Walking a mile in "their shoes"

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Bill in Oregon
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Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by Bill in Oregon »

I recently realized my hearing was more diminished than normal, and my doc confirmed both sides were almost totally plugged with wax. He prescribed five days of carbamide peroxide drops to soften things up, and I get them cleaned out today. The drops basically sealed my ears shut, so for the past week I have had perhaps 10 percent of my hearing or less. I volunteer three days a week at a local state park visitor center, and it has been a real challenge to try to communicate with people whose voices I can scarcely hear. It is very disturbing to watch people speak to you and no sound is coming out of their mouths. I am sure they got tired of me apologizing for my near deafness -- or they might have thought I was "challenged" in some way.
The experience has been a blessing, in that it has given me insights I did not have before into the world of the hearing disabled. You sure learn to watch faces and lips!
My town of Alamogordo is the home of the New Mexico School of the Blind -- and has been since 1903. As a result, I often see young blind people being coached in how to make their way around town using a cane and their other senses -- skills they simply must learn in order to have any kind of independent life. Sometimes it touches me so deeply that I get choked up.
I may contact the school to see if they ever have events where those of us with sight can spend some time blinded. This also reminds me that it can be a very enlightening experience to spend a day trying to get around in a wheelchair.
Those of us with all our senses and mobility intact take a very great deal for granted. I am humbled by this realization.
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mikld
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by mikld »

I have become good friends with a young lady at our church. When I worked the Prayer Line her Mother would bring her up for prayer, mostly for healing. She was in a wheel chair and the first time I prayed with her I started crying like a baby, I was so touched. She has Cerebral Palsy. I am learning to communicate with her, after watching her Father and we "talk" after church most Sundays. She is very intelligent, has an outgoing personality, but she's just trapped in a body she cannot control, she can neither walk, talk or sit up by herself and much of the time she can just lay on her bed and watch videos. I guess I was afraid of her when we first met, as I had no idea how to act/interact around her. I have come to realize she is just a 24 year old young lady that has some difficulties. We exchange Christmas gifts and we celebrate the other holidays (I send her flowers on Valentines day, and I get a present/card on Father's Day.). I used to consider myself a "tough guy", never showed any feelings and and that sort of "wishy-washy" stuff was for girls. I have realized how hard she has it and yet I get a big smile when I greet her (she giggles when I yell at her from across the room). But I believe I have learned quite a bit from her, and one thing is I have been humbled and I ain't such a hard case after all, I don't know how/if I could handle her situation. I love Sarah like my little sister...
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octagon
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by octagon »

These days it seems fashionable for folks to become as large a leach as possible on society and the gov teat. How refreshing it is to see someone working for the betterment of their community, without personal recompense, as in volunteering three days a week...i say " WELL DONE SIR !" :D :D
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fordwannabe
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by fordwannabe »

When I was growing up my family was a foster family ( family not foster parents as every person in the house has to be on board or it won’t work) ok, we were the only foster family in our county, when we lived in Montana. When we moved to Pennsylvania we were asked to take severely disabled children, as my Dad was a hospital administrator and my Mom had a good medical background. During the initial training a disabled teen was asked to speak to the group, and she had the most important thought that I have used with foster children, the kids I dealt with as a house parent at a boys home, and as a nurse. She said simply, “you know how you treat a kid with (fill in the blank for the disease)? Like a KID, we laugh, cry, hurt, experience joy, love, and dislike, just like everybody else.” Words that have served me very well the last 23 years. She passed several years later.
a Pennsylvanian who has been accused of clinging to my religion and my guns......Good assessment skills.
Rusty
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by Rusty »

My wife and I have friends that have a daughter who is deaf. Her only hearing is be way of a cochlear implant. She graduated from Gallaudet Univ. in Washington, D.C. I just saw her on a clip from a local TV station in N.C. where she was taking part in just the kind of program you are talking about. The news clip I saw had people trying to use canes while blindfolded and others trying to learn American Sign Language. If you're interested in learning ASL you might be able to find a local church that has a ministry that deals with the deaf. That would provide you with a higher concentration of people to "talk" with.
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by piller »

Once in a while, knowing ASL has come in handy at work. As far as I am aware, I am the only Pharmacist in my region for Walgreens who is fluent in ASL.
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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Good for you, Piller! It must come as such a relief for someone hearing impaired to encounter one who speaks their language.
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by gamekeeper »

Deafness can mean you miss out on much more than just sound, I'm just hard of hearing but it has stopped me joining in conversations etc and made me more reclusive. All thanks to not wearing ear protection as a youngster ….. :oops:
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by Tycer »

You can try adding Lugol’s iodine to your glasses of water. One drop twice a day. You can up it to two twice a day. If your nose runs stop and restart at one drop once a day. See if that doesn’t fix your dry wax issue.
J.CROW'S® Lugol's Solution of Iodine 2% 2oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AEFM9Y/re ... ECb9M08WA7
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by AJMD429 »

Often patients come in and requested to be somehow tested to see if they are at risk to get Alzheimer disease.

As of yet there aren't any very reliable tests, although there are a few that I use that can help predict some of the risk.

However the three biggest risks I see that are very easy to determine and very REAL world in consequences are:

1. Cigarette smoking (due to the vascular damage adding to any other neurologic issue).

2. Watching television (versus reading, it uses way less of the brain, plus it is only one-way communication, unlike talking).

3. NOT WEARING HEARING AIDS....! People who should wear them but don't have a way higher and earlier incidence of dementia. Probably because over time people communicate less with them because it's too much of a bother to always have to repeat things.
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by piller »

This is just from observation, but the patients whom I see with Alzheimers were less mentally active than their peers. Keeping your brain active by doing more than just watching TV seems to help. It may only be empirical evidence, but it is observable and repeatably so by anyone. Those who stay mentally active, puzzles are often enough, seem to be more able to tell me what medicines they take and what they are for AND how often and how much---even when recently changed.

If this isn't reason to reload and be almost obsessive about working up new loads for more guns and calibers so that your mind stays active, then I don't know what is.
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AJMD429
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by AJMD429 »

piller wrote: Sat Mar 02, 2019 8:03 pmIf this isn't reason to reload and be almost obsessive about working up new loads for more guns and calibers so that your mind stays active, then I don't know what is.
I like the way you think...!

I think one of the reasons "watching television" scores as a risk factor for dementia, is because of what they may be doing that instead of doing - like games, puzzles, reading, conversing, etc.

The https://www.lumosity.com/en/ website has some fairly entertaining games, designed specifically to stimulate short-term memory.

....and in Indianapolis this winter, where our governor is more obsessed with "hate crimes legislation" than doing anything useful like coordinating street maintenance, those who drive to work before sunrise exercise their short-term-memory by having to remember where all the major potholes are, and which section of the lane to be in there.....at least it serves as a free Alzheimer screen.... :roll:
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws
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Want REAL change? . . . . . "Boortz/Nugent in 2012 . . . ! "
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Old No7
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by Old No7 »

AJMD429 wrote: Sat Mar 02, 2019 9:05 pm
piller wrote: Sat Mar 02, 2019 8:03 pmIf this isn't reason to reload and be almost obsessive about working up new loads for more guns and calibers so that your mind stays active, then I don't know what is.
I like the way you think...!
I have to agree -- I've often joked to my bride (although it's not a joke in reality...) that "Reloading and working up new loads for old guns" would help keep my mind sharp in retirement (still a few years away).

She said it will keep me out of her kitchen too -- and that's OK with me! :wink:

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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by wm »

It is true that sometimes the crosses we bear turn out to be great blessings.

Wm
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by Ryan2smith »

Bill in Oregon wrote: Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:29 am I recently realized my hearing was more diminished than normal, and my doc confirmed both sides were almost totally plugged with wax. He prescribed five days of carbamide peroxide drops to soften things up, and I get them cleaned out today. The drops basically sealed my ears shut, so for the past week I have had perhaps 10 percent of my hearing or less. I volunteer three days a week at a local state park visitor center, and it has been a real challenge to try to communicate with people whose voices I can scarcely hear. It is very disturbing to watch people speak to you and no sound is coming out of their mouths. I am sure they got tired of me apologizing for my near deafness -- or they might have thought I was "challenged" in some way.
The experience has been a blessing, in that it has given me insights I did not have before into the world of the hearing disabled. You sure learn to watch faces and lips!
My town of Alamogordo is the home of the New Mexico School of the Blind -- and has been since 1903. As a result, I often see young blind people being coached in how to make their way around town using a walking canes for stability and their other senses -- skills they simply must learn in order to have any kind of independent life. Sometimes it touches me so deeply that I get choked up.
I may contact the school to see if they ever have events where those of us with sight can spend some time blinded. This also reminds me that it can be a very enlightening experience to spend a day trying to get around in a wheelchair.
Those of us with all our senses and mobility intact take a very great deal for granted. I am humbled by this realization.
Will walking a mile a day help lose weight?
I am a writer. I like to play football & swimming often when i free from work.
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by AJMD429 »

mikld wrote: Fri Mar 01, 2019 11:41 amBut I believe I have learned quite a bit from her, and one thing is I have been humbled and I ain't such a hard case after all, I don't know how/if I could handle her situation. I love Sarah like my little sister...
I learn things like this on a daily basis from my patients - they teach me FAR more than I ever learned in medical school or residency...!
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws
"first do no harm" - gun control LAWS lead to far more deaths than 'easy access' ever could.


Want REAL change? . . . . . "Boortz/Nugent in 2012 . . . ! "
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by FWiedner »

Ryan2smith wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 10:59 am Will walking a mile a day help lose weight?
No... But it will keep your heart beating...

:wink:
Government office attracts the power-mad, yet it's people who just want to be left alone to live life on their own terms who are considered dangerous.

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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by Sixgun »

I have a double whammy...years and years of not using the proper hearing protection while shooting, working in industry, and Meniers has left me deaf in my left ear and 40% in my right. I wear a "cross" hearing aid in my left and this transfers sound to my right hearing aid.

Being hearing impaired does not bother me a bit because as I've aged there's not a whole lot I want to hear from people anyway. --006
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by piller »

Not every conversation is of any value. I have friends whom I can just talk with, and there are people whom I barely want to hear anything from. All I want to hear Joe Biden say is "Congratulations on your win President Trump!".
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by mickbr »

I lost some hearing through lack of hearing protection and army life. Fact is even hearing protection doesnt fully save you anyway. 357 and 44 mag revolvers and short barrelled 223, 308 etc can push 165-170DB. DB rating for some hearing protection are only in the 20 DB's. 165-25 = 140DB and that is still causing damage. Two sets of protection doesnt double the rating, it just adds 5DB protection to the highest rating of the pair. Reason being even with auditory canal blocked sound vibration will still get in via bone conduction through the face, teeth and skull. The ratings are also developed for continous industrial noise , not gun impulse- experts cant agree how well the ratings really work for guns. I really cringe seeing kids shooting at indoor ranges. Noise from other fires means you can be exposed to more sound in a single day than an entire lifetime of hunting. Kids skulls are another 5-10db more sensitive than ours sound wise. Hearing is too precious to lose even a single DB before they are grown.
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by Sixgun »

Well said mickbr.......yep..the noise gets through anyway......I drove a forklift for 44 years and it wasn't until I drove it 30 years before we were given ear plugs......our forklift driving was not cruising along..it was high speed driving with the pedal to the metal all day, raising the forks with the engine floored, inside of trailers was also noisy...and as soon as I got home it was chores then shooting every weekend...I had the resources to shoot 5K a year but it was usually 10-14K a year according to my logs.

Ya can't go back.

Ya can't take on everyone else's issues or you will go crazy....take care of yourself and your own....if your no good your not in a position to help your family. I know plenty of people and extended family members with issues...one thing for sure, if anyone has an issue today there's more help, monetarily and technology wise than ever before.----006
Last edited by Sixgun on Mon Oct 05, 2020 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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3leggedturtle
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by 3leggedturtle »

I'd trade my good ears for some good eyes any day! Bill, what "little things" did you miss hearing the most?
30/30 Winchester: Not accurate enough fer varmints, barely adequate for small deer; BUT In a 10" to 14" barrelled pistol; is good for moose/elk to 200 yards; ground squirrels to 300 metres

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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Well, Todd, I wish I had missed hearing the neighbors' dogs bark at 3 a.m.!
Updating this thread, even my ears are working the best they can I still rely to a degree on reading lips, and this darned pandemic has made this impossible with the masks that also muffle words. :?
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by 3leggedturtle »

Bill, any update on your hearing?
30/30 Winchester: Not accurate enough fer varmints, barely adequate for small deer; BUT In a 10" to 14" barrelled pistol; is good for moose/elk to 200 yards; ground squirrels to 300 metres

250 Savage... its what the 223 wishes it could be...!
Bill in Oregon
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by Bill in Oregon »

No. Can't afford aids anyway, so getting by. When the wax is out, I can hear reasonably well (can't make out the Main Squeeze's comments but can hear the calls during the Seahawks games :lol: ), but I am sure my job at the shooting range is eating away at what hearing I have left. I have muffs, but get caught by surprise every day. The guns with muzzle brakes really "hurt," I must say.
Last edited by Bill in Oregon on Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by AJMD429 »

One more reason we should DEMAND that 'suppressors' be completely un-regulated.

Abolishing the 'BATFE' would be a good start - or at a MINIMUM, changing their title and authority to 'BE' - perhaps they can sniff out the folks wanting to buy plastic explosive or dynamite on the black market.
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"first do no harm" - gun control LAWS lead to far more deaths than 'easy access' ever could.


Want REAL change? . . . . . "Boortz/Nugent in 2012 . . . ! "
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Re: Walking a mile in "their shoes"

Post by piller »

It never seemed to be a good idea to me for anyone to combine alcohol, firearms, and explosives. Having tobacco is lumped in there is nonsensical to me. Smoking around explosives has always been a bad idea. Combining alcohol and explosives is a good way to remove vital body parts with blunt force. NO! They should not be combined.
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Advanced is being able to do the basics while your leg is on fire---Bill Jeans
Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up---Robert Frost
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