giving thanks | day two

today, for very good reason, I am thankful for my hearing. 

I've talked about Savannah before here on the blog. her mother and my father have been friends for over 20 years, and Savannah is basically the little sister I never had. she was a bridesmaid in my wedding, and she is extremely special to me. she is family.

when Savannah was a child, she unexpectedly lost her hearing in her left ear, almost completely. despite what seemed like hundreds of tests being done, they could never find the cause. she now wears a hearing aid in her left ear, but it still does not allow her to hear 100%. it's been a huge struggle for her, and I can't imagine only being able to hear half of what I should be hearing. it's been so hard for her, especially in school, to learn what she needs to learn while only hearing out of one ear. she has learned to lip read somewhat in order to understand what is being said, but it's still extremely difficult for her.

about a month ago, she noticed a weird feeling in her right (the good one) ear. she said that it felt like something was in her ear... a fluid, maybe. so they headed to the doctor, who discovered that while there was nothing of substance IN her ear, her hearing had dropped 10 decibels from the last time she had a hearing test. they decided to put her on steroids to see if that would help. 

two weeks later and she was back at the doctor, only to realize that they hadn't help at ALL. they immediately made an appointment with the ear specialist she sees in Baltimore. 

that appointment was today. I just got notice from Renee (Savannah's mom), that her hearing in her right ear has declined once again. she is now a candidate to have another hearing aid, this time for her "good" ear. they ran some tests again, and they are leaning towards an auto immune disease being the cause of her loss of hearing. basically, her immune system has been attacking her ears as though they were an intruding foreign element to her body. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they can find a solution to help her, and I cannot imagine what their family is going through right now, given that Savannah is only 15 years old. 

again, I think that our ability to hear is another one of those things that we constantly take for granted. it's hard to think about others who are less fortunate than us, especially when it comes to something that's second nature for us. I, for one, would be devastated to not be able to hear the sweet sounds of music, the waves crashing at the beach, my husband telling me he loves me, and about a million other things that make me so happy.

and for that, I'm thankful.