Uncategorized | A Deaf Mom Shares Her World

Missing More Than Just a Conversation

Today’s post is a guest post by The Hearing Company. I asked them to share some funny stories and they did not disappoint. Read on!

Guest article for DeafMomWorld.com from UK based high street hearing aid retailer The Hearing Company

As hearing aid retailers in the UK for more than 50 years, The Hearing Company is well versed in the need for crystal clear hearing.

But for an example of someone ‘learning the hard way’ look no further than Brazilian Valdemar Lopes de Moraes.

The 39 year old was suffering from ear ache but ended up receiving more radical treatment from his doctor – a vasectomy.

As reported by news agency Reuters, staff at the clinic had really called out the name Aldemar, who was actually scheduled for the snip, but hard of hearing Mr de Moraes headed for the treatment room instead.

When asked later why he didn’t complain, the father of two said he thought his ear inflammation “must have spread downwards.”

Travel a bit closer to home and quirky cases still prevail, though perhaps with slightly less significant consequences.

A favourite of staff at The Hearing Company comes from the casebook of one of its hearing aid dispensers.

It is standard procedure to follow up any delivery of a brand new hearing aid with a visit to monitor the customer’s progress and to offer advice and help if required.

This particular customer used her visit to express real concern over losing her hearing aid. She concluded that the dispenser must have mistakenly taken it with him when he had met her the previous week.

Calmly he confirmed that he did not have her hearing aid and perhaps it would be a good idea for the lady to retrace her steps to see if the device was nearby.

As the pair checked the kitchen, the customer recalled a recent and particularly upsetting encounter in the room with “the biggest snail ever”. A morbid fear of snails had led her to stamp on the offending creature and throw it out of the back door.

No prizes for guessing what the plastic debris outside really was. We are only grateful the customer didn’t find an actual snail and pop that in her ear instead…

The moral of the story? Take good care of your hearing and act quickly (and with caution) if you encounter a problem. And for those who do wear a hearing aid, take good care of the device that helps you hear…and perhaps consider taking a sight test as well!

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Grabbing the Last Bit of Summer

It’s that time of the year again. The “winding down” days of summer. Summers at the lake are measured by the number of days that the pier stays in the water and as my family gets older, it seems like we take the pier out earlier each year.

But we’re not there just yet. This week is family week– my cousins are up from Missouri and it’s a week of making memories. My cousin Cheri and I have grown closer over the years. We didn’t know each other much growing up, but we’ve fostered a friendship as we’ve gotten older. I love her like a sister now.

As most of you know, my Dad is working on kicking cancer in the rear end. He kicked it in the corner for a while, but we just learned that it has spread toward the lungs. The doctor has suggested starting chemo again in a month. Dad is going for a second opinion on my birthday and I’m hoping the new doctor will come up with some better ways to kick it back in the corner.

Speaking of my upcoming birthday, I won’t be crying in the boat like last year. I’ll be celebrating on the water instead, barefooting and wakeboarding. I took up wakeboarding for the first time a few weeks ago. When I announced that I was going to try it, David raised his eyebrow. “Are you sure you can handle that, Mom?”

Ooo, the kid rankled me up inside. “Watch me!” I said. I strapped myself to the board and got ready for a dock start. David gunned the jet ski and I took off.

I faceplanted right into the water.

Uh oh, I thought to myself. What have I gotten myself into?

Back on the dock, it took two more tries before I found myself balancing on top of the water. I felt like a 12-month-old toddler who had just learned to walk. I wobbled back and forth, trying to get used to the rocking board. I didn’t get too far before I found myself embracing the water again, face first.

David circled around, expecting to pick me up and take me back for another dock start. “I’m going to get up here,” I said. I thought I saw David’s eyebrow raise again, but he caught himself in time. He gave me some pointers on how to get up.

I popped right out of the water on the first try and had nice run.

Take that, son!

“I’m going to do a 180 tomorrow!” I announced. David laughed. This time, he definitely raised his eyebrow again. “All right, Mom, I’d like to see you do a 180.”

I did the 180 on my first try and attempted a second one, but fell. The dang kid missed the whole thing. “I didn’t see it!” David said as he circled around.

“What do you mean you didn’t see it! I did it!”

“You gotta do it again. I want to see it,” he insisted.

I got up again and I made sure David was looking back when I swung the wakeboard around the water. I did it a second time for good measure. Then I promptly lost my balance and fell on my rear.

“Never doubt your Mother,” I told him.

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The Honor of Attending a Water Birth

I was sitting on the couch up in Michigan when the phone rang. It was 10:30 p.m.

“It’s your friend,” said my Dad. “She’s in labor and wants you to come now.”

I grabbed my bag and jumped in the car. It was a two hour drive to Mary Kate’s house, but I shaved off some time with a heavy foot and no traffic to deal with. I didn’t want to miss the birth. Mary Kate and I had met on a homebirth forum online and became friends. We both had birthed our first two kids via cesarean and I had homebirthed my third kiddo. Mary Kate asked me to be a doula for her home water birth and I was looking forward to supporting her during the birth.

When I arrived, Mary Kate’s labor had slowed down. “I’m going to head to the food store and get a few things,” I said. I figured we might be in for a long night and I decided to make some dinners for after the birth. I started a pot of soup and a roast. Mary Kate’s surges would come and go and she did a beautiful job of breathing through them. “Get as much sleep as you can,” I said. I settled in on the couch for a few hours of sleep.

Kyle, Mary Kate’s husband woke me up early in the morning. Mary Kate’s parents arrived to pick up the boys and take them to their house. Once the boys left, labor started to kick in. Kyle started filling up the water birth tub so that Mary Kate could labor in it. Before she stepped in, she was holding on to Kyle and she said, “I can’t do this anymore.”

Instantly, my instincts kicked in and I knew that labor was progressing. “Do you want to call the midwife now?” I asked.

“No, not yet,” Mary Kate said. “I don’t want her to come too early.”

Mary Kate sank into the tub and Kyle and I took turns supporting her. The labor picked up more intensely and I told Kyle that I thought it was time to call the midwife. He went off to call her and I continued to support Mary Kate. When Kyle returned, we switched places and I noticed that the baby had moved down.

“Mary Kate, your baby is moving down,” I said.

She was in denial. It was hard for her to believe that after two cesareans, she was going to be able to birth her baby. I looked at Kyle. “Do you want to catch or do you want me to catch?”

“I’ll catch,” he said.

A few minutes later, the midwife walked in. She assessed Mary Kate and said that she was ready to push. I went to grab the camera and videocamera.

Ten years ago on this day, Maeve slipped into the water and Mary Kate brought her up to snuggle on her chest. It was a moment that I’ll always remember– the dawn of a new day and a new soul arriving in this world. Happy Birthday, Maeve!

$maeve\'s birth$

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Karen Putz Chosen as a “Hidden Pearl”

I’m proud to be among 20 amazing Deaf women chosen as “Pearls” by The M Project:

The Pearls, by The M Project

Next year, June 4, 2011, I will have to the opportunity to meet them all in Studio City, California. I’m looking forward to getting to know these amazing gals!

“Is a jewel just a pebble, that found a way to shine?” –John Denver

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ZVRS Reveals VRS with iPhone4

Over 200 folks gathered at the Hard Rock Cafe in Philadelphia on July 7, 2010 for a private event hosted by ZVRS. Tim Rarus took the stage and talked about the history of video relay service. “In the old days before the TTY,” he explained, “if you wanted to make an appointment with your doctor, you either had to find a neighbor to make a phone call or drive to the doctor’s office to make the appointment.”

Now… imagine… today…

“You reach in your pocket and pull out your iPhone4 and you make a call using video relay. Yes, today, it is now possible with ZVRS to make a video relay call!”

Three people from the audience, including Gallaudet president, Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz, made historical video relay calls from the stage. It was absolutely amazing to watch each of them communicate via using a cell phone– how many of us have dreamed of that day? The day is here!

Quoted in the Apple Insider: Apple Insider Article

Quoted in the MacApper: MacApper Article

Quoted in the Today’s iPhone: Today’s iPhone

Engaget Article: Engaget

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Putz Household Celebrates Clean Sink

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chicago– The Putz Household is celebrating tonight. For the first time since January 15, 2007, the Putz family has found the bottom of their sink again.

“It’s a miracle,” exclaimed Karen Putz, head of the household. “The last time I saw the bottom of the sink was several years ago. I forgot what it looked like!”

Putz credits an empty house and lack of travel for the successful accomplishment. “The kids are at camp all week and this was the first week in June that I didn’t have to fly somewhere,” said Putz. “I took one look at the mountain of dishes and said to myself, ‘I’m going to conquer that this week!’”

It took Putz nearly an hour to load up the dishwasher and start the automatic cleaning process with a push of a button. The large serving trays from Lauren’s graduation party were washed by hand and stored in the cabinet.

Over at Christie Lake in Lawrence, Michigan, Putz’s parents reacted with surprise and an excited cheer. “I’m so proud of my daughter!” said Marian Griffard. “This is such an amazing feat!”

Putz was amazed to discover a shiny sink after a few scrubs with a Scotch-Brite scrubber and some baking soda.

“I was just blinded by the find,” said Putz. “I had to dig out my sunglasses to finish the job.”

Putz plans to celebrate her thrilling achievement with a gathering of her closest friends tonight.

# # #

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Tags: CSDVRS, Inspirational Stuff, Uncategorized by DeafMom
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Goodbye to Chicago Moms Blog, Hello to The Chicago Moms

For the last two years, I have been writing for the Chicago Moms Blog, a network of blogs owned by the Silicon Valley Moms group. When I first came across the blog almost three years ago, I said to myself, “I want to write for them someday!” The blog network included Katie Couric from the New York Moms blog.

That someday came when Beth Blecherman, the co-founder, responded to a comment that I left on a disability blog post that she wrote and she sent me an email. “Your blog is fantastic and inspirational,” she wrote.

And… would I like to write for the SV Valley Moms network, she asked.

Of course, the answer was yes. My first post was “When Your Only Option is a Thong.” As a result of that post, I’ve endured countless thong jokes and every now and then Vicki slings me a thong virtually on Twitter. No amount of money will entice me to wear a thong. Ever. Again.

The Chicago Moms Blog gave me the opportunity to have three of my posts syndicated in newspapers around the country. To have a post selected for syndication was quite an honor, as only a few posts were selected from the many posts each week.

I also had the opportunity to connect with the Chicago Moms at several area events, including a special meetup of the Chicago Moms:

In a surprising turn of events, we learned that the Chicago Moms Blog and the entire network of SV Moms would no longer be active. It was a heartbreaking announcement for everyone. Out of sad news came good news: The Chicago Moms website was born.

Stay tuned! I’ll still be around as a Chicago Mom and will continue to write. I promise not to sling any thongs on the new site.

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Embracing My Deaf Self

It is eleven o’clock at night and my house is filled with the sound of eight teenagers sitting around my family room chatting and laughing. Some of them are signing, some of them are animatedly talking. Some of them are deaf, some are hard of hearing and two of them have hearing in the normal range. Three of them are mine and all three have hearing aids perched in their ears. My youngest sports colorful earmolds with red, white and blue swirls. I’ve got a pair of blue earmolds with sparkles shining out from under my dark hair.

As I watch the kids talk excitedly about some silly photo on Facebook, I’m thinking back to my own teen years. My summers as a teen were spent hiding the fact that I couldn’t hear. As soon as the school year ended in the late spring, my lone hearing aid was placed on a ledge and never touched until the first day of school in the fall. I spent my summers with a great group of friends, many who knew just what to do to make communication happen between us. I depended a lot on my lipreading skills to piece together conversations. It was the casual group gatherings that had me bluffing my way through conversations because it was next to impossible to lipread the many lips that were speaking at the same time.

Then there was the stigma of being different, of standing out. I tried hard not to stand out, instead trying everything I could to blend in and be “one of them.”

My life changed in an instant the summer I was nineteen. I was barefooting behind the boat, practicing wake crossing. As my feet skimmed across the water, my foot caught the edge of the wake and I slammed into the water. There was no time to do a normal tuck and roll, something I had done many times before. When I climbed into the boat, I tried to shake the water out of my ears. Everything sounded muffled–lips moved but there wasn’t the usual sound to match with it.

It wasn’t until many days later that I realized that I had become deaf.

My life took an interesting turn at that point. Once the grief subsided and I dried the tears, I entered a new world filled with deaf and hard of hearing people. It wasn’t easy– because I had spent the previous 19 years of my life hiding my hearing aid and feeling quite uncomfortable with anything that reminded me that I was “different.” It took awhile for me to learn American Sign Language and get to the point that I embraced a deaf identity. Once I did, there was an amazing transformation in my life: Yes, I am deaf and gosh-darn-it, that’s perfectly ok.

One by one, my own kids began to lose their hearing and soon our lives were filled with hearing aids, IEPs, signing, speech therapy and other families with deaf and hard of hearing kids. I do see the same struggles to understand everything being said around them, but I also see that my kids are growing up with a very different attitude than I had–they’re comfortable with themselves, assertive in getting their communication needs met… and they don’t hide their hearing aids. They have access to texting, interpreters, captioning, videophones and more. They’re growing up with deaf and hard of hearing role models– something that I didn’t have access to.

I came across a quote on Twitter recently that perfectly sums up what I wish I had known when I was growing up:

Why are you trying so hard to fit in when you were born to stand out? –Unknown

Originally published on Chicago Moms Blog.

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Breathe

Breathe.

Have you ever found yourself going through life so fast that you’re holding your breath? That’s how I found myself last week after six days of travel, eye surgery and running kids here and there. I flew to Florida, came home, went to the doc, and then off to Milwaukee for the HLAA conference. I came home to news that my mom had gotten into a car accident–she ended up in a ditch with the wheel off and the front end totaled–and thankfully ok. On Sunday, the boys went in two different directions to two different camps. By the time we dropped the last kid off, we realized we weren’t going to make it to the family dinner an hour and half away.

Breathe.

I received a letter this week from Ron, a high school friend of mine. He is a retired Navy deep sea diver. He is teaching me the mechanics about scuba diving in his letters and we plan to go scuba diving next year. One of the most important things to remember when underwater is simply this:

Breathe.

Because you know what happens when you hold your breath underwater while scuba diving? The pressure increases and if it increases too much at one point, the lungs go “ka-boom.”

Breathe.

A new friend reminded me of this. As I sat at the car rental place waiting for Joe to pick me up, I quieted my mind and focused on breathing. How easy it is to forget that simple thing that gives us energy and sustains our bodies.

I thought back to Steven’s birth. I learned about hypnobirthing while I was pregnant and taught myself the technique. It involves putting yourself in a special place, deep breathing, affirmations and changing your attitude and thought process. Fourteen hours of labor, while intense at times, was a calm experience thanks to this approach. I realized that I used it last week at the doctor’s office, and the minute that the procedure was over, I went back into “spinning life” mode, racing home to finish up work.

Breathe.

A friend of mine asked me how to achieve more balance in life. I busted out laughing. I’m the last person to ask for that advice, I told her. Ask me in thirty years.

But you know what? The answer is really simple one, as my new friend reminds me:

Breathe.

And remember to love yourself and others in the process. Because that’s what life is all about. Nothing else matters.

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Deaf Mom Around the ‘Net

Life has been on spin cycle lately, but it’s spinning in a great direction. I’m counting the days until I can head up to Christie Lake and work from there. And of course, I’m itching to get my feet back on the water. In the process, I plan to drag some of the guys back on the water with me. Christie Lake has not seen any barefooting in years, this summer is going to change that. My goal is to finally learn to barefoot on one foot and do a tumble turn.

Meanwhile, here’s some summer reading for you:

Chicago Moms Blog: Life on Spin Cycle

Deaf Mom featured in Real Mommies, Real Challenges

Irked Magazine: Deaf Mom Talks About Fashionable Hearing Aids

Someday Syndrome: Learning to Ask for Help

Some of you have been asking for an update on the Loser Mom challenge. I didn’t win, in fact, I struggled with the pounds for weeks and nothing budged! I’m now at the twenty pound mark and hoping that the rest of it goes by the end of summer. My friend, Sharon, joined the same gym so we work out together and that’s been a great motivator! I used a trainer for two session (one more to go) and have learned a lot. When you don’t know what you’re doing, find someone who does!

Here’s to an amazing summer ahead– I hope you’ve got some exciting things planned! To get you started with some excitement, here’s a zipline race between me and David (I think he cheated and stepped off early!):

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Missing More Than Just a Conversation

Grabbing the Last Bit of Summer

The Honor of Attending a Water Birth

Karen Putz Chosen as a “Hidden Pearl”

ZVRS Reveals VRS with iPhone4

Putz Household Celebrates Clean Sink

Goodbye to Chicago Moms Blog, Hello to The Chicago Moms

Embracing My Deaf Self

Breathe

Deaf Mom Around the ‘Net

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