Hear me out…

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere apologies for not blogging last week. My mind was occupied with Arsenal thoughts ahead of the FA Cup final on Saturday so I couldn’t concentrate properly to write a coherent post. Even those who don’t like football probably saw that we won that all-important game so I cannot begin to put into words how happy I am right now. Smiling non-stop all weekend has made me extra tired but I thought I better start writing again before my loyal ‘Wheelchair Boy’ reader’s desert me. Not posting because of a football match is a pretty lame excuse so sorry.

Another reason for my week long sabbatical was that I had quite a full diary with a visit from the physio, a trip to the dentist, being in the audience for a recording of Q.I. and a couple of appointments about my hearing so didn’t have time/couldn’t be bothered to write when I got home. I know they don’t sound like massive events but a single appointment basically takes the whole day, in my mind anyway. Plus, I do have other things in my life to do apart from this blog believe it or not. Anyway, I’m writing this post, eventhough I’m still buzzing from Saturday, and that’s all that matters.

The subject today is hearing. What? HEARING! Didn’t quite catch that? HEARING! I’m not sure what you said. No joke. If there’s a bit of noise to distract me, even just another conversation, I might not fully hear the person speaking to me even if they’re next to my ear. Not great as I can’t really participate in conversations so just sit there like a mute, nodding along and laughing eventhough I have no clue what is being said. I could be the butt of all jokes for all I know but I’m completely unaware.

This type of hearing difficulty is quite common with Friedreich’s Ataxia sufferers so I thought I’d speak with my GP to see if anything was available to help. He said he’d refer me to the Audiology department at St. Albans Hospital. However, it turns out that if you have problems with your ears between the ages of 18  & 65, you cannot be directly referred to see the Audiologist. Instead, I had to go through the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist in Harpenden who concluded that I should visit St. Albans City Hospital for further consultation.

People often speak about the NHS lacking common sense and this illustrates that point. I went for a hearing test on Thursday evening before returning to see a doctor on Friday afternoon just to be told that that my problem was ‘discriminatory’ so I should see an Audiologist, facts I already knew. Talk about jumping through hoops simply to get the right referral. I don’t know how long the process will take but it can’t come quick enough as the problem is becoming  more and more noticeable in social situations.

By the way, I hope you all appreciate that I’ve had to stop watching Wembley clips for a while to write this post.

Bye for now!