Story By Kellina Powell
Out of nowhere, I had an ear infection. I went to the doctor to get checked out. My doctor gave me an ear drop for it. The next day, I went to the daycare and my mom told the ECA what was told by my doctor. When I got home, my ear dropped on that SAME day. Which is weird. My mom was calling me a lot of times and she came to me and tapped my shoulders.
I JUMP.
When I say I jump, the daycare either didn’t give it to me at the right time or put too much ear drop in my ear. My mom called my grandma; luckily my grandma is a nurse and she was able to figure it out since my mom was a young mom. My grandma spoke to my mom on the phone and asked to put me on the phone to see something. I wouldn’t hear anything that my grandma was saying. My grandma got worried, rushed home. My grandma came to me and she said kellina?! And I said grandma I can’t hear.
With confusion, my grandma and my mom called my family doctors to book an appointment the next day. I went to my family doctor with even more confusion and not realizing why my doctor was looking at my ear so much and asking me a lot of questions. My doctor looked at both my grandma and my mom saying it was too late. My doctor said “Kellina is deaf. I’m sorry”.
Right there I knew something was not right. My mom and grandma looked at each other sad and furious. The next day, my mom had to go to school or work. My grandma has to take me to my first audiologist appointment at SickKids Hospital. I can’t remember if I ever interacted with a child who was different from me before I became deaf.
My grandma didn’t tell me what was happening. Not to mention, I was still clueless as to what was happening. I hadn’t spoken to anybody in the household because of the frustration. On my way to the audiologist, I had no idea what was happening. I looked at my grandma with utter confusion because I had no idea where we were going. I remember my grandma had to stop by Tim Horton’s to get me donuts to cheer me up as we were on our way to the audiologist. When I got to the audiologist, I noticed the bright smile that my audiologist gave me.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in, was a picture of an ear, I figured that I was getting my ear shocked out. The audiologist gave me his hand and signed something to me and I wouldn’t understand it since my family never taught me how to sign. My audiologist was directing me to a room so that we can get the appointment going. I sit on a chair and I see my audiologist and my grandma laughing and it made me feel more comfortable because I could see that my grandma is getting along with my audiologist. The audiologist came to me to check my ears. I was directed to a booth where I would be doing my hearing testing. I thought to myself, Why am I in this booth?’
When the audiologist put a headphone on my ear, he instructed me to look at his lip since I was a lip reader. He said he’d be testing me on my hearing. I wouldn’t hear but I’d see what he was saying. It seemed cool to me that I didn’t need to use my hearing to communicate. While testing, I heard a lot of loud noise that affected my eardrum. I was hearing different sounds and I had to put my hand up every time I heard a sound. I walked out and I wouldn’t hear anything.
I saw my audiologist giving my grandma a bunch of paperwork to sign and giving her a brochure. The next two days, I realized I was not going downtown again. I asked my grandma where we were going, and she said we were going to a different doctor. I was getting tired and furious about travelling. I noticed that this audiologist was closer to home. The bus ride was not far compared to downtown. This new audiologist location was 25 minutes from my house. Again, I saw a different audiologist. This location was a lot more welcoming than SickKids. The audiologist walked my grandma and I to a room to get more testing.
I was more confused and feeling frustrated because I had no idea what was going on and how to hear. I was an emotional monster. I thought to myself, ‘What is wrong with me why can’t I hear?’ I didn’t know what was happening. Finally, this audiologist popped a hearing aid for me to wear. I looked at it with shock and asked if it was mine. The audiologist said it was, and that it’d help me hear better. The audiologist put it on for me and turned it on. When he pressed the button, my eyes were widened. I yelled and shouted that I could hear at thte top of my lungs with absolute excitement.
My grandma hug me and gave me a kiss on my cheeks. I don’t think I ever felt relief that I’d hear again while hugging my grandam. My grandma called my mom on the spot to let me hear my mom’s voice again. I felt so relieving that I could hear any sound. However, the hearing aid felt weird at first. The audiologist gave me a teddy bear with a hearing aid on it and said it was my new best friend. I cried because the audiologist knew this would be a new change in my life. He also gave me a lollipop. He then did more testing in the booth to make sure that the hearing aid is working well. I was out of control to the point where my grandma told me to stop being wild. Aha.
If you’re someone who is developing a new disability don’t be afraid to sit back and breathe. Don’t over think. There is a reason why you’re developing those disabilities. Study your body and learn about your disabilities, I am always learning about mine as I go in life.
Ways to connect with Kellina
Website: Kellinaempowerment.com
IG: deafqueenboss
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