me. This has come in handy a number of times. At night if my wife wants to watch a TV show and I want to sleep I know which side to lie on. In a meeting with a dull speaker--it works great for situations like that.
The doctor (ENT) told me that my hearing nerve was left in tact, and both ends are connected, but it was compromised by the size and location of my tumor. After the audiologist's tests he said there was not any chance that the nerve may revive. Still, I am taking B Complex vitamins and CQ10 with the hope that I may get some hearing back in that ear. Maybe I am just having difficulty accepting it but I am still hoping some hearing comes back in that ear.
I read the posts here on the AN Forum everyday and I know that compared to a lot of the folks here that have much more difficult post treatment issues I am very lucky with the outcome of my surgery. I am extremely grateful that, so far, SSD is the worst side effect I have encountered. I will learn to deal with it.
Neal
