Can you hear me now?

About three years ago, I got sick.  Probably strep or some other viral thing, I don't really remember.   But shortly after that, I noticed I had tinnitus that kept getting louder.  And I finally went to see an ear doc.

His take?  "I wish you had come to me sooner I could have helped you."

He had me get a brain MRI to make sure I didn't have an acoustic neuroma - which I did not.  A year after that, when my symptoms had not improved and I noticed I was saying "huh?" a lot, I had my hearing checking again.  BIG hearing loss on the right.   I waited a year or so and had it checked again.  No change.  

Fast forward to now.

See it?

I now have bionic ears!  I can hear my husband breathe.  I can hear the wind chimes in the back yard with the door closed.  I can hear the tiny beep coming from the house alarm system.  And I can hear the cat lick herself sitting next to me.  Some of these sounds are more disturbing to me than helpful, but I'm trying to look at it much the same way one does when told they need glasses - get them and move on.