News About Daisy

[Happy Chappy & Daisy]

Hello All -

While my wife "Daisy" has never been in the chats herself, "Snickers the Clown" and I have spoken about her often. She has been getting increasingly irritable for some time, and couldn't figure out why. She finally realized that her hearing has been going for some time, and it's been harder and harder to filter out background noise; being in public has been constant painful noise, and so it has been unpleasant for her to be in malls and supermarkets and such.

Now that she has realized, it has been easier to adjust. A screening has shown that she has lost 20% of her hearing in one ear and 50% in the other. She has been wearing earplugs to cut down on the noise, and she can still hear when people speak directly to her. It turns out that this is hereditary, but it was never identified before. Her father had scarlet fever about this age, and her brother fell off of a roof, and so the hearing loss was attributed to these things. We figure that it's not going to get better, and so we're all learning ASL (American Sign Language).

She's a silent clown anyway, so that won't affect things much. We're actually looking forward to being able to clown bi-lingually. We just needed to be able to tell people what we are going through. We feel very close to you clowns.

[Fitzwilly]

Thank you for including us in your confidence Chappy. Is this by any chance something that can be helped by some of the newer technology hearing aids? With all of you learning ALS you will have a nitche market that most clowns can't touch. Looks like you hae both a challenge and an opportunity on your hands. We will keep your family in our thoughts and prayers.

[Happy Chappy & Daisy]

At this point, we've been told that hearing aids won't do much besides amplify all the background noise and make things worse. There are listening devices that can help, but we've noticed two different attitudes - people fighting it every step of the way ("deaf"), and people who accept this as a new phase of life ("Deaf").

Thank you. I knew that you would be supportive.

[Bumbles]

A friend of ours has a hearing aid that is tuneable. We were at a wedding last week and she had what looked like a little remote control in her hand. We were joking with her about how she used it to get her husband to do household chores, but she explained that she was tunning out the background noise. If you want I could ask her what type it is.

[Pickles]

My father had become increasingly deaf over the years and had gotten to the point where he couldn't hear anything in church, movies, or even engage in conversation with another person.

A year ago he received a double cochlear implant, and it's amazing the difference it's made in his life. A year later, his hearing continues to improve. The technology is simply unbelievable.

Your wife is probably not at the point where she is a candidate for this, but it's something to think about for the future.

I know I will be going deaf eventually too (there's the hereditary factor, plus all of those loud rock concerts I attended), so it's comforting to know that there's so much that can be done to help the deaf and hearing-impaired.

Good luck to you and your wife.

[Miss Petunia]

You will definately be in my thoughts and prayers.
Petunia

[Duckie]

See, now I've learned somethings too!!!! Thanks for everyone's posts and thanks for feeling comfortable enought to share with us Happy. My dad also suffers from hearing loss and I too have been told I have "issues". My dad calls it tintinitis, and when I went to have my ears tested because I have some ringing in them, they told me to just turn up the radio or T.V. to make it not so noticable. In other words there is nothing they can do for it. But I know what your wife is going thru because all the extra noise if maddening!!!!!!

Take care of each other and I also will keep you in my prayers!!!!!!

[Sir Toony Van Dukes]

Chappy,

I am glad that she had the screening and they were able to identify the problem. I hope that your wife is able to make the adjustment. I would definitely ask about new technologies. Even if there isn't something today, keep looking for new advances every few months.

[Lolly Plop]

My father had profound hearing loss. At the present time I have moderate hearing loss. I haven't been tested in years and really should get retested soon. I'm able to hear/lip read as long as I can look directley at who is speaking. I do have to ask people to repeat things frequently especially children. Tell Daisy we all are here to support you and her. Tell her to pop in once in a while. We would all like to get to know her.

[Bonkers #361]

You are in my prayers. It is a real horrible thing to go thru. BUT, Where god is shutting one door he is opening another. And like Pickles my hearing loss is attributted to Stupidity. 14" Sub woofers in my car that could be heard a block away. I wish I could go back and Slap my self for doing that. But Keep the Prayers and thoughts coming in and let her know we are here to help