Hearing loss and loss in general

About five years ago, my step father suffered a minor stroke. I rushed to Twin Falls to be with him and my mom.

The neurologist made Karl do several tests. My mom and the neurologist left to talk. I held Karl's hand, and he mumbled "it's tough to get old."

Karl was very athletic and vibrant. However, almost overnight he got old. He was diagnosed with macular degeneration and then started to wear hearing aids. I still have a picture of Karl showing our son the lighted magnifying that Karl used in a vain attempt to read.

The loss of his hearing plus his eyesight was devastating. It seemed it was it was a 10 year long struggle to the death.

When Karl had his stroke (maybe more), I didn't really comprehend what a stroke meant. When my strokes happened, I realized the horrible affects.

Karl not only had a stroke and perhaps a heart attack, he had to deal with loss of eyesight and hearing.

No wonder was so depressed.

Because of my strokes, I have vision loss. Certainly is not as bad as macular degeneration. Nevertheless the stroke and my vision affected my reading skills in a bad way. I remember Karl loved books. The loss of reading was horrible for him.

My recent ear surgery has left me with hopefully temporary hearing loss.

I now completely understand what Karl went through. The loss of reading, hearing, and eyesight makes me feel like I am in a silent cocoon.

Trying to watch TV or listening to the radio is difficult. I can only describe it as an old AM radio station with bad reception with no stereo.

I've always loved Karl. The fourth anniversary of his death was September 10. I miss him a lot. I miss him even more now because I'd like to talk to him about the loss that we have both experienced in different ways.

Comments

The Two Faces of the American Dream

The massive wave of Norwegian immigration to Minnesota from the 1850s through the early 20th century wasn't a casual choice; it was an escape from crushing land scarcity and economic desperation. My ancestors, the Dunhams, arrived in 1851 and built a life in Otter Tail County in Minnesota. My great-great-grandfather, Jens Christian Dunham, didn’t just survive—he thrived. He served in the Minnesota legislature as a Republican from 1888 to 1890 and later became a staunch advocate for President Teddy Roosevelt. He was the literal embodiment of the American Dream: an immigrant who fled poverty to become a lawmaker in his new home. Fast forward a century, and a new wave of immigrants—this time from Somalia—is following that exact same blueprint. Like the Norwegians before them, they fled hardship to build a future in Minnesota, and many have run for office to serve the state that welcomed them. Yet, the political rhetoric surrounding these two groups couldn't be more polarized. Don...

Phantom Blindness and Taking a Break after Strokes

I met with my eye doctor last week about taking some time off from my vision therapy. I have been doing therapy since my stroke almost two and a half years ago. I am tired, and a need a break. My doctor said, “This is completely understandable. Take some time off.” At the appointment, my doctor tested my vision. Because of the strokes, my vision was affected, and I have a problem in my field of vision on the right side. I have a deficit with my right side peripheral vision. However, it is getting better. During the test, I told him that I “sense things on the right side of my peripheral vision.” It seems that I know that something is there, but I cannot really distinguish what it is. He told me that there is a body of thought describing phantom vision or phantom blindness. A Polish researcher, L. Bieganowski, described this phantom blindness this way: “The subject of the paper is the phenomenon of phantom vision. It occurs among the blind (or almost blind...

Greek orthodox and Catholic‘s

Being a history buff, I’ve always understood that the Catholic Church was split in about 1000 A.D. Our Greek tour guide mentioned the differences a little bit yesterday, but she did not capture the full history. Today I saw a small Greek orthodox by the roadside and I’m going to insert about the history. Eastern Orthodox Catholics and Roman Catholics are the result of what is known as the East-West Schism (or Great Schism) of 1054, when medieval Christianity split into two branches. The Byzantine split with Roman Catholicism came about when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, King of the Franks, as Holy Roman Emperor in 800. From the Byzantine viewpoint, this was a slap to the Eastern Emperor and the Byzantine Empire itself — an empire that had withstood barbarian invasions and upheld the faith for centuries. After Rome fell in 476, Byzantium was the only vestige of the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne’s crowning made the Byzantine Emperor redundant, and relations between the East and...

Dunham Family and My Stroke Story!

Search This Blog