FYI
Say again? Scroll or page down to the bottom for beginning of blog, then it's bottoms up from there. Cheers!
Tue, Feb 26 2013

Because Sometimes We Overlook Thanksgiving
Say again? Last November as I lay sulking on the couch dreading the upcoming holidays, I noticed through the window a shiny, new Cadillac pull into our driveway and in it was an unfamiliar boy of Hispanic descent. I immediately went to the door and let Molly, our dog, out. Though small, her ferocious bark would keep the boy in his car until I could find out why he was at our hom...
Fri, Nov 02 2012

Love Thy Neighbor...Her Sister, Too???
Say again? In the early stages of going deaf, I found it difficult to explain to folks, I’m sorry. I can’t hear your ass., for lack of better words. Enter my neighbor’s sis, who by the way I’ve known for four years and still don’t know her name (I’ve gotta come up with a name for her). On one unusually warm spring-like day, she was out on their porch while I w...
Fri, Dec 30 2011

Don't Drink the Water
Say again? I can recall only one time I was concerned about my hearing, I told my doc, when he was gathering information regarding my past medical history for the 90-11th time on a follow-up visit. "Oh, he said with interest, when was that?" I laughed. I thought he knew me better by now. Annoyed he wanted to order another MRI this late in the game and if I’m not mistaken,...
Mon, Dec 19 2011

Shopping for B-T-S Clothes, Some 30 Years Later
Say again? Nervous? ohdeargod. Re-enrolling into college at age 50 was not on my list of long-term goals. I had worked for the last 20-odd years as a medical transcriptionist with no intention of changing careers. I loved being an MT, and I was as good as the next, until the day my ear died. So, yes, I was nervous about attending college with a bunch of 20-year-olds, one of...
Fri, Dec 09 2011

Drive-Thru vs. Dine-In
Say again? I have sooo many drive-thru-gone-bad stories, it would take a month of Sundays to write about them all. I finally vowed one day to never, ever use a drive-thru again; bank, pharmacy, fast food, not even Starbucks! Parking the car and going in wasn’t much better, hearing-wise, particularly when I was alone. I was having my car inspected one afternoon and had a...
Fri, Dec 02 2011

Empathetic Listening
Say again? “Everywhere I turn there’s dog shit,” I said to my daughter as we walked the aisles of Target two days after my dog, Molly, died. Poor Julie. She walks on eggshells afraid of what I may say next. The day before, I went to the local laundromat to wash away all evidence of Molly, all the heavy items: linens, blankets, rugs, coats. I had white fur everywhere a...
Fri, Jul 01 2011

Another “Whoopsie” Moment
Say again? FML…seriously, just shoot me in the face. One week before I’m scheduled for bilateral mastectomy, I learn I have another ‘area of concern.’ This was really not a good time to tell me this as I had just experienced one of the most heart wrenching moments in my entire life when I watched my Molly take her last breath. Seriously, the hurt I suffered is high on my list o...
Tue, Feb 01 2011

The Wrong Side of The Bed, Take 2
Say again? Sorry about that little interruption, you know, talking about dogs and cats and shet; I’m really not insensitive to animals, but you’re sure as hell not gonna see me in line to adopt or rescue one. God made special people for that. I just happen to have pets by default. Remember my I Hear You Barking post? (Just click on it; I don’t feel like repeating myself. In fact...
Sun, Jan 30 2011

The Wrong Side of The Bed
Say again? It was not until I returned home from a five-day stay at the hospital for what I like to refer to as my pretend stroke that I began to experience the challenges of being deaf in one ear. Again, at the time I initially became deaf, the doc said I had pristine hearing in the other ear, which, now three years later, has gone from pristine to shet or in non-wiseass terms,...
Sat, Jan 29 2011

"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity."
Say again? If I were to compare my disability hearing to a doctor’s visit and I was the transcriptionist, I would have already transcribed the Subjective and Objective; so now on to the Assessment and Plan. S.O.A.P., get it? SOAP note. Not to be confused with one of My Person’s favorite things, SOAP net. I looked back at how many posts of the same title it took for me just to...
Sun, Jan 09 2011

Legally Insane Take 3
Say again? The next phase of my little visit to the disability hearing is somewhat fuzzy in my head. By the time I actually entered Courtroom #7, the Valium had really kicked in, warding off the pending panic attack (thankyoujesus). I was scared to death, I didn’t know what to expect, I was frustrated, and I hated my stupid ear for getting me into this situation in the first pla...
Wed, Jan 05 2011

Legally Insane-err
Say again? This is crazy. (Where the hell’s my attorney?!) Everybody else in the waiting area seemed to be sitting with an attorney; I mean from the looks of the clients, it was obvious the attorneys were the ones carrying briefcases and wearing business attire. It was clear who the clients were, as again, each one had some outward display of an ailment, from walking with a limp...
Wed, Jan 05 2011

Legally Insane
Say again? The title alone should draw traffic to my blog when folks Google it for whatever reason, ha. I just hope it’s not a serial killer or some freak googling, How to trick a jury into believing one is innocent by reason of insanity. But, I am. Legally insane. Really, the Social Security Administration disability judge's decision was “fully favorable,” in that I qualified ...
Mon, Jan 03 2011

My Dinkers!
Say again? I'm often asked, "Why don't you wear hearing aids?" First and foremost,  hearing aids are generally not covered by health insurance; I know my insurance doesn't. (The noncoverage by insurance issue takes me directly to Savannah, ha.) And, I only need one and that costs damn near much as two. I've been fitted and have tried several types of aids. I remember the first...
Wed, Dec 29 2010

Why I Went to Savannah
Say again? It's bad when you need therapy to get over having had therapy; specifically my '28 Days' in rehab. I thought I was there to learn coping skills, face my demons, reveal the blocked memories, blah blah. I didn't know I'd end up going toe-to-toe with my deaf therapist, Betch, and have to seek further counseling because of her wickedness. The fact she was a deaf psycholo...
Tue, Dec 14 2010

My Deaf Substitute Teacher
Say again? I'm really not trying to sound like a victim here. I blogged in my last post about how mean I thought my shrink was and now here I am blogging about my substitute ASL teacher, ha. It's not that I purposely find fault in everyone I meet, it just seems everyone I come across becomes entrapped in my own personal Murphy's Law. Just like being a weirdo magnet; that's what ...
Mon, Dec 13 2010

My Deaf Shrink
Say again? In my previous post I mentioned our partial hospitalization program was supposed to be like Vegas...What Happens in Vegas blah blah. Well like Ms Brochovich says, I don't know shit about shit but I know right from wrong; and I don't and I do, but I'm telling what happened, like it or not. And if anybody thinks for one second HIPAA was put into place for patients' priv...
Thu, Dec 09 2010

Ear Therapy, Day 1
Say again? How effn embarrassing.  It was bad enough my shrink advised intensive psychotherapy only to learn I would be required to wear a green sticky dot to separate me and my group from all the other crazies at the psychiatric facility. Yep...me and my group, as in group therapy. You know:   Hi.  My name is so & so. I'm here because I see dead people. The normal crazies w...
Tue, Dec 07 2010

It's a Dog's Ear
Say again? We’ve probably all seen an owner and his or her pet who favored one another, particularly dogs. My dog favors me, but we don’t look anything alike. Except for one thing. See for yourself.
Fri, Dec 03 2010

World AIDS Day
Say again? This day is heavy on my mind, though it has nothing to do with being hearing impaired, deaf, or even funny for that matter. Oh, but it does. It's how my brain works, ha. It goes back to God's ohshet moment when he forgot to break that mold leaving leaving me predisposed to Grandma W's genes. I'm pretty sure it skipped a generation, but I know my little brother and I w...
Wed, Dec 01 2010

Ears vs. Bewbs
Say again? Just like my ability to hear, my first American Sign Language class came to an abrupt and unexpected end. I made it through nearly 80% of the semester when pretty much my world came to a screeching halt. That particular event was not the reason I took an Incomplete and didn't finish the semester, but it just as well had; I was an emotional wreck. Nope, I took an Incom...
Wed, Dec 01 2010

I Hear You Barking
Say again? ??? The look on my face pretty much tells the story, but please, read on... ??This is a prime example of the adage, A picture is worth a thousand words. I'm sure there are many entries in my medical record of therapy sessions solely dedicated to the caring of my husband's hunting dogs. As you can see by the look on my face, this was a job I DID NOT sign up for, I d...
Mon, Nov 29 2010

Necessity is the Motha…
Say again? ? Headed to the Planeport ? Yep, fed up to my ear balls, I had to figure out a way to fly the friendly skies without a service dog. I was actually pretty proud of myself having flown commercially for the first time alone post intensive psychotherapy a few years earlier. I know my shrink was impressed. But there had to be a simpler way. Now, before you get all fr...
Sat, Nov 27 2010

I Can't Believe My Ear
Say again? I still don’t know why the officer at DMV asked me if I was wearing hearing aids. Maybe she was one of those SHPs (Stupid Hearing People) a fellow blogger recently told me about. Maybe she thought she was accommodating me WHEN SHE STARTED YELLING AT ME. I’m not kidding; she scared the damn hell outta me. She was just being considerate of your situation…if you say so. ...
Wed, Nov 24 2010

Ear Balls
Say again? On my most recent trip to Colorado, my flight was eventful & UNeventful. After the eventful part, I was fed up to my ear balls thinking I should be able to enjoy all the pat-downs, confiscating, Captain ohshet moments, body scanners, being stuck on the tarmac, or any other airport nightmare a hearing person is entitled to. I drove my car and left it in long-term ...
Mon, Nov 22 2010

Flying Shotgun: Part 2
Say again? Much like the silent ASL class Julie and I walked into, Mike and I entered the silent economy class. Our seats were on the side of the plane that seats three. On our row, another passenger was assigned to the window seat leaving the middle and aisle for us. While I knew Mike would want the aisle seat for more room, that left me in the middle with my dead ear to him so...
Sun, Nov 21 2010

First Day of School, Some 30 Years Later
Say again? Look at the bright side, I told Julie, we can share a booksack since we’re in the same classroom together, ha. What the hell is a booksack, you ask? I bet that’s what Julie’s 6th grade classmates asked the first time they heard her use it to describe a book bag/backpack/whatever. (Pre-K through the 5th , Julie attended school in Vance County; we moved to Charlotte in ...
Sat, Nov 20 2010

Flying Solo: Part 2
Say again? Now that wasn’t too bad, and the landing was awesome! The Bloody Mary(s) were a weeee bit pricey, but they served their purpose. Wow, welcome to George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Whoa, that step off the plane onto the gate is a bit tricky. Gosh, I'm actually in Houston safe and sound (relatively-speaking). Oh dear, what now? My first thought was how the hell my s...
Sat, Nov 20 2010

Flying Solo: Part 1
Say again? I remember the very first time I flew commercial alone after becoming deaf. Scared? No. Lame? Yes. Why? Because it was 2008, and I was a 49-y/o grown-ass woman who had never flown commercially in her life!!! Loser, I know. I had flown on private jets several times before but always with someone I knew, and let’s face it…you drive up to the hangar, park, walk directly ...
Sat, Nov 20 2010

Flying Shotgun: Part 1
Say again? This would be my very first time flying commercial with my husband in tow. Again, I have flown in private jets with him in the past but never commercial. Ohlort, go ahead and say it... It was Christmastime, just a week or so after we celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary. Because we never had a honeymoon, he wanted to do something special for our anniversary, you k...
Sat, Nov 20 2010

eh?
Say again? When I worked as an MT, I took great pride in my ability to transcribe for ESL doctors…English Second Language. Their accents were heavy, their English broken, and they just seemed like a fish out of water when compared to native English-speaking doctors. Although, some native English-speaking docs had heavy accents as well, depending on from where they hailed. My acc...
Sat, Nov 20 2010