NYC WALK4HEARING

THE FIRST WALK4HEARING IN RIVERSIDE PARK- NYC!!!

MY TEAM " TEAM NICOSIA"

Today my family and friends supported me at the Walk4Hearing in NYC.I had such a wonderful time although it was pretty cold out there we were able to finish the 5k within an hour. Many people came up to all of us and took so many pictures. The green shirts really made us stand out. I had the chance to meet everyone I have been talking to online with. One is my dearest friend Roberta who has a profound hearing loss since age 5. She has worn hearing aids in both ears for 49 years but she always struggled in the hearing world trying to get by. Two years ago she was able to get each ear implanted with the freedom cochlear implant. She told me she can hear many things she never heard before.. now she is able to talk on the telephone although sometimes she still has difficutly. I am so happy we finally got to meet.She is a wonderful person and friend.
Roberta and I

When I came home I receieved such a nice letter from Roberta this is what she wrote:

Hi Danielle,

I must say, it was really a pleasure to meet you as well as walking with you in the Park. It was so much fun, even though it was freezing, it was worth it. My daughter Andrea was very pleased to meet you too and had enjoyed the walk4hearing.
Danielle, you are doing very well in speaking and concentrating with your communications and was very impressed with you. You have a very nice family and friends and was also glad to have met them too.

this email made my night.


I have met a few other friends and It was a pleasure meeting them all. It was very exciting day for me. We were asked to be filmed so my entire team and I stood together while I the ( Team Captain) spoke about how much we have raised which was an easy $3,000.00!!!!

Overall, Today was an amazing 1st time experience for me to support hearing loss. All my life I always wanted to support my hearing loss and today was that day! I couldnt believe all the people coming up to me saying " Are you Danielle, I been wanting to meet you, I love your shirts".

Lastly, I just wanted to say to my family and my Teammates who joined me in this special event today a hudge THANK YOU! I wouldnt of been able to do this without your support today! This means the world to me!I will never forget this day. I'm so glad all of you had a great time and Im so glad all of you supported me today who happens to be the only one in the family who struggles with a hearing loss.

As of Todays date the NYC WALK4HEARING MANHATTAN CHAPTER RAISED $110,617.11 !!!!!!!!

Thank you all who sponsored me!!


Roberta, Anne Pope and Me

My Story on Sudden Deafness ( SSHL)

Sudden Deafness...Whats that? Well to tell you the truth I never heard of it even though I had a hearing loss all my life.

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL), or sudden deafness, is a rapid loss of hearing. SSHL can happen to a person all at once or over a period of up to 3 days. It should be considered a medical emergency. A person who experiences SSHL should visit a doctor immediately.A doctor can determine whether a person has experienced SSHL by conducting a normal hearing test. If a loss of at least 30 decibels in three connected frequencies is discovered, it is diagnosed as SSHL. Thats all know so far about Sudden Deafness.

This is my story about my sudden deafness-
At the end of Sept 2008 I woke up on Saturday and my right ear felt different then usual. It was popping like when ur in an airplane or elevator. It was an awful experience. It make me kind of nauseous.. I let it slide like I usually do when it comes to my hearing loss. I went out Saturday all day and night came home went to sleep wokeup on Sunday September 14 the date I will never forget because it was the first time I couldnt hear at all in my right ear. I starting to cry.. and then immediately called my ENT whos known me since I was a baby. He knows my ears like back of his hand. I went in that same day as a "Medical Emergency".. we talked and then he did a hearing test on me.. he couldnt believe what has happened. He has retested me again just to make sure because he was unbelievbly shocked because I went to him last month and my hearing decreased but wasnt like this at ALL! So he was right we go back to his office and saids hes prescribing Prednisone which is a sterioid i have never been on before. He said he wants to try and see if we can get my residual hearing back.. he say " it may or may not come back" we will give this a shot. I said okay whats there to loose. He called my mother yesterday and said on tuesday he wants to see if it improves if not i have whats called " Sudden Deafness" i cried and panic because i didnt know what to do or think.. at that moment. He also said he gets 1 patient a week that has this similar situation. I was shocked. I just sat there and I said this cant be. I thought i miss understood my mom and she wrote WEEK on paper. I went back Sept 24 and Sept 29th. Still my hearing in the right was the same. Doctor said presidone wasnt helping after i gained about 10 pounds and it made me fall asleep everywhere i mean everywhere from in the shower, just sitting at the computer. I was mortified. He said " he doesnt know what to do" he knows about my recent health problems since this pass year. He doesnt reccomend the CI because " I CAN COMMUNICATE WELL" okay hes right I can get by because I was trained all my life to lip read I was in therapy 24/7 and I mastered it when I was a little girl. SO WHAT? I cant HEAR? Thinking about it... even if i had hearing in my right mod-severe like i did i heard somethings but I dont know whats its like to hear WATER,TV unless its blasting on volume 100 etc. So I miss out on alot and now that i have 1 ear to rely on its becoming more and more stressful today is October 13th! Im struggling and its a shame it really is im pushing myself to try and hear with this one ear and I cant do it. It is really devasting. I go back to the ENT/AUD DEC 1ST! Who knows whats going happen. Im deaf in my right ear.. and I wish this was all a dream. I am the only person in the family with a hearing loss so talking to them ofc they dont understand because they dont know what its like because they never experienced this before. Thats my story on Sudden Deafness! For people that just recently experienced this like me PLEASE DONT TAKE PRESIDONE! ITS AWFUL. I know my doctor was trying to help but really if 90% of the people it dont help then why GIVE IT TO ME? My luck ofc i didnt get anything back.

SSHL people - Please go to the doctor IMMEDIATELY DONT WAIT 1-2 weeks.

Thats it for now-- Ill be back on December 1st for the update.

Cochlear Kids

There is an amazing mother named VAL in Alabama who has two kids that are deaf. Who recently wrote a book about the two of them. I read the book as soon as I got it today and I couldnt put it down. Her book called " Im All Ears" is a must buy... im warning you, you need alot of tissues. I never cried so much in my life. She is a true inspiration to me because today I still wonder how these kids are getting by while parents sit back and do nothing about it and when these kids dont get the proper education they deserve. Seeing from a mothers point of view on how she copes and what she does for these kids really touches my heart.
Back when I was a child I struggled tremendously and till this day its the same. It's hard because my parents didnt know what to do I'm lucky I went to the audiologist & the ent ( ears, nose & throat doctor). My point is-- these days I see parents putting these deaf/hh kids into a public school without any help and it breaks my heart. When I graduated High School I knew I had to get a regular diploma I refused the " Special" Diploma and I graduated with a Regents thankfully somehow I got through it barely and I went on to college even though school was so tough. I continued to fight I went to college knowing nothing. I was in remdial classes which meant I was in 0 credits for 2 years learning college and basic level classes because I didnt get the proper education I was supposed to get. So reading Val's book really touched my heart and I am so proud of her even though I dont know her because of how much she does. Purchase her book today believe me when I tell you its a truly amazing book. Check out the website here

Val- this is for you.. Im sure you touched many lives.. You truly touched mine.. thanks for a wonderful book. Someday I would love to meet you to just give you one big Hug.

What is Tinnitus?

Tinnitus is the sensation of rining, buzzing and other sounds in the ears or head without an external stimulus. I call it " ringing in the ears" to people that dont know what Tinnitus is. Its AWFUL. It can really make you misserable. Every moment of my day I suffer from this. Its deafinitely worst at night.Now that I am Deaf in my right ear from sudden deafness all the tinnitus went to the LEFT ear. Its even louder now the sounds. I can barely sleep at night at times. They say to try over the counter drugs or tylenol.. HEY GUYS ITS DOESNT WORK! I have tried it all for the past 4 years. I realized to stop spending my money on all these medicines since its not even doing a thing for me. I think We all NEED to try our best and block it out and the best way to do that for me and I dont know if this will work for you but what I do is
1: I stopped worrying about the pain because in reality it triggers other things for me.
2: Dont think negative about it what
3: what helps me a times is breathing in and out a couple of times.
4: Being Negative about it will only make it worst. Believe me I been there.

Well- I suffered and suffered for days and months and even years about this up until I came across this amazing book " The Consumer Handbook on Tinnitus".. It really helped me get through most of my day so if your really suffering from this buy the book... it will deafinitely change your perspective on tinnitus I MUST say there isnt a " CURE" for tinnitus YET but hopefully if we all get through this maybe someday down the road there will be a cure. Who knows in this case we all have to learn how to " DEAL WITH IT". Thats how I deal with it. I am doing much better with it. Somedays I have the bad days and somedays I have the good days. You can buy this book anywhere especially amazon.com touch the amazon link and it will direct you right to the page.

Walk4Hearing- NYC

On Sunday October 19, 2008 I will be walking for the NYC Walk4Hearing. This is the first time ever that im doing a walk. This is also the first time that the Walk4hearing is taking place in NYC. I have about 15 people joining me in this special event. So far as this date I have raised $2,765.00.I am so happy and thankful for all the support. My new goal is to AIM for $3,500.00. If you would like to Donate click here Thanks so much for the support this means so much to me!! All funds go to HLAA which helps me because they give me the support/services I need to help me communicate. So please whatever you can give will help. It would be greatly appreciated!