The Five Senses

I’ve joked about the Loud and Clear™ today. It made me think about hearing. Many of you know that Sulie has profound hearing loss. It is unclear how it happened.  There are 2 theories—one was she had lots of high fevers as a child. The second one has to do when she was being born. We were born In Punta Gorda. It was a really small town in the mid to late 60’s. I’d heard the stories many times from my Mom. My Father was a physician. He did a little bit of everything since it was a small town. He saw patients in the office, the OR, their homes, he delivered babies, he was even the county coroner for a while. He was a small town boy that went to UAB. The story was he didn’t know you had to register. He sat down in one of the classes he wanted to take.  At the end of the class he walked up to the front of the class to the professor, pulled out his wallet and said, “How much do I owe you Sir?” He went to Washington University in St. Louis after WWII. Since he had been to medical school, he was an officer in the war (I was born when he was 43 if you’re doing some math). I always thought he was an anesthesiologist. My older sister laughed when I told her that—apparently back in the day, you just took courses on anesthesia. It wasn’t a specialty. Again, small town—he always put people to sleep.  I remember being really little sitting next to Sulie in the nurses’ station drawing. He would get called in for an emergency on a Saturday and a nurse or volunteer would watch us. He would often take us out and about so my Mom could have some “me” time on the weekend. So the night when Sulie was being born: The story goes it was my Mom in the room along with a nurse.  Dr. S was called.  Dr. S was one of my Father’s best friends.  They had grown up together and were new doctors at the same time. Dr. S never came in. It was my Mom, My Dad and the nurse in the room. Sulie was born with the cord wrapped around her neck. My Dad knew what to do. I can’t imagine how he handled that with it being his daughter. They didn’t do apgars back then—I am sure Sulie was hypoxic for a while. I don’t recall my Mom being able to tell us if Sulie was pink or how she was breathing. I am sure my Mom was a wreck. Being without oxygen may have impacted her hearing. Later at a dinner party Dr. S laughingly told the story that when he got the call he said to his wife, “Oh R will take care of it" and he rolled over and went back to sleep.  Nice…

Fast forward to toddler years. Sulie had a lisp. My Mom was worried and my Dad thought it was cute. It was never investigated. He died when Sulie was 9. We moved up to Gainesville. Sulie was seen at Shands. She had hearing tests that confirmed hearing loss. She had speech therapy, but hearing aids were never discussed.

Sulie got her accounting degree and entered the work force. As the years passed, I remember stories about people at work getting mad because she would ask them to repeat what they said. I admit I would get frustrated. Not so much mad at her, but mad that she couldn’t hear. Several years ago, an ENT and an audiologist evaluated Sulie.  She needed hearing aids. He told her based on the old records, she really needed them as an adolescent. He couldn’t believe she was able to succeed at UF in the big auditorium classrooms. It made me proud of her and it made me mad that she slipped through the cracks in her care.  Can you believe most insurance companies don’t pay for hearing aids? Over the last year, one of the hearing aids Sulie had stopped working.  She couldn’t wear the other one alone. She said it threw off her balance. Hearing aids cost anywhere from $2,500 to $8,000 (or even more).  The type of hearing loss determines the type of hearing aid needed.

This is where good came from John. Remember how he didn’t refinance the property in the timeframe dictated by the divorce? Enter Phil K. and his boots. I got a judgment against him (a great story with great Phil K. quotes—I have gotten several requests for more Phil stories). I will have to write about that at another time.  Interestingly, I am noticing that writing about Sulie’s hearing is making me feel yucky.  Yucky for her.  Back to how John had some good.  His dumbass, lack of follow through caused him to have to pay me late fees. The Vienna Sausage Fund helped to pay for the new hearing aids.

Sulie told me that one of the first times she was tested by the audiologist (while she was in her 30’s) she started crying in the booth. The audiologist asked her what was wrong.  Sulie replied, “I can’t hear.”  That breaks my heart.

There was a lot of research and preparation that went into the latest hearing aids. Sulie read, called people, saw 2 audiologists and decided on:

The day she got her new hearing aids she sent me a text on her iphone. She has an icon program.  The text read:

 “I am a  Rocker!!!  

It has been amazing. We used to go to out to eat and she couldn’t hear me.  Now she has no problem. I can talk to her when I am behind her and most of the time she hears me. It will never be 100%, but it is a dramatic improvement.

And to answer your question in the comments Sulie, no, I don’t think the $11.39 Loud and Clear™ on clearance at Publix is going to help. And I know, you know we are not making fun of hearing loss. What Sulie has lost in hearing is made up for in her big heart and her great sense of humor.  Love you!