My Poor Little Ear

I feel like I should have been blogging for the past few years, and now I need to get all caught up. So one thing that is very important to me and each day of my life is my ear. Readers Digest version of the story, I got hurt surfing and now I am deaf. Not completely...well completely on my right side. Good thing we are born with two ears. However, we are born with two ears because you NEED two. Each day I face not being able to order in a noisy restaurant, and people giving me dirty looks because they think I am ignoring them....when actually I did not even hear them.... Anyway, I have had four surgeries and the three surgeons who have operated on me have run out of options. So for now, I am deaf....just on the right side. People get used to it. My friends always let me sit on the inside of the booth at restaurants and my wonderful running pals have a fancy little figure eight we do at each dead end in the path....allowing me to seamlessly loop to the outside right edge of the group and keep up with the conversation. I don't really mind it now that I am used to it. I forget most of the time until I notice someone looking at me waiting for an answer to a question I did not hear. I usually just nod and hope I am getting what I intended....or at least not something weird and expensive. OK, readers digest did not really happen..... The important thing here is that I am a nicer person because of my hearing impairment. The accident and injury are a part of me, not just something that happend to me.