My Hearing loss A story of my life

this is a true story by tiffany......
I came to this world about one month ahead of schedule. I weighed 5 lbs and 15 0unces. even though i was very small and premature, they did not have to put me in an incubator. My parents took me home 3 days later, i weighed 4 lbs and 8 and half ouces. During the first 2 years of my life my parents didn't have any idea about my hearing loss.
Everything seemed normal. i started getting really sick, my emmune system wasn't very strong. My parents knew something wasn't right, but doctors said everything was fine. My parents were very frustrated and decided to take me to a children's hospital to find out if the doctors could give any answers.the doctor talked with me, asking me some questions and observing me. After testing me for several hours, he concluded that there was a possibility i had a hearing loss. They decided to send me to an audiologist. Several months later i finally got a chance to see an audiologist. She determined that i had mild to moderated hearing loss,and had to see a specialist.
At such a young age i wasn't able to understand what was happening, but i was still a happy little girl. Isaw my specialist on regular basis, at one point i got so many ear infections he suggested that i should get 'Myringotomy tubes' placed in both ears to help drain the fluid out of my middle ear in order to reduce the risk of ear infectins. I was 3 years old at the time.
the surgery helped me for a while, but after so many surgeries they just didn't work at all. In total i've had 11 tube surgeris. i started Kindergarten at 4 years old, that was a challenge for me because not only having hearing problems, i also started learning French. My Kindergarten year of school went fine. As i went for first grade things got a little harder fo me, my hearing wasn't getting any better. My parents were very upset but there was nothing they could do. I was so sick that i missed so much of school. they decided to hold me back in the first grade.In grade 3 i got classroom listening tool called a 'system FM', the system helped me a lot because i could actually hear the teacher as she taught. A lot of my classmates looked at me as the 'deaf girl' even though i wasn't actually deaf. I had a hearing loss but wasn't deaf. Trying to make them understant was the hardest part of going to school. I never had any problems with my teachers, i had good marks and they seemed to like me. As time went by my ear infections continued and at one point they just got even worse.
In 2000 Dr W. G, my specialist determined that sadly there was nothing else he could do to help me with my hearing problems anymore. I was only 11 years old at the time. That's when he decided to send me to another specialist in Halifax Nova Scotia. Dr C. C. was highly educated and very intelligent. Dr C. C. determined thati needed a major surgery in my left ear. About 3 months later i finally got my surgery appointment and off i went to Halifax. I was very afraid at the time of my 'big' surgery. thoughts were going through my head as my nurse was getting me prepared for the operation room. I thought in my head that what if i wasn't going to make it? Am i going to see my parents again, my little brother, my grandparents? Scary!, i can't even explain the feelings and thoughts that were going through my mind. i was so afraid but 5 hours later when i finally woke up and saw my family sitting there, i was the most happy girl in the world even though i wasn't really sure what was going on.Days later finally went back home to New-Brunswick so i could recover. Weeks late i had to see my specialist to make sure thatthe cuts were healing the way they should. Dr.C told me that everything was going good, wasn't getting much each infections anymore. The surgeries were working! I was very happy. In 2003 we got bad news! My father was diagnosed with cancer. That was the saddest moment of my life. I wanted to die, i was mad at the world. All i wanted to know was why, why my father? My father was a wonderful person and i didn't want to loose him. I wanted all the pain to stop. I started getting in trouble, hanging out with wrong people. I started drinking and doing drugs. I was never home. All i wanted to do was to party. At one point i wanted to harm myself, i was so mad, i didn't want to loose my father. As my father was getting sicker, i helped out around the house, i had no choise, my mother had to work to pay the bills, and my father needed help around home. I missed a lot of school, and honestly i didn't care. In 2005 my father sadly passed away. I was 16 years old at the time. I was so shocked that he was gone.Two years later i started having really big headaches, i was really concerned if it had anything to do with my ears. One day i had an appointment with my family doctorand he referred me to a new specialist in Moncton, New-Brunswick which was about one hour from where i lived. As i met Dr. L. he told me that i had tumor in my right ear and needed it removed as soon as possible. i was very upset, all i wanted was to be normal.
Weeks later i went for my surgery. I was in intensive care because they were afraid that i would get an infection. I was hosptalised for about one week. When i finaly got released i had to take 4 months off school, so i could rest and make sure that my cut was healing properly. Those were the longest four months of my life, i was so bored, i was going crazy. As i returned to school 4 months later, i was so behind others. i worked very hard to egt good grades. One year later i graduated from high school and got accepted to everest College. Thsi will be with me forever, and my massage to all of you is .." don't ever give up no matter what you go throough"