Thank you for sharing your experiences. I'm an actively involved member in HLAA (The Hearing Loss Assn. of America). Through involvement I've met several people who have experienced sudden sensorineural hearing loss. While it isn't common, it happens and is traumatic. We are told that immediate treatment with steroids may help, but it is nearly impossible to get immediate treatment. First, the person affected tends to think it's temporary, so waits a few days to try to see a doctor. Often they see their primary care physician who has no experience with this, but refers them to an ENT. Trying to get into the ENT quickly isn't easy. So all of a sudden time has passed and it's too late for those injections to help.

I hate to say it, but this is common. Hearing loss is not considered an 'emergency' until it's irreversible. How horrible it has to be to be told "If you had been treated sooner.....etc."

The good news is that cochlear implants do help. Most of the people I mention above have gone the cochlear implant route and are back in the hearing mainstream. They've received a great deal of help and peer support by participating in HLAA chapters. It helps a great deal to know that you are not alone.

HLAA chapters have been holding meetings online via Zoom, which is captioned, during COVID. The good news is that those chapters have opened up participation to folks who don't live near active chapters. We have people from all over the country attend our chapter meetings held in Appleton Wisconsin! Soon they will be meeting in person again, but we are hoping to be able to provide hybrid meetings that will include everyone.

The national HLAA organization is holding a large national convention this summer in Tampa Florida. That event brings people from all over the country together to learn in an environment that is accessible and quite amazing. The exhibit hall is incredible as so many new devices and products in research are featured. The majority of attendees have hearing loss so everyone understands our unique need to communicate. These events can be life changing.

You might want to learn more about that HLAA convention. It's worth every penny to attend. More information is available at http://www.hearingloss.org The national website provides a great deal of information that you may wish to explore while you're there.

Is there an HLAA chapter in your area?