So, we've arrived in March 2020, my depression is lifting, just had a birthday with the amazing birthday presents of hearing aids and the sound therapy system, this looks set to be a better year than the last! If only I knew. If only we all knew.
Following the crossover hearing aid fitting I also had a cast taken of my ear to make a plug for extremely loud environments. These aren't usually given as it's advised not to block your ear with anything, be that headphones or ear plugs. However, as I've explained previously, I worked in a very noisy environment and struggled with both hearing with background noise and hyperacusis. The plug was only to be used in these situations to help with the pain and the headaches it caused. At the beginning of March I went back to get the plug and was amazed by how my ear canal looked! I was also given some great news - my hearing had improved!
I'd had another hearing test during this appointment and this time I was apparently a bit trigger happy and indicating when no tone was being played. The helpful Audiologist thought that the tone of my tinnitus might be interfering with my test, so he changed the tone from a beep to a warble. I didn't know they could do this! It made it so much easier to distinguish if I was hearing something or not! When we reviewed the result I was no longer "profoundly deaf" in the range of speech - I am now "moderately deaf". I've still lost around 50% of my hearing in this range but my hearing is improving over time! Even more good news - because the crossover hearing aid had not any any impact on my tinnitus, they thought that a custom made hearing aid might be worth a go. This one sits inside the ear, so another cast of my ear canal was taken, and will be specifically matched to my hearing levels across the full frequency range. This means it will amplify the hertz where the hearing is damaged but leave the sounds I can hear alone. This could reduce the tinnitus as the lack of stimulus created by the hearing loss should be corrected and therefore the tinnitus reduced, or disappear completely. I was so excited by this news and an appointment for the fitting was arranged for the 31st of March. Bugger! The hospital was shut down for non-essential appointments a couple of weeks after the fitting appointment.
Stress affects tinnitus quite severely. Obviously the months that followed have been extremely stressful, to say the least, for the entire world. I've had to count my blessings and look for the positives to get through the shitshow of not only the pandemic, but this government's ineptitude of handling any aspect of the crisis. I could go on a big rant about it here, but to be honest, I'm sick to the back teeth - as many of us are - by everything. And we're not even out of the woods yet. I just hope that the next time the polling booths open, people have long memories!
A few good things have happened as a result of the lockdown. For one, both myself and my partner are essential workers. It's been stressful and challenging adapting to new ways of working, but we acknowledge that we are extremely fortunate to have not been affected financially. Prior to lockdown, there was a tinnitus support group run at the hospital once every three months. With more and more organisations adopting videoconferencing as a means of continuing working practices, a monthly support group has been set up by the British Tinnitus Association which is absolutely amazing! Our group has also set up a Whatsapp so that we can support each other throughout the month. That would have never happened without lockdown. Some of my group have read my blog and I cannot believe how many shared experiences we have. I no longer feel isolated.
I'm still waiting for the custom hearing aid, which is frustrating, but there are other things happening right now to focus on: The Black Lives Matter movement.
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