deaf and dizzy invalid

Mary’s ear infection was misdiagnosed and she was given painkillers rather than antibiotics, and as a result her eardrum perforated and required an operation to patch it – but permanent damage had already been done.

“The operation – my very first one, and I hope the last – was successful,” says Mary. “The surgeon took a graft of skin from behind my ear to make the patch, and after a period of having ‘packing’ in my ear the eardrum healed and I was given the all clear.”

“Unfortunately, though, the distressing symptoms of hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ear) and dizziness that had developed before I was properly diagnosed did not abate,” says Mary. “I was cleared for a Meniere's condition, and was told that my hearing had been permanently damaged, there’s no cure for tinnitus and I would just have to adjust to living with these disabilities.”

“For the first time in my life, something that had ‘happened' to me was ‘unfixable’ and I couldn’t believe it,” says Mary. ”I had often and repeatedly risked my health by working late, not eating, not sleeping, and drinking to excess, yet I had always landed butter side up.”

“Never once had any of the lifestyle risks I had taken caused me lasting harm,” says Mary, “and this time it was different because the damage wasn’t my fault – I had been misdiagnosed – and I couldn’t believe that there was no magic bullet or procedure that would fix me up.”

“For three months after the operation I held onto hope - no, not hope, just an arrogant belief in my immortality -- that I would soon bounce back to life with a vengeance, none the worse for the ordeal I had been through,” says Mary. “I refused to accept that I was now a disabled deaf and dizzy invalid listening to non-stop screeching in my head, but finally I was forced to adapt.”

“It’s amazing what you can put up with when there’s no alternative.”

Read more of Mary’s story:

listen to your body

body language

get a regular doctor!

listen to your husband!