Thursday, February 1, 2018

Chemo-Related Hearing Loss: A Pressing Issue in a Social World

While hearing loss may not seem as major as a cancer diagnosis, patients and physicians should pay close attention to it, as it can drastically affect quality of life.


PUBLISHED January 31, 2018

Jane has earned three advanced degrees and had several fulfilling careers as a librarian, rehabilitation counselor and college teacher. Presently she does freelance writing. Her articles include the subjects of hearing loss and deafness, service dogs and struggling with cancer. She has been a cancer survivor since 2010.

She has myelodysplastic syndrome, which is rare, and would love to communicate with others who have MDS.
A hearing loss diagnosis is difficult for any patient. However, it seems to pale in contrast to being diagnosed with a potentially deadly cancer. After all, a hearing loss is a nuisance, but will not kill you. Cancer is much more serious. This is an attitude many professionals, including doctors, seem to believe. Of course, of the two, cancer is worse. However, I fear that we sometimes diminish the devastating results of losing our hearing.

Please stop for a minute and think of an instance when you do not use hearing. Hearing is communication. We use it in almost every task we do, from talking, to listening to the radio and television. It is our hearing that alerts us to sirens, someone approaching us and other dangers. Imagine a day without being able to use this important sense and you get an idea of how important hearing really is.





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