I was 29 years old, experiencing life at its
fullest. My days were hectic, handling responsibilities at work, only
to come home and face homework with the kids; running them from activity
to activity; finding quality time for my spouse and all of the other
stuff modern families have to deal with. The stress was mounting, but
still I was in control. Unfortunately, that was about to change.
One evening after work I headed to a local
restaurant with some friends for some much needed R&R. After
spending three hours in the noisy restaurant, sitting next to the piano
player, my head ached as the din of the evening continued to ring in my
head for hours.
The next morning I was surprised to notice a
slight ringing still left in my ears. Not thinking much of it, I headed
off for another busy day at the office. Little did I know that my life
was now taking an unexpected turn.
Within a few days, that slight ringing became a
noticeable buzz, followed periodically by loud bangs. Before long, the
noise that had began as a nuisance was beginning to grind on my nerves.
My head felt like it was going to explode. No matter what I did, I
could not get away from that ear piercing noise -- day or night it was
there, and it was beginning to take its toll.
A trip to my general practitioner did no good.
He thought maybe it was just a migraine induced by stress. I tried
relaxing more and that helped (a little). But I still couldn’t get rid
of that constant buzz in my ears.
Several weeks and several visits later, the
doctor began to suspect that something was indeed wrong with me, and
initiated a series of tests to rule out anything serious. After
undergoing what seemed like an endless round of tests, we finally had a
diagnosis: Tinnitus.
“Whew” I thought. “Now we can fix it.” It
wasn’t long before my relief turned into panic as the doctor explained
that there is no cure, or even much treatment available for this
condition, and I’d simply have to learn to live with it like the
thousands of other sufferers walking the planet.
“Live with this constant pounding in my head!” I thought. “How in the world am I going to do that?”
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