The comical world of having an AN

[ppearl214]

Every now and then, my AN reminds me that it has affected my life and something silly or such will occur due to it..... like....

when my balance is off.. and I'm at home, walking ... and bump into the wall... and.... I end up apologizing to the wall... I look at the wall and say "Oh, I'm sorry....".... like it really cares.

Anything comical in life happen to you due to you having an AN?

Phyl

[Debbi]

Good idea, Phyl!  I still have challenges keeping food in my mouth which turns out to be hilarious sometimes.  Recently, I had lunch with a friend and somehow a piece of squash just came flying out of my mouth, hit my chest and bounced to the floor.  After a moment of stunned silence, we both doubled over with laughter. That same night, an edamame bean came flying out of my mouth and nearly took out Willie's eye!  And, I have to admit, these are really funny moments. 

And recently, I went to hug someone and lost my balance and ended up clinging to the other person trying desperately not to land both of us on the floor.   

None of this stuff is serious or life-threatening and, let's be honest, it IS really pretty comical!

Debbi

[stoneaxe]

Sue and I were laughing the other night. I said I can't feel my face...only it came out like Robin Williams in his standup routine..."I can peel my pace". If you've seen the routine you'll understand why we started laughing so hard...

[grega]

Thanks Phly for thinking of all of us!

As an offshoot to once having an AN, I'm ssd.  I'll share this baha tester true-story, one which I promised Jan, Lori & Mike I'd get a round tuit    sooner or later.

Couple months ago, I had the baha testers for a couple weeks in succession.  One night Suzanne and I had dinner with friends at a great Irish restaurant near Annapolis.  As the friends had not yet seen or heard of the baha, I was showing and explaining the what, when and how of the tester, since I had just gotten it from the audiologist that morning.  But before the baha lesson, we all ordered drinks.  So I ordered what many guys get at an Irish restaurant .... a nice tall glass of Irish beer .... the first couple swigs were delish, and I was looking forward to finishing it! 

Well, the drinks came before the baha lesson .... and as I was un-snapping the tester from the band to show it more closely, it flew outta my hand and .... yep .... right into my beer glass .... still probably 90% full!!

My mind went wild .... thinking OMG ....I drowned it!  Will my insurance cover it?  Will my audiologist banish me for life?!?!   What to do ?!?!?!  I shot up and ran for a sink ..... any sink where I could pour out the beer.  I frantically asked a waiter to pour it out but be sure to save the electronic device at the bottom!!!   With quizzical looks from him and others, he disappeared for ten seconds and returned and handed me the wet baha ..... I immediately started blowing on it, as if that might help .... HA!  More quizzical looks! 

I got back to the table and, still a bit frantic, tried to think straight .... while continuing to blow on it!  How stupid I must have looked, huh!

In hindsight, I should have fished it out with a fork or spoon right then and there for two reasons .... it was already wet and time was not on my side at all (DUH!) .... and, perhaps the worst part, I wasted damn good beer!!!

Well, sad stories sometimes have good endings .... and this one is very good!  Even though I had to pay for another beer, later that night I realized that, lo and behold, the baha tester was still working ..... OMG again!   

WOW .... did I sleep good that night!

Warning .... don't try this at home ..... drowning your baha, that is!

Keep   -ing .... Greg

[moe]

Funny story, Greg, and Debbi and great idea for a thread Phyl.

We all need a good laugh

Being SSD, I've started actually writing down the funnies about what I hear vs. what was actually said! Tinnitus distorts too.

The only one I recall is:
 Husband "It has helped me with a lot of childhood memories." (can't remember what he was referring to).
What I heard "It has helped me with a lot of pornography."  Good to know honey!
Guys will be guys. Oh yea, but that's not what he said......
Maureen

[lori67]

Greg,

That's definitely a tough call.....beer or the BAHA.....I'm not sure which one I would have attempted to save!   

Phyl, I apologize to walls too.  Sad part is, it's always the same wall - still in the same place it's always been, but I still manage to walk into it on a daily basis.   

Every day I find something AN related to laugh at - dropping my BAHA into the bottom of the freezer and having to climb in to save it...knocking my two little ones over like dominoes when I start to fall over sideways...the nice dinners with my husband and me with a straw in my wine...the random words that pop out of my mouth that have nothing to do with what I'm trying to say...hanging up on people who call because I put the phone to my deaf ear and figure there's no one on the other end...the list goes on.

Lori

[CHD63]

Good thread ...... if we can't laugh at ourselves .......

Somewhat related ..... when I was diagnosed and the surgery scheduled, our son was trying to explain to his then three-year-old daughter what was going on with Grandma.  He told her Grandma had something growing in her head that didn't belong there and the doctors were going to take it out.  Her response was "Well, we can just plant it in the garden then!"  Needless to say that gave us all a good laugh.

I also have a favorite wall that I regularly say, "I'm sorry ......" to.

Clarice

[Jim Scott]

"Humor is mankind's greatest blessing" - Mark Twain 

One of the slightly humorous aspects to having had an acoustic neuroma is in the effects of being SSD.  In this case, the inability to determine the directionality of sound.  I first started encountering this some time ago, when, while shopping in a mall or inside any large store, I would inevitably become separated from my wife.  Eventually, we would seek each other out.  She would usually find me first, often some distance from her.  Naturally, she would call my name.  I would hear her call but have absolutely no idea where she was.  This would usually have me executing a flat-footed pirouette as I searched for my wife.  I would usually spot her somewhere through my second turn.  She has told me that it was very amusing (for her) to watch me do this 360 degree turn with a strained look on my face as I searched for her.  I had to admit that it was funny and we both got a few laughs out of it. 

Lately, we've decided to bring our respective cell phones with us in these big stores or malls and when she finishes her shopping, she calls me and tells me where to meet her.  This eliminates the calling and searching routine.  However, I don't always hear my cell phone ring (I have it on the maximum volume) but I've gotten better at keeping it in a shirt pocket where I can hear it.  I think this will be another effective workaround...the kind some of us SSD folks routinely do.

Jim

[leapyrtwins]

OMG, Greg!

The BAHA/beer story is a howler!   

I can't believe the demo still worked after getting soaked     The AN angels must have been looking out for you that day!

Jan

[Debbi]

Great stories!  And, Jim, I'm totally with you on the flow pirouette!  And, why is it that the person who's voice you are hearing is never visible until you've done nearly the entire 360 d of the pirouette?  LOL.

[sgerrard]

And, why is it that the person who's voice you are hearing is never visible until you've done nearly the entire 360 d of the pirouette?

Corollary 3 of Murphy's Law. 

Steve

[LisaP]

Hi All,

I would have to say that my chest (without getting into too much detail) save me the other day.  My balance of course is off and I have an island in the middle of my kitchen and yes use your imagination, yep that's right BANG!! right smack into it.  Anyways all's I can say is thank god I'm big there, yes it did hurt, but I think I would have broken something if they were not. 

After the pain went away, I thanked them!!!


LisaP

[ppearl214]

um, Lisa... as long as "they" helped ease you from further injury....

 

LOL!

Phyl

[cin605]

just acouple months ago i went into the bathroom instead of my bedroom it was dark so i could not see anything i was looking on the wrong wall even for the light switch....then i discovered the bath tub..ooops......then there was when i am on the phone discussing forgetfullnee w/ sis n sat the phone down mid convo......emptied the garbadge took it out n came back in only to remeber i was on the phone....sis was still there babbleing about memory loss!

[foodsmarts]

The other day I got out of the car at the hardware store and walked toward the door. Somehow I started listing to the left which
has become fairly predictable. This time however I couldn't get straightened out and ended up making a huge circle in the parking lot, fighting with myself to get straight. I was laughing so hard at myself I was crying!

Once I got back to where I started, no problem and I walked straight in. Fortunately nobody else was in the parking lot. Nothing that exreme has ever happened before nor since.

Something I think is fascinating...maybe not "ha ha" funny is that I drive up a very winding road to get to my home. When I first
started experiencing dizziness, I thought I would never be able to drive again. Now, I am actually more comfortable in the car on the curves than I am when walking around. I feel "normal" while on that road....is this the brain compensating to the max because I'm terrorizing it by continuing to drive? Who knows? 

You just gotta keep laughing.

Helen