They say the hearing is the first to go, right?

So right about the time I'm turning 40, I start falling apart, it seems. Or at least my hearing.

Back a couple or three months ago when I first noticed it, everything I heard (especially voices) sounded like it was being run through a voice synthesizer and distorted to sound like a metallic robot. I couldn't shake the tinnitus, although the robot-voice problem did subside. After I went to the doctor, she prescribed a brief course of steroids to lessen the inflammation along the nerve that was causing me to hear the constant hum. It worked, and I went on my merry way.

It's back again, and everyone's voice has the synthesizer effect turned up again.

And I have a headache.

[growl]

Meh. I guess I should go back to the doc. I've always had the propensity for ear issues, even as a wee one. I remember being told that my Eustachian tubes were too small, but that I'd outgrow it eventually. When I mentioned that to my new doc, she said that it was likely the cause of this trouble, too.

I wonder if my great-grandma had the same ear trouble. She used to take care of me a lot, and we had a very happy relationship, but I remember how deaf she had gotten and how difficult it was to communicate with her.

My dad's hearing isn't what it once was, and on my mom's side, my granddad's lost a lot of his hearing as well. I guess I'm doomed, eh?

But what about the music? Well, I will confess that I don't listen to music much lately because it just doesn't sound right anymore. It's hard to enjoy it if I know it's not coming through with true sound.

But so far, I still have my hands, and I can still paint. Maybe that's where my artistic future lies?