The Five Senses

Five senses, touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing.  Many of us take these senses for granted, that is until we loose one of them or experience technical difficulties.  Over the years I've learned to appreciate the gift of sight, especially after loosing it back in 2003 for 6 months and having vision challenges ever since.  Now there is a new challenge, an opportunity, to learn and express appreciation for another of our valued senses, that of hearing.  Many months have passed as the constant ringing in my ears grows louder and more frustrating, almost to the point of insanity.  With this 'ringing' has come a substantial loss of hearing, a fact confirmed by the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor and his numerous tests yesterday.  He didn't provide any new information, as I already knew I was having increased difficulty in hearing, but thought it was due to something that could be fixed.  His report showed that there was nothing wrong with my hearing, just that I had the hearing loss, for me a substantial loss.  The audiologist suggested several types of hearing aids, so I listened to the best of my ability.  "Um, so I cannot hear?" is the question I kept asking myself all day, along with, "What do I do now?"  Medicare doesn't cover the cost of many things, like dental and hearing aids.  I'm surprised that such things aren't covered.  With the costs of hearing aids ranging from a low of $1,500 to a high of many thousands, I can logically understand; however, emotionally I struggled.

How do others pay for hearing aids, why do other people that have them not use them, and so many other questions raced through my mind as I began accepting the fact that I wouldn't be able to hear normally again.  I'm 48, relatively healthy, and wonder how others would perceive me when wearing a hearing aid.  After a day of realizing that what others thought wasn't the important factor, what I needed and what I wanted in order to hear again was important.  I've come to terms with my vision being blurry, having ghost images when I see things, and difficulty with seeing at night; so now I have to begin coming to terms with the fact that I'll be wearing hearing aids.  As a friend put it, "you don't need to hear, you can see, be thankful for that."  I conferred and acknowledged that indeed, even with my vision problems, I was thankful that I could see.  I might miss hearing the leaves rustle in the wind, the song bird chirping in the early morning hours, or even the pleasure of enjoying a simple conversation with a friend; but there is one thing I know, and that is that there are options.

The first option is to follow through with the MRI the doctor desires to see if there is any reason for the sudden hearing loss within my brain, which there easily could be after my brain swole to almost imploding back in 2003.  The second option is to seek alternative healing, such as acupuncture, herbs, etc.; which I have decided to do.  The third option is to find affordable hearing aids and/or seek financial assistance that might be available to purchase them.  I'll keep working through the options until I find a way of hearing better, as that is the one thing I desire at this moment.

There are some benefits with this new issue.  No longer hearing all of the sounds around me, I've begun to listen to my own thoughts a bit more.  Some might consider this dangerous, especially for me, but with the creation of the new company, writing the new book, and with them so many things to accomplish that I'm needing to be able to focus more on all of my thoughts.  I'm surprised with just how many thoughts cross my mind within very short periods of time.  Now the fun begins, the excitement builds, and the challenges are faced with greater clarity of purpose.

Thought for today:  Have you begun to take your senses for granted?  What would happen if suddenly you couldn't hear, see, taste, smell, or touch?