My copy of @BernadetteG 's book arrived in the mail yesterday and I'm already at chapter 4. I would have kept reading, but I promised my husband that I would get to bed early so I stop self-sabotaging with lack of sleep. But, I truly did not want to put the book down.
It's definitely worth the read! I bought it directly from Bernadette.
Bernadette, while I don't have the same diagnosis you have, I can relate to a lesser degree. I have had tinnitus my whole life. It is constant and loud and sometimes amplifies into painful thumping or pounding. I also have meniere's disease and auditory processing disorder. It's weird because I can hear....but I can't. Whenever I take hearing tests at the doctor's office I am recorded as hearing just fine. I can hear all the pitches. But, I also can't hear.
1. I need subtitles to "hear" what people are saying on TV.
2. I have to wear noise cancelling headphones to be comfortable with phone calls.
3. I'm often told I speak too softly or too loudly. I struggle to hear myself properly to regulate my speaking voice.
4. If there is any background noise or other people talking, I can hear that someone is speaking, but I can't understand what they are saying.
5. I often need to see people's faces and lips moving to understand what they are saying, otherwise I can't "hear" them.
That alone is frustrating enough. To go through a more severe hearing loss must have been so difficult. Like you I cherish music and I would hate to lose that, but it is a possibility, so to read your story is like a cushion for me to land on in that possible scenario. Thank you for sharing your story.
