Huh? What? Come again? Louder?

Yep, these are phrases that have become a regular part of my life. A year ago I was diagnosed with otosclerosis.

o·to·scle·ro·sis/ˌōtōskləˈrōsis/

noun: a hereditary disorder causing progressive deafness due to overgrowth of bone in the inner ear.

So, I'm in bed laying on my good ear (comes in handy when you want to sleep in pure quiet). I prop my head a little so I can talk to Frank. We talk for a while, and I say, "alright, I'm putting my head down now. Is there anything else you want to talk about?" He says no, so I lay down. I minute later, he says something. I lift my head and say, "WHAT?" and he says (giggling) "nothing, just messin with ya". I'm actually glad he thinks it's funny. If I was him, I would get annoyed really quick about having to repeat everything I say three times!

ANYWAY, we finally decided to have it fixed. I could either get a hearing aid (p.s. I'm only 33), or I could have a stapedectomy where they replace the bone in the middle ear with a prosthetic wire to allow vibration and sound to get to my inner ear. We decided to go ahead with the stapedectomy. Surgery was scheduled for the day before my b-day...YAY!

It was an hour and 45 minute procedure they performed under local anesthesia. No, you're not hard of hearing. You heard me right, LOCAL anesthesia. Which means I was awake for nearly two hours while they poked a needle in my ear, drilled, cut, sewed, and who knows what else. My arms pinned down, my head turned, oxygen mask, face covered with blanket, and surgeons hands resting on my head. Even with the drugs, it was quite unnerving.

Now don't get me wrong, it's a MIRACLE, and I feel so lucky to be able to have this done, but it still wasn't fun...and still isn't fun. The inner packing won't be removed for four weeks, I still can't hear, I have drainage, ringing, dizziness, vertigo, stitches, and countless other side effects. I've been assured that these are all perfectly normal, and hope for a speedy recovery with perfect hearing, now that would be the best birthday present EVER!