Betty.Draughon@p10.f1.n360.z1.fidonet.org (Betty Draughon) (06/28/90)
Index Number: 8932
In a message to All <13 Jun 90 9:13:00> Gary Albright wrote:
TO: albrigh@oktext.sbc.com (Gary Albright)
GA> Hi, my name is Gary Albright and this is my first time to post to
GA> the newgroup. So please be patient with my flub up and (sp?), I
GA> would appreciate it.
Hi, Gary, and welcome to our world! Patience is not required for
folks like you.
GA> I lost by hearing to Meniere's disease or sometimes called Meniere's
GA> syndrome when I was 36 years old. What a slam.
That's the understatement of the year!
GA> My question is how can you learn to live with it after having my
GA> hearing for 36 yrs. and then have nothing.
I dunno, Gary. Some of our hearing impaired friends with
experience are going to have to answer that one for you.
GA> Everybody looks and treats you like, "what are deaf or something".
Uh, yep. People tend to do that. They surely do.<sigh>
GA> I'm sorry for being so long winded my first time here but I have
GA> only been able to read you folks articles and with the help of Bill
GA> McGarry he's teaching me how to do all these neat things. So if you
GA> all will be patient with me I would appreciate it.
No apologies needed to this section of the group, and as I said, no
patience is required.
GA> I don't have the money to go to a shrink and have felt like a
GA> shutin with all of my so called friends disappearing from me.
Okay, now listen. You are absolutely correct in calling them your
"so-called" friends. Friends wouldn't disappear. So, talk and
share until your heart is content. I'm here every day, and I'm a
fairly good listener.
GA> Anyway I love you all and please talk to me.
I love you, too. Tell us more about yourself. You'll find lots of
friends here, lots of caring.
I bid you Peace.
Betty
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!360!1.10!Betty.Draughon
Internet: Betty.Draughon@p10.f1.n360.z1.fidonet.orgMarda.Anderson@f150.n321.z1.fidonet.org (Marda Anderson) (06/28/90)
Index Number: 8936
Welcome to the conference, Gary! We have several deaf and hoh people on
the conference so you'll probably get lots of responses. I don't know
what it's like to be deaf, but I imagine that, as with other disabilities,
it can be very lonely. I have heard lots of newly disabled people talk
of the withdrawal of friends, for instance. I understand how it is to be
isolated and lonely though, although my loneliness comes from a different
source which I will undoubtedly share on the echo soon. I too have a
newly discovered disability which has kept me in the hospital for the
last two months. When I came out, it was very awkward and I know some
people were afraid of me. But this conference is a good source of
support for me and I'm sure it will be for you too.
Keep posting. Take care.
marda
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!321!150!Marda.Anderson
Internet: Marda.Anderson@f150.n321.z1.fidonet.orgAnn.Parsons@f204.n260.z1.fidonet.org (Ann Parsons) (06/28/90)
Index Number: 8937
Hi Gary,
My name is Ann, and I am not deaf but blind. I have a dear friend who has your
disease. She has had it for some time now and she knows a lot more about it
than I do. Unfortunately, Lynne doesn't have a computer so can't get on here.
But, if you will send me your address via net mail, (if you don't want it
echoed), (ask Bill, he'll know what to do), I will send her copy of your
letter and she can write to you.
I watched Lynne the other night at a party. Many of her friends were there,
and they seemed to be good people, but because they were older, they just
didn't seem to know how to communicate with her. I spent most of the evening
interpreting for her in my very, very, s-l-o-w sign.
Lynne was the woman who taught me to sign. It was great because she can talk
to me and tell me what to do, yet I can sign to her and most of the time she
understands me. She gets a kick out of me rubbing my fingers over my palm
vigorously, erasing mistakes. <grin> I even go through a pantamime of blowing
the stuff from the eraser off my palm. She laughs every time! <grin>
Do you sign? Lynne says that she was so tense when she first learned that she
could hardly make sense of it all! She also said that she was really, really,
really, scared. The only thing that keeps her going is her faith in God. Do
you have faith?
Well, enough talk. I will give your letter to Lynne as soon as she returns
from getting her hearing-ear/seeing-eye dog. Take care and God bless you. We
all care. TAlk to Vixen, Ann S,Shiela and Ron Rothenburg. I am sure you've
got replies coming from them soon as they see your note here.
See you on-line.
Ann P.
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!260!204!Ann.Parsons
Internet: Ann.Parsons@f204.n260.z1.fidonet.orgAnn.Stalnaker@p0.f14.n385.z1.fidonet.org (Ann Stalnaker) (06/28/90)
Index Number: 8939 > To: albrigh@oktext.sbc.com (Gary Albright) > Message-ID: <12333@bunker.UUCP> > Index Number: 8757 Hi there, from one Okie to another Okie! It's such a pleasure to see someone from Oklahoma around here, Gary. I used to work for SW Bell, in fact, was a service order writer with residence before transferring to business and shortly after that, my office went with AT&T during the divestiture of the phone companies. Lots of changes have occurred since the AT&T office closed here in Lawton and I no longer work for them. I'm so glad you decided to join us here and hope you will join us in SilentTalk as well as I think you'll find a bunch of us fun, crazy, wild, informative and friends. I have a very good friend in Lawton who is a retired Air Force NCO as well as a retired air controller who suffered with the same problems you have. He did have surgery and lost his hearing as a result of the surgery. He did have some problems coping with his hearing loss but after meeting me as well as seeing that things were not so bad in this BIG world after all, he has come out of his shell. I like to think I was partly beneficial in helping him with at this. To tell you a bit about myself, I have a congenital profound nerve deafness. I do not use sign as I've always been able to communicate orally and am very adept at speech reading. I realize it is more of an adjustment for one who is deafened in later life but it is not impossible to survive and handle your disability. I'm not familiar with the two physcians you've mentioned as the only one I've been in contact with (just briefly) is Dr. Kiehm. Most of the time doctors do not believe I seem to be as profound deaf as I am and will often try to tell you this and that - I just ignore a lot of their advice as I know what is best for me. Boy, I seem to be getting a bit long-winded here, but I'd like to welcome you aboard and personally invite you to join us on ST. I think you'd enjoy yourself. Hang in there, Gary and don't let this get you down! -- Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!385!14.0!Ann.Stalnaker Internet: Ann.Stalnaker@p0.f14.n385.z1.fidonet.org
Ron.Rothenberg@f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Ron Rothenberg) (06/28/90)
Index Number: 8955
V> I believe there are a number of people here in ABLED who are
V> "deafened later in life" and there is me who is in the process
V> of going deaf and have so many gadgets plugged into me that I
V> sometimes feel like the Bionic woman!
Yo, guys:
There's a relatively new group called ALDA (Association of Late
Deafened Adults, or some such) I just got their Boston area newsletter
and I know they have a group in Chicago and elsewhere. I can get more
info for you if you like. They are deaf people whose culture is
basically hearing. They use a variety of means to communicate,
including manual communication and speechreading. It sounds like they
have great parties. The address in the Boston area, if you'd like to
see the newsletter and get more info is
Association of Late-Deafened Adults
Boston Chapter
48 Kingston Road
Newton Highlands, MA 02161
More info to follow.
-rsr-
... Her face was her chaperone. - Rupert Hughes
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!101!460!Ron.Rothenberg
Internet: Ron.Rothenberg@f460.n101.z1.fidonet.orgCarl.Herring@f11.n203.z1.fidonet.org (Carl Herring) (06/29/90)
Index Number: 9007
you are corect about having a chimical inbalance. i have been a
mental healty worker and amalso blind. have familymembers who
suffer from hearing voices panicatacks also. unfortunatly
medications only take the edge of for some. the important thing is
you are starting to get control bak by geting educated about your
disability and realizing when it is becoming out of control or
unmanagable. i am sure you did not mean to harm your dong or ytou
would not have felt so bad later. listen to yourdoctor learn to
trust develope a suport system peiple who will let you know when
they see youstarting to loos it. they can help youmaintain
control self admition into ahopital seting is positave not
negitave because you are chosing to take control back rather than
geting so ut of it that you become resistant to help and have to be
admited against your will for uour own safety. you seem to me to
be a caring and loving person the oonly diference between your
psych disability and physical ones that people cant see the cause
as easy. you are just as disabled and should not have to feel
ashamed. hopefuly with education and people loose there
steritypical ideas and begin to look at your situation with more
compation you will nothave such a hard time well geting longwinded
i realy do understand you are not alone have worked with and am
friends with others inyour situation keep on the bbs call for help
if you get aafraid dont isolate yorself
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!203!11!Carl.Herring
Internet: Carl.Herring@f11.n203.z1.fidonet.orgalbrigh@oktext.uucp (Gary Albright) (07/03/90)
Index Number: 9018 In article <12517@bunker.UUCP> Betty.Draughon@p10.f1.n360.z1.fidonet.org writes: >Index Number: 8932 >Okay, now listen. You are absolutely correct in calling them your >"so-called" friends. Friends wouldn't disappear. So, talk and >share until your heart is content. I'm here every day, and I'm a >fairly good listener. It is my pleasure to know you Betty. I was thrilled to hear from you and some of the others on the net. That was a understatement when I said I was 36 yrs. old when I lost my hearing and it was a slam. Bet that was funny to some of you on the net.(grin) Well it's been 7yrs. since I lost my hearing and its been hell(excuse my french). These so-called friends I was speaking of really freaked me out the way they all abandoned me. I still can't figure out what happened. Only one guy stuck with me, his name is Byron and he is a pure joy to be with. He's very understanding when I don't know or understand what he said. He just repeats it or puts it another way that I may understand what he said. Oh he does get frustrated with my sometimes but I think it's because he doesn't think I'm trying hard enough to understand him. He keeps me on my toes. He's one of the greatest softball players I have ever seen and it's a joy to go watch him play. He got me back into playing softball my self, on another team he plays on which is more my speed. He plays on 4 teams total. And when we're out at the fields during and after the games he watches me like a hawk to make sure I know and understand what's going all the time. Well thats enough about Byron, umm think I'll keep him around. He's a great guy. Anyway back to my so-called friends, what happened or what did I do to run these people off. I was the one that always had the partys to keep these people in contact with each other and was always thinking up things to do for all these people so that everyone was always in contact with each other. Can't figure it out and it has been very painful for me to see these people and if I'm lucky some of them will talk to me and some won't. Weird! Well Betty and others will close for now. Anybody got any ideas about these so-called friends. Appreciate any help. Remember I love you all. Gary (say what!) Albright (that's halfbright or alldumb take your pick)>
Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Eric Bohlman) (07/11/90)
Index Number: 9086
MA> xanax or other anti-anxiety drugs because I don't want to get addi
MA> cted, though they sure calmed me down when I was first in the hospital.
"Addiction" to anti-anxiety drugs or narcotic analgesics used in a medically
supervised setting is so different from addiction to street drugs that some
less emotionally loaded term should be used for it. True, such medications
can result in dependence (the body adjusts to the medication in such a way
that when the medication is abruptly discontinued, symptoms result). The same
response occurs to innocuous-seeming medications like nasal decongestant
sprays (stop using them and your nose gets stuffier than it was before the
problem you started taking them for). However, these drugs can be withdrawn
in a proper medical setting without too much problems. The kind of dependence
I described DOESN'T put you in the same position as a junkie!!!! What happens
to junkies is more a result of the "outsider" position they're put into by the
illegality of what they're doing and the problems that led them to seek relief
in drug abuse in the first place than of the effects of the drugs themselves.
Keep in mind the distinction between USING a drug that's intended for a
specific condition to treat that condition and ABUSING a drug.
Some reports (and I believe them) have indicated that the major behavioral
change the "war on drugs" has created in our society has been making pain
patients wary of taking pain medication. Not quite what the warriors intended.
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!115!778.1!Eric.Bohlman
Internet: Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.orgSheila.Fava@f720.n209.z1.fidonet.org (Sheila Fava) (07/24/90)
Index Number: 9440
In Re: All those so-called "friends" abandoning you at hearing-loss
time? That happened to me also, Gary. I have moderate hearing loss
and other inconveniences due to a brain operation for a tumour.
I think my "friends" abandoned me because I was a threat to their
mortality and they didn't want to be reminded that their
'inconvenienced' timeclock was tick...tick...ticking. Their loss, eh?
---Sheila.
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!209!720!Sheila.Fava
Internet: Sheila.Fava@f720.n209.z1.fidonet.orgMartha.Johnson@f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Martha Johnson) (08/09/90)
Index Number: 9624
I just want to tell you that you're not alone. I suffer from panic
attacks voices that tell me to die, and years ago I was told by a state
shrink, that I was apesamistic cynic. I have had all the problems for
over twenty years. When I was very little I suffered from night terrors
tothe point where I was almost paralyzed. I still have them somewhat
when I take my doggy, Heather. Some time I am told I shouldn't feel like
this because I have her and she will protect you. I forgot to mention
thatthe voices tell me to die and they also have a very wicked laugh. To
me these voices sound like a record say on the speed and slowed down to
thirty-three. Because of this depression I don't want to be here on this
earth. I do alot of praying. Tommorrow I am going to have a blood level
test. The medicine I am taking is Ludimill. I'm not sure of the
spelling. I am also toldthat I suffer from chemical depression. Look
how long it took me to do something about it. I thought the voices were
satanic. Just wondering how could one tell the difference. Enough
rambling.
Martie
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!115!778!Martha.Johnson
Internet: Martha.Johnson@f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org