Huh??

So apparently 24% of people in the UK have had to give up work because of single sided deafness (SSD)....

I am not, nor do I ever plan on being part of that statistic. I lost my hearing in my left ear in February of 2016 as a result of a nasty virus, that's what they told me anyway although to be perfectly honest no one had a clue or could provide any answers of the whys and the how's! Thank god for Google! A year on and im ready to share my story with fellow deaf people who, like me, spend their lives saying what? pardon? and my personal favourite, huh?! 

Im a dance teacher from Kineton,Warwickshire who, beyond the everyday struggles, loves her job. I was only there a month when my hearing disappeared and I felt lost beyond belief. From that very morning of vertigo, throwing up and not being able to walk or see straight, i knew my life would never quite be the same. I convinced myself that it would come back but if im totally honest i already felt like a part of me was gone forver. Going to work that morning i stepped in to a new world of noises, tinnitus, ringing, dizziness and generally having no idea what anyone around me was saying. I felt like a small fish in a huge (shallow!) pond with no way out apart from to keep doing what i do best, teaching. It was another couple of months of hospital appointments, doctors, cancellations, and arguments with the NHS until a friend of my boyfriends put me in touch with a private specialist. She delivered the news that i was dreading (although kind of expecting) that my hearing was never coming back. I ate some chocolate, cried, screamed and got angry but then gave myself a firm talking to....iv still got the other ear right?!

 

Single sided deafness is a very personal and unique journey. Some days the frustration is too much, especially in crowded and noisy situations and even more so if you have no control over your environment. I have no idea where sounds are coming from which is comical at work in a busy gym and studio when someone calls my name. It makes crossing the road interesting and other everyday things that are taken for granted seem difficult, getting up too fast, watching TV, listening to music, answering your mobile to your deaf ear and having a conversation on your 'bad side'.

I figured that even if only 1 other person can relate to any of this then it would be worth writing! 

Until next time....