Dorothy B.

I was visiting family in San Diego in August 2015 when I woke up with vertigo and a stuffed up feeling in the right side of my head. Although I saw a doctor immediately, I was unaware of the severity of the problem until the following Wednesday when the ENT announced that I had completely lost the hearing in my right ear. This began a journey of healing that continues today, where I’ve encountered the deepest pits and the highest mountains, with friends nearby and Jesus completely in control. In a nutshell, in the first few months, I experienced:

Miserable side effects from taking high doses of oral steroids
Weekly steroid injections directly into my eardrum
Sudden rapid heartbeat and blood pressure spikes when trying to wean off the steroids, usually in the middle of the night
Head-splitting ringing in my head
Difficulty sleeping, even with a sound machine

All this time, the doctors were saying, “Get used to it.” In the 3rd week I had regained 27% of my hearing, so I tried four different hearing aids. None worked. My hearing wasn’t functional, and the hearing aides only made the squeaky and echo-y sounds worse. I couldn’t imagine going through the rest of my life like that! And then, my “good” ear started making noises, which set off panic attacks that woke me every night around 5:00 a.m. That sent me into several months of depression.

From day one, I turned to prayer, not only my own, but from all my wonderfully faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. During that time, one friend was truly the “light of the world” for me. Coty and I had been friends for many years, chatting on Sundays and occasionally getting together for lunch. As Coty checked in on me nearly every day, sharing words of encouragement, support, prayer, and even laughter, our friendship grew deeper.

There were so many ups and downs the first year. When I realized one day that my first thought upon waking in the morning wasn’t my hearing loss, I knew I’d turned a corner.

Fast forward to now. I never did regain my hearing. There are always junk noises and some form of ringing in my ear. I still panic a bit when I don’t hear my alarm clock. And I do admit that I still hope for a miracle. But what I did gain through all this goes so far beyond the loss. Most important, I gained a closer relationship with Jesus.

But I also gained a closer relationship with Coty. God has continued to use this friendship as we still “talk” every few days and have supported each other through many joyful moments and new challenges. We remind each other that God knows our hearts and that we are his beloved children. Coty has been and continues to be such a dear friend and an amazing gift from God!