A few days earlier I had left Brazil in a rush after notifying folks that I’d been diagnosed with Sudden Deafness. It was time to provide an update to the masses. The list of people was long and diverse and I struggled with my approach. I tried to provide as much information as possible without getting lost in the details of my medical condition, or grumbling excessively about all of the frustrating and terrifying moments. I wanted to believe that a doctor would give me the fix I needed to recover at least some of my hearing and balance. I sent the following email update on July 3, 2007:

Traveling home from Brazil was quite the adventure – last weekend was both a holiday in Bahia , Brazil and the US . I arrived Saturday evening and went to the ER where they increased my meds and told me to see a specialist first thing Monday morning. Yesterday I argued with front desk staff at various Otology offices in the DC area for 7 hours before finally being seen yesterday afternoon. I’ll spare you my complaints on the American medical system.

Unfortunately, I do not have much more information to share. Very little is known about Sudden Deafness, and doctors still disagree if it is a medical condition or rather a symptom of other medical conditions. My doctor suspects that my deafness was caused by a virus, though we are waiting for bloodwork to come back and it is likely we will never know for certain. I do know that Sudden Deafness results from the constriction of vessels in the inner ear. My doctor put me on very high doses of steroids, including direct steroid injections into the ear, to reduce inflammation which will hopefully allow me to hear something again.

I lost nearly all of my hearing on the left side – the very loud noises I do hear are indecipherable. Our goal at this moment is to improve my hearing enough that I can be a candidate for a hearing aid in the future, though there is only a 50% chance my hearing will improve at all. Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of this condition for me is that it has affected my balance… which the high doses of medicines are not helping. If I turn my head quickly or change my focus, I get dizzy. Over the next few weeks I will be working on basic balance while walking, climbing stairs, riding my bike, and eventually driving. It is pretty cool, however, that our brains can relearn things like BALANCE!

While this is a truly bizarre condition, as far as I can tell, deafness in one ear will not limit my future plans. It has meant a lot to receive your emails and calls. Thank you so much.