The BiPolar Express PodCast

@HootyTheNightOwl Thank you Hooty.
I am so sorry to hear about... Get it ... HEAR .. about... :-( Your ... not single but double ear infection.
That must really suck.
I'm not sure what you will learn about Bi-Polar from me but I hope we can share a few laughs about it.

@Dainbramadge I'm used to it... I get them a lot, so it's just routine for me - usually, I get some antibiotics from the doctor to clear it up quickly.

I'm reluctant to ask for them in Covid19 times, though, because I got told to isolate last time I asked for some for a chest infection just before the first lockdown.

I've been through a few events where I should have had antibiotics now (as per my doctor's instructions) - but I went without because they aren't isolating me for no reason again. Stupid receptionist triage system.

@HootyTheNightOwl My sister went through something like that for a sinus infection.
All she wanted was some antiB. and she ended up having to take the test and wait a day and bla bla bla.

@Dainbramadge Nothing worse than knowing exactly what you have and what you need... but you have to go through all that because they can make you.

I've had this problem for most of my life, so I'm intimately acquainted with it and the process I need to go through by now.

The other problem that I need antibiotics for is a lot newer and the symptoms are much different - though much less likely to be flagged as Covid19, so I may well end up telling them that this one is flaring up to get the pills in the end.

@HootyTheNightOwl My oldest son gets ear infections easy. I was hoping he would out grow that.

@Dainbramadge He still might. He may have something different to me that is causing the infections that he gets.

In my case, I have underlying Glue Ear which has made me more at risk of ear infections than most people. I spent most of my childhood having grommets and bobbins put into my eardrums to drain the gunk (aka "glue") out of the cavity just behind my eardrums.

I had my final surgery that they could do around the age of 10. By the time I was 15, the bobbin in my right ear had fallen out again and I qualified for hearing aids in both ears.

By the time I was 25... I gave up on hearing aids because they changed the material that they were made from and the new stuff was giving me ear infections.

The difference between the old ear mold that didn't give me an ear infection and the new one that does give me an ear infection is... a hole!!!

Just like my specialist said - I'm okay with the mold that has a hole in the outward facing side, but the ones that are filled in will give me ear infections. Worse than that, they are back to back ear infections.

I remembered what my specialist said and I asked for molds with the hole in - but they are too "old fashioned" now, and no one can make me any.

So I can't even wear hearing aids anymore, either.

@HootyTheNightOwl Wow. I hope my son doesn't suffer from this.
Sounds like it is a real pain.
I don't remember if he has tubes in or not I will have to ask him today.

@Dainbramadge Not everyone is as unfortunate as I was, though.

From my last surgery, I still have one in place and working - though some doctors are starting to call it a "foreign body" now and offering to remove it for me.

I just tell them that they are leaving it alone. My eardrums are too badly scarred from my surgeries now, so I can never have that surgery again. While I have that one bobbin still in and it's working, they can leave it there. I reason that it will eventually fall out by itself when it's ready to and I will be back at square one.

Until that day, it's staying where it is. I know that it's still attached to my ear drum and working enough for me to hear better without it being removed - and I don't like the idea of it being yanked out while I'm awake, either. After seeing the wire that holds them in place, I think that it might be painful for me.

Having been through several surgeries having those things put in... the only thing I would change is to save some of the surgeries until I was a teenager. My final surgery was my most successful one, so I wonder if, having them done when I was a bit older might have made any difference for me???

@HootyTheNightOwl That's an interesting thought.
Maybe they would have been more successful if they had waited until your ear drums were more mature and closer to full grown.
That's too bad that you have so much trouble with them.
I can't imagine not being able to hear well.
So how is your hearing without the hearing aids??
Do you have to see the persons mouth when you talk to them?

@Dainbramadge From what I have seen, the grommets and bobbins of today are different to what I have, though.

There's no way for me to know if waiting that bit longer might have made a difference for me, though.

On the average day, I'm able to function quite well with my hearing... but I know that my next infection is just around the corner. Up until a few months ago, they were pressuring me to find work.

I don't have any problems with working per se... but, they couldn't answer me two questions:-

1) What work is available for someone who is a fall/collapse risk???

2) How many sit down jobs do you know of that don't require answering the telephone???

Unfortunately, they never saw me like this.

I'm hoping to find myself something that I can do on a self employed basis because even M&S not touch me as I am.

Yes, I was trained to lip read from an early age... and I'm more or less totally reliant on that right now. I can hear your voice and the sound of it, but I can't make out words very well at all - not even in an otherwise silent room.

Even with lip reading, some people still get uncomfortable with me "staring" at them - even when they know that I'm only trying to listen to them the only way I can.

Of course, lip reading only goes so far, though... especially when it can take me a while to get used to people's mouth movements as they speak - and it's useless in group work. I hate trying to read the lips of 10-20 people at once. I hate that DWP think that you can cope with hearing loss in an office based on a few years without an ear infection and how well you can manage on the average day.

They seldom see that, yes, you're managing, but you're not just listening to them - you're reading their lips as well... and the amount of focus that requires can be draining in its own right. Watching lips, listening to sounds and trying to marry that all together in a way that makes sense isn't easy. Worse still when you get someone who talks with their hands or wants to enter something you tell them into the computer - which distracts you from what you are focusing on.

Just swap places with me and let me put my own data in system - it was only a survey type thing anyway.

If your hearing impaired person is young enough, I recommend sign language classes. Even if he never needs to use it in his own right, it is a useful skill to have for communicating with other people who do need to use it. It will also look good on a CV, too... or as a silent means of communication in times of danger.

I have some gestures that mean nothing, but also convey something to those around me who know what they mean.

@HootyTheNightOwl Wow. People, for the most part, have a hard time understanding the struggles others of us suffer daily. Empathy isn't a very common trait I am afraid.

I am sorry you struggle with this to this degree.
I understand what you mean about trying to receive information from someone and then trying to enter it into a system. That would be so hard.

My daughter learned to sign before she was able to speak. I had seen it somewhere and so we taught her a few things to help along until she could talk.
There was a segment on one of her kid shows that delt with it too and she learned a whole bunch of stuff me and her mom had no idea what she was saying. LOL.

She doesn't talk to me any more but I do wonder how much of it she retained.

I sure hope things smooth out for you.

@Dainbramadge The most difficult part was having one pair of eyes and trying to read his lips and the computer screen at the same time... this guy wasn't deaf aware.

Lol, it sounds like someone had taught her some Makaton somewhere along the way. I know a little BSL and met Makaton as an adult - I had to be told what he was saying... 🤣