6 months didn't seem so far away, but I'm not even 2 1/2 in and I think about this AN every day. Some AN'ers chose to name theirs, and I'm considering. Andy seems like a good name, annoying ANdy. Yeah, I think I like that.
ANdy has given me a fit this weekend. I've already been experiencing hearing loss and mild tinnitus. These worsened this weekend, so much so that I'll be calling Dr. B tomorrow. Last night around 11pm while sitting around a campfire I realized that my hearing was reduced dramatically. If my speech discrimination was at a 90% earlier in the day, I'm probably around 50-60% now. If I cover my good ear, I can still hear sound, but can't make out words. I tested this in the car while listening to the radio on the way back from our camping trip, but found that since I already knew the words to the songs I could "hear" them just fine. Switching to an unfamiliar station showed the true extent of the loss.
My tinnitus is going crazy as well. I came home and napped, but found it hard to fall asleep, I may have to consider running a fan or something at night to mask the sound. The odd part is that if I layed perfectly still, it was better, but the slightest movement, particularly moving my head, would set off sounds similar to the test patterns on the TV late at night, or the whistling of a storm through my ears. They are very sensitive and almost hurt when a hear particular sounds such as a car door closing or someone dropping something.
We went to my son's raquetball banquet tonight, which was held in the high school cafeteria. It was so hard to make out what was being said at times. Before the banquet actually started, the chatter of everyone talking was the strangest I had seen, lips moving, but just a roar of sound. I could make out the conversation of the people behind me and off to the right.....does that woman ever shut up?........but I couldn't hear a word of the conversation on my left. I was nearly in tears when I left there. I knew my hearing would worsen, I thought it would be gradual. This seems so sudden. Better check with Dr. B to make sure it's not something else; rather, in hopes that it is.
Remember that 6 month thing? It's so similar to a pregnancy, it goes so fast for everyone but the expectant parents, notably the mother. She just wants the thing over.
On a plus side, Barnes Hospital is installing a new Proton Therapy machine which could be used to treat this thing. Similar to the cyberknife, but the depth of the radiation is also controlled, whereas with cyberknife you have an entry and an exit. Previously a Proton machine would require a building the size of a football field and cost over $100 million to build, this new machine fits into the same size area as traditional radiation. Interesting tidbit....a Proton travels 300,000 miles before entering the body. Barnes expects to start treating patients in the fall with their new machine. I'll look into it more if necessary.
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