Alright, listen up because I can't;)

Just got back from the audiology exam.  And it wasn't real good news, however I have another appointment with the ENT Dr in about an hour to go over the results a little better and see what the next step is.  The exam showed that I have severe hearing loss in my left ear, and my right ear is a little worse than last week, however still within normal ranges.  I was able to hear at extremely loud decibels of sound, and even then it sounded like a very high pitch computer voice, even though it was a normal woman's voice at normal sound levels in my right ear.  My left ear also showed that there was reflex decay which means that the problem lies in my middle ear, around the auditory nerve area.   So far infection is ruled out, however a virus or mass is still in question.  Good news though is that I can now kinda hear my finger rustling around in my left ear when a few days ago I couldn't even hear that.  It is still extremely faint, however that sound has come back a little bit.  The audiologist told me that sometimes hearing comes back, but sometimes it doesn't, and the best thing that could have happened quickly was that I was put on prednisone, which happened on Friday only five days after I first showed any signs of hearing loss.  I will keep you all updated with what the next steps are and what the Dr says this afternoon.  But I am happy that there was some hearing left in the left ear even if it was at extreme decibels, so maybe even if I don't get all of my hearing back, it might be able to be correctible with hearing aids or such, there I go again jumping to conclusions, or maybe just preparing.  Is this called denial?

It is going to be short for fear of frying my computer with tears

So many of you know that this week has been anything but a spring break for me.  It started last sunday when I woke up with the feeling of not being able to clear my ears.  For a flyer this is something that you key into right away because it is a necessity for flight.  It worried me a bit, but I figured it was something that would go away in a couple days, and didn't worry too much.  On Tuesday I was on base and figured I would make an appointment with the flight doc to get it checked out.  They took me in right away, looked in my ears and said that they looked healthy except for the fact that when I tried to clear my ears, they barely moved. They ran a hearing test and determined that my left ear had severe hearing loss +55 decibles and my right ear was still normal at 0 and 5 decibles (normal conversation measures in at 30 decibles).  They gave me some nasal sprays to start on to see if that cleared anything up.  No luck and by friday my left ear was completely deaf, I had severe ringing in my ear, lightheadedness, and felt like my right ear was getting clogged/ muffled too.  After talking to Dave we decided I had better go to the ER and try to get something figured out.  After the quickest ER visit in history, less than 45 min from checking in to checking out, I was on my way to see Dr Martin, an ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) Doc.  After doing a few simple tests in the office, he diagnosed it as sudden hearing loss, and more tests were going to be needed as to find out why.  This week I will be having an intense hearing test, that will test the reflexes of my ears and how long they respond to stimulous, and probably an MRI, along with another appointment with Dr. Martin.  He has be taking prednisone, and Valtrex.  And is leaning toward either a virus, or possibly a mass.  In the meantime I am figuring out how to use the closed caption on the TV, and teaching Buster to come and get me when Dave gets home or he needs to go outside.  The lightheadedness has subsided, but the ringing is still pretty overwhelming since that is the only thing that I hear in that ear.   I will keep you all updated with the newest, but it is to say the least extremely scary not knowing what the rest of your life has in store for you.  So enjoy the sounds while you can because you don't know if it is the last time that you will hear someone say I love you, or hear your loved ones voices, let alone the birds sing, or a child laugh or cry.  It is really sad that it takes something like this to happen for you to really appreciate what you have been blessed with.