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[Pembo]

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[sharbear]

I don't but I have a friend who is deaf in one ear. He does not wear any hearing devices, but he will always sit on one side of you so he can hear. I don't see that it bothers him, he's adjusted but he's been deaf in that ear since birth.

 

[lmj]

I am an audiologist Pembo, I spoke with you a bit before the surgery. As far as hearing aids go there really aren't any good options for a unilateral hearing loss. There is only what they call a CROS aid which picks up sound in your bad ear and sends it over to your good ear. You would need to wear earpieces of some sort in both ears. I don't know anyone who has been very successful with this. Most people with a unilateral loss do okay as long as there hearing is good in the good ear. You will have trouble when you are in a crowd or if there is a lot of background noise, but keeping what you want to hear on your good side will make a big difference. I'm sure it is very difficult right now but you will adapt to only hearing on the one side. It's seems so bad now because it happened so quickly that you lost your hearing. I am so sorry that you are having such a rough recovery. I have been thinking about you. You really must have had a pretty large tumor for as much damage to be done. I hope you keep your spirits up. How are you doing with your balance, is that getting any better? Was there damage to the vestibular nerve? Sorry for all the questions. PM me if I can be of any help.

 

[helenabear]

Barb, my sister is (as far as I am aware) deaf in one ear as well. She did try the device where it transmitted the sound from the bad side to the good one. She doesn't wear that at all, and for the most part she does wonderfully. We all try to remember to sit on the "right" side of her and speak in the "right" ear. For the most part, an average person would never be aware of this.
I wish you allt he best when dealing with this

 

[paras4ri]

I can echo what's already been said as I have 2 long-time friends who each have total hearing loss in one ear. Neither wears a hearing device and both manage very well.

Friends and family focus on the ear that has hearing and it becomes second-nature very quickly. Best of luck Pembo!

 

[Fire14]

I am and I seem to get along ok. I just need to be sure and postion myself with good ear to speaker. My Dh's Friend says I hear better with my one than he does with his 2 . I find it gets hard if I'm stuffed up or in noisy areas but otherwise I do ok.

I find it funny that at work I'm one who can usually hear hard to hear Blood Pressures and my stephscope is nothing special other than a nurse's best friend.

 

[momof2OH]

My daughter and brother both are deaf in their left ear. My Dd has a hearing aid, which she won't wear. My brother has never had one. They both do ok. Much better if your on their right side while talking.

Funny thing is, they both had the exact same problem. Both had cysts/tumors several times and they only have a little bit of their ear drum left. My DD has had 16 ear surgeries and she's only 15. She has one of the best doctors at the Cleveland Clinic.

Good Luck to you!!

 

[Jungle Skipper]

I'm paritially deaf in my left ear...comes from my days in band and drum corps....I was positioned right next to the thundering drumlines for years...it stinks...I can still hear really well, my right ear picks up the slack.

Jungle Josh

 

[Deafmedic]

I have bilateral hearing loss from meningitis when I was 4. I am 38 now. I wear bilateral hearing aids, read lips, and sign. I'm primarily a lip reader. Don't let deafness stop you from your dreams. It didn't stop me from becoming a physician.

 

[Laura]

I'm your mirror image, Pembo. I have unilateral hearing loss in my left ear. I was born this way. I have nerve deafness and it's 100%. (It's a very rare sort of hearing loss, I understand.) Most people don't even notice because I can hear and speak just fine. My parents didn't figure out that I am hard of hearing until I was about 3. I am asked ALL THE TIME, "which ear is deaf?" My DAD asks me this sometimes; it's THAT invisible. A co-worker I've known for 4 years just found out I'm deaf in my left ear a few months ago. She had no idea.

lmj is right about hearing aids; total crap for people like us. (I tried it.) It's really better without the hearing aid; you'd just get confused with the sound from your right being transmitted to your left. Also the device plugged into your "good" ear muffles sounds a little.

I have a hard time hearing people on my "bad side" but really it's only in crowded/noisy rooms or outdoors where sound can't bounce off walls and travel to my good ear. I always walk on my DH's left side and sit to his left side or face him at dinner. Then I have no problems. Say you're going out to dinner in a restaurant; take your seat at the table first and sit with everyone to your left. Waiters often point me to chairs and I always ignore them. I also like to sit with my back to the wall.

My biggest problems:
Figuring out where sounds come from. Everything sounds like it's coming from the right. I ask "where are you" and people say, "over here" and I have to ask, "where is here?" They have to say "in the living room" or "behind you".
Headphones. I can't hear in stereo, so I need mono headphones. I have a few pairs of computer headphones that have a stereo/mono switch. Also my dad made me a "plug" that makes stereo headphones into mono. Just plug the headphones into the plug and plug the plug into your CD player. I can ask him how he did it.

Bonuses:
Tuning people out is easy.
Getting a sound sleep is easy--just sleep with the good ear to your pillow.
Needing only one hand for "lalalalala, I can't hear you!"


Do take good care of your left ear, Pembo. It's very important.

 

[piglet too]

Like Chris, I have bilateral loss due to menigitis when I was 2. I should wear two aids, can only afford the one. My biggest help is all the training I had in lip-reading. Try not to get discouraged, as you are not alone. Noisy situations may be hard, but you will learn to adjust.

 

[chichihoney]

i'm a hearing impaired hard of hearing i wear 1 hearing aide without it i can't hear at all i can lipread

 

[newmousecateer]

Needing only one hand for "lalalalala, I can't hear you!"

LOL....I love someone who finds "the good" in all types of situations.

Barb....

 

[Pembo]

Thanks for all the encouragement. I'd rather not get hearing aids, it's a vanity thing plus I'm not sure if I want them. I've already started training dh to walk on my left side and in the store he did call out "over here" and I replied that doesn't help.

Lip reading might be useful. Where can I go to learn more?

The only good I've found so far is sleeping. I lay on my good ear and it's very quiet so dh can watch tv in bed and it doesnt' bother me.

 

[Laura]

Oh, the good thing about sleeping on your good ear means you might need a louder alarm clock. I've slept right through mine in the past, but then that was before I started sharing a bed with DH full-time.

I'm sure you'll get used to it, Pembo. I have never known any other way to hear; I'd imagine that you just need some time to adapt, to mourn your loss, in a way. I hardly ever think about my deaf ear--it's what seems "normal" to me.

It's partly a vanity thing about the hearing aid for me too, but it really didn't do anything but annoy the crap outta me when I tried to wear it. If it were helpful for me, I'd probably wear one. But I like that my birth defect is invisible. I like that people are surprised when I tell them I have a deaf ear.

Hmmm...Lip reading sounds like something I oughta try to learn. I've never thought about doing that before; it could be useful.

 

[Pam]

Barb.

(I'm going to have to go in for a hearing test as lately I have been experiencing a lot of trouble with my hearing, something is just not right.)