Hearing; Noises off

Coping with Obstacles, Barriers, Racking and Noises Off

On my diary page yesterday I mentioned that I have a bit of a phobia about shopping. What I didn’t mention was why. It reason is, that I blame a bout of

Labyrinthitis that I suffered about seven years ago. Having just quickly looked it up online, it briefly says that it can be caused by a viral infection that affects the hearing and balance and that about covers what happened in my case. The bout came about quite suddenly when I got up in the night and immediately fell over and found it impossible to get up under my own steam. For a while I was only able to avoid feeling nauseous by staying still in a horizontal position and hardly moving since the slightest movement had me feeling sick and feeling as though I had taken a ghost like flight. For a few days I needed somebody to half carry me to even to the toilet. Steve stayed with me as much as possible and called in some help from my daughter when he absolutely had to go out for one reason or another. Thankfully the totally dire stage did not last too long and gradually I worked at gradually getting more movement.

It did leave me with impaired hearing and a permanent problem with light changes, which is where the fear of big stores comes in and of course the dreaded Tinnitus that is never ending. The first time Steve took me to a supermarket during my recovery was terrifying and I found myself clinging to the racks like a mad woman, to even stay in a standing position. For the most part I am recovered and can manage to go in a supermarket now, but with a list and a good deal of concentration to make the visit as fast as possible. Steve will not let me come with him if he is just looking around for inspiration for the weekend meals. I have a pair of NHS hearing aids that I use for TV but do not use ordinarily when I go out. I can talk with a person one to one but if there is other background noise I lose it completely e.g. Talking with the car radio on and of course at the pool where I have the added problem of not hearing a word once I have water in my ears, as well as the water noise.

The other area where I still have a slight problem is coming out of the cinema or theatre when the lights come on at the end and there is a lot of movement as people rush to get out. I can get in perfectly well but the lights and movement throw me a bit on the exit. Steve and I move slowly and he stands directly in front of me so that I have a steady shoulder to hold as we go down the steps. I hold on to him with one hand and pass from seat to seat with the other. When we go out with our friend Anthony, he darts out at the speed of light and is quickly lost to us as he gallops to the car ready for a hasty exit from the theatre car park. We are always some way behind but it does give me some focus to keep moving. 

There is a woman I know at the pool who has M.S. who I was talking to in the shower at the pool this morning. Her problem is much more severe but she copes extremely well with the balance problem and people who know her generally move out of her way when they can. She is very determined to push on and not let herself give in to the balance problems she has. She has been in my world for many years and was a swimming teacher too, in fact she mentioned today that she was teaching as long ago as when we were both employed to take some adult swim classes at the centre some twenty five years ago.

When we do triathlon events I always rehearse at length for the event making sure that I know exactly where my bike is racked and where the Bike Out/ Bike In is, and the Run Out and the Run In are. There are very long rows of bikes and those lines can feel quite swimmy, so total concentration is required for me. An orderly transition area is a blessing and below this very smart indoor area, below that I have added one from a children's triathlon transition that is a nightmare.

 

Still at least if you know your weaknesses you can take measures to cope with them. The tinnitus is unrelenting; sometimes when I wake up in the night I cannot believe how loud it is, but one gets to cope with it and music I find is a great help.