Tuesday, January 7, 2020
I do not always hear well. Twenty plus years ago when I was battling the flesh eating disease, I was on a very strong antibiotic for nearly a year that has hearing loss as a side effect. I was routinely tested and suffered only very minor damage, but I do have difficulty with some tones in common speech. I turn the volume on the television high enough to understand the talking and then my ears get blown out by action scenes and commercials.
My chemotherapy treatment that I started at the end of 2018 also has hearing loss as a side effect and I think it did cause more damage. I say think because, unlike when I had the antibiotic, hearing tests were not a part of the chemotherapy plan. I have noticed I turn up the television louder than before and if I watch a show on my computer, I turn on the closed caption and read while I watch.
I do not usually have trouble hearing in daily conversations such as when I am networking or chatting with someone I have met out in real life, unless there is a lot of background noise. Background noise is the biggest reason I turn my television up so loud. When I am in bed (the only place I watch an actual television), I have one or two space heaters running about 18 inches from my head on each side. I need to be able to drown out the heater noise to hear the television.
I need to overcome heater noise when I am working on my computer too, although I usually have just one heater near my face, so it is not as bad as my bedroom. My seven-year-old, Mika, likes for me to play music on my computer while she plays with her toys across the room. I do not usually mind, but Mika then tries to talk to me from across the room while the music is playing 18 inches from my face. I think Mika finally understands I cannot hear her talking when the music is loud enough for her to hear across the room.
Combine the ambient noise with my ability to completely focus on a project and it can be difficult to talk to me while I am working at my computer and it frustrates my family. I will hear the second half of their sentence and ask them to repeat it. They get annoyed and either complain I am deaf or not paying attention. Both thoughts are right to an extent, however neither is the real issue.
The real issue is that my family members do not get my attention first. If you go to an event that has a speaker, the speaker does not simply go to the front of the room and start speaking while everyone else in the room is still talking. Someone gets the crowd's attention and tells them to sit down and pay attention to the information about to be shared with them.
The easiest way to get your family member’s attention before you start talking to them is to simply say their name first. I have been working on this lately and I am doing very well, sometimes. In the evening, my significant other usually hangs out upstairs and Mika and I hang out downstairs. I rarely forget to call his name, and wait for a reply, before yelling up the stairs what I want to say.
I am not as good when my family members are in the same room with me. I often forget to say Mika’s name first before talking while she is playing with her toys. Mika is probably concentrating on what she is playing out and will not register my words until I am far into my sentence. It is easier when I am playing music because I stop the music and that gets her attention.
My piece of advice to you is to say someone’s name to get their attention before you start talking. The paying attention frustration level is not zero in my house, but it is a lot lower than it was six months ago.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
I do not always hear well. Twenty plus years ago when I was battling the flesh eating disease, I was on a very strong antibiotic for nearly a year that has hearing loss as a side effect. I was routinely tested and suffered only very minor damage, but I do have difficulty with some tones in common speech. I turn the volume on the television high enough to understand the talking and then my ears get blown out by action scenes and commercials.
My chemotherapy treatment that I started at the end of 2018 also has hearing loss as a side effect and I think it did cause more damage. I say think because, unlike when I had the antibiotic, hearing tests were not a part of the chemotherapy plan. I have noticed I turn up the television louder than before and if I watch a show on my computer, I turn on the closed caption and read while I watch.
I do not usually have trouble hearing in daily conversations such as when I am networking or chatting with someone I have met out in real life, unless there is a lot of background noise. Background noise is the biggest reason I turn my television up so loud. When I am in bed (the only place I watch an actual television), I have one or two space heaters running about 18 inches from my head on each side. I need to be able to drown out the heater noise to hear the television.
I need to overcome heater noise when I am working on my computer too, although I usually have just one heater near my face, so it is not as bad as my bedroom. My seven-year-old, Mika, likes for me to play music on my computer while she plays with her toys across the room. I do not usually mind, but Mika then tries to talk to me from across the room while the music is playing 18 inches from my face. I think Mika finally understands I cannot hear her talking when the music is loud enough for her to hear across the room.
Combine the ambient noise with my ability to completely focus on a project and it can be difficult to talk to me while I am working at my computer and it frustrates my family. I will hear the second half of their sentence and ask them to repeat it. They get annoyed and either complain I am deaf or not paying attention. Both thoughts are right to an extent, however neither is the real issue.
The real issue is that my family members do not get my attention first. If you go to an event that has a speaker, the speaker does not simply go to the front of the room and start speaking while everyone else in the room is still talking. Someone gets the crowd's attention and tells them to sit down and pay attention to the information about to be shared with them.
The easiest way to get your family member’s attention before you start talking to them is to simply say their name first. I have been working on this lately and I am doing very well, sometimes. In the evening, my significant other usually hangs out upstairs and Mika and I hang out downstairs. I rarely forget to call his name, and wait for a reply, before yelling up the stairs what I want to say.
I am not as good when my family members are in the same room with me. I often forget to say Mika’s name first before talking while she is playing with her toys. Mika is probably concentrating on what she is playing out and will not register my words until I am far into my sentence. It is easier when I am playing music because I stop the music and that gets her attention.
My piece of advice to you is to say someone’s name to get their attention before you start talking. The paying attention frustration level is not zero in my house, but it is a lot lower than it was six months ago.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.