I want to be the reason you have children

I want to be the reason you have kids.

I want to be the reason you think it is great to bring a life to this world.

I want you to feel safe to have a daughter because you know there will be guys like me who will know to treat her right.

I want you to be comfortable to have a son because he will have a good role model to guide him straight

I want you to have children because they will always have someone avuncular who will look out for them.

I want to be the right kind of friend, the kind who inspires trust and faith.

Who throws the right kind of party where you met that special someone,

The friend who is never shy of innuendos and double entendres.

Who keeps pouring until your cup runs over and the two of you is forever drunk with love.

I want to be the glue- the kind you can count on when your handle on things is broken, 

And life becomes unhinged. 

I want to remind you of what is important - your family, and your loved ones, 

Oh, and most importantly to have fun.  

I want to be the reason you can trust the world will be a good place for you children.

Because you know they will have a friend- just like me, 

And they will become themselves great friends.

I want all of us to be the reason every one of us wants to have children.   

Screening at the NICU

I walked into the quiet room.  Quiet, save for the constant drone of machines running to sustain a miracle.  Quiet, save for the occasional chirp of monitors tracking the vitals of a budding life.  Quiet.  

Beyond the thresholds, outside this room, the hospital is a bustling place, charged with latent energy of people going about working wonders, fighting the odds.  Yet, here, in this room, amidst all the chaos, the crisscrosses of electrodes and tubes, lay a newborn asleep in his bassinet, unaware, unconcerned.  Here he lies, in the deep boneless, relaxed sleep reserved solely for the uninitiated, the pure and innocent. 

His mother stood above him, looking very much the survivor of the storm that has passed, wearied but relieved.  His nurse sat nearby, a silent, vigilant sentinel.  Guardian angels, the two of them, if ever there were such things, for few can exude the same tranquility and serenity.  Few altars, temples, or dedicated places of worship have heard more prayers and bear witness to miracles than what has occurred here, in this tiny acreage.  The room feels sacred; sanctified by love, hope, belief, and determination to do what is within one's power.      

It is into this tranquil corner I intrude my presence. My goal to establish that this infant can hear more than just the silence.  But before I do, I take in the moment.  

Post-script:

Ironic that in order to see if one can hear silence, we must first make some noise and see if we can elicit a reaction.  Similarly, presence of faith can only be determined in the presence of trials and tribulations; joy and love in harsh times.   

Post-post script:

Baby passed bilaterally

Thoughts on prayer

• 
  

  God hears and He listens. How can He not when we claim Him to be the omnipotent and omnipresent being that He is.

  
  

  And He answers, often in the most unconventional ways.

  
  

  When you pray, pray not upon your worries, your woes, or your insecurities.

  
  

  He knows all of that

  
  

  Instead, pray with thansgiving for the small things in life.

  
  

  Pray for the ability to be open to experience

  
  

  Pray for His strength, and for your ability to surrender yourself to Him.

  
  

  Pray for the ability to breath, to take a step back, and to acknowledge His works in the midst of all that you do, seek, and speak. Pray that you will bid Him enter.

  
  

  Make your prayers be a moment to find safe haven; to acknowledge that yes life is crappy, but here you are, and here He abides.

  Pray, and recognized that He has given you the necessities to survive and forebear.

  
  

  Pray that you will be ever ready to welcome every moment that G-d may speak, for He does, in little acts and stolen moments, in the random hello of a friend to the smile of a stranger.  

  Sometimes, you will have to initiate and invite His presence to you by extending it to others through your smile, your kind words, and your compassionate acts. Pray that you are able.

  
  

  Give thanks, for you are pursuing something noble each and every moment. Give thanks for while you struggle, others would wish to be in your shoes.

  
  

  Rejoice in the mysteries, be glad for you have options as obscure they may be to you.

  
  

  Pray that your imagination will be great and extends beyond the here and now.

  Just pray, never stop, and always remember others pray for you. And when all has been said and done, give thanks for this sacred moment.

Will you speak up?!

"Because I have the right to be heard!  I have a voice!" ~ King George VI, The King's Speech

As audiologists, we pride ourselves on being excellent listeners.  We espouse good communication skills, we advocate on our patients' behalf. Now it is our turn to have our voice be heard.  Our president, Dr. Bettie Borton would like to hear from you, will you give voice to your concerns?  Remember, our bylaws (Section 5.2.1) guarantees our right to address the Board of Directors and be heard, but ultimately it is our obligation to first give voice.  So I invite you to read this letter, and be heard

http://www.audiology.org/about/leadership/boardofdirectors/Pages/LetMeHearFromYou201308.aspx

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Andy Lau, Au.D.,FAAA

Order in a world of chaos

There is a certain madness to organizing things. When one endeavors to impose order, one does so with the full understanding that which has been organized shall inevitably fall into disarray again. Such is the nature of things, entropy is a foregone conclusion. Still, we persevere; daring to organize, categorize, arrange, iron, clean, tidy all that which we deem out of place. Why? Why engage in such futility?

Perhaps this joke explains it best: A young boy inquired of his father why it was necessary to make his bed each morning only to have it all wrinkled up at night when he sleeps in it.  His father promptly replies "why, then do you wipe yourself each time you are done with the bathroom?" It sounds crude, but perhaps therein lies the answer of why we prefer order. There is beauty in symmetry, a mathematical elegance in having defined patterns. More importantly, it accords us the "illusion" of a clean slate, to start anew as they say.

I suppose our lives would be more chaotic had we not develop schematics to help us navigate through the seemingly random events that occur. Without logic and priorities, everything is given equal status, and nothing is left out. We would then have risked sensory overload, subsequently overlooking the minute details that are so essential as we become so overwhelmed.  Evolutionary dictates the need for order; without it, aberrations would not be as salient, and our survival instinct diminished.

The goal, then, is not to make order a Herculean endeavor, but one of increments.  After all, never was a jigsaw puzzle solved in one fell swoop.  Instead, it can be a progressive mental exercise as well as a physical one to solve such puzzles.  It requires patience, a keen eye, and experience to embark on such an endeavor.  Therein lies another example where the journey is indeed more important than the destination.  To have order, to build it in the face of chaos requires integrity, character, and a certain amount of audacity.  Shy not away from it, start small, start gingerly even, but start and soon you will be surprised by how much discipline you have attained.

Signs that you are an audiologist:

1. When you look at someone's neck and think to yourself, "Gee, she has got some very defined [and divine] sternocleidomastoid muscles, I bet I can get some nice VEMPs from those."
2. You get overly exited when you see someone is wearing a set of hearing aids/ CIs/ Bahas
3. You like it when people are telling you about their experiences with dizziness and tinnitus
4. When your friends gave birth to a child, you are more interested in their newborn hearing screen results than their APGAR scores
5. You walk into an American Eagle Outfitters/ Hollister/ any type of bar and wonder if their employee benefits include hearing conservation and hearing aids coverage
6. You actually stop someone when you hear their music through their headphones
7. You carry spare noise plugs
8. You actually wear said noise plugs in bars/clubs and explain to people why they could potentially hear better with them, even though most of them remain unconvinced and you look like a dork
9. Cows have a completely different meaning than some farm animal
10. You do a great imitation of C-3PO whenever you look at nystagmus

Thanks

I had this moment pictured differently in my mind.  I had expected it to be a bit more glamorous, a bit more rowdy.  Or perhaps like opening a chest where my face is lit up by the glow from the treasure within. Definitely not like this, where only hours ago I had to frantically call FedEx to figure out (a)why hadn't they swing by again like they were supposed to, (b) who the heck signed for it when FedEx did swing by later on when I was away, and (c) who had it for the time in between now and when it was dropped off.  I must have sounded like a luny recording from Rescue 911.  

Still, it is a neat feeling to finally touch this piece of parchment for which I had worked hard and endured much.  Few truly appreciate the hardships and the sacrifices made to attain this.  Many of those have been my friends and family who either had to suffer my absence from their lives for extensive amount of time, or stood by me when I seem to have gone off the deep end in my singleminded pursuit. Trust me, I don't think I was very sane during this whole process (in fact, I am still a tad off balance, luckily now I have a proof that I know a thing or two about the inner ear; that should help). 

It is fitting that the thing came looking like a menu with a red cover.  What a feast it has been.  A red passion, it symbolizes the blood, sweat and tears that went into getting to this point.  It also represents the fire that carried me through, and continues to blaze as I move forward.  It is not my personal flame that I speak of, but rather the bonfire of my friends and family that warms my heart and guides me back whenever I seemed to have lost my way.  

It is a precious parchment, occupying about a square foot.  Tangible in that is can be calculated as the sum of years and tuition.  Priceless in that it is the culmination of the efforts of not just me, but those who inspired me; be they friends, family, teachers, and peers.  So, while I am standing here, at once utterly alone in a moment that I had hope would be shared with you, I am bowed low by the overwhelming sense of relief and gratitude towards all of you. How surreal, how sublime.  We did it.  I present to you, my dear dear friends and family, Doctor Hui Shing Andy Lau. 

30 seconds can help our profession!!!

Hello everyone,

Further to my recent post regarding the status quo of audiology (available here or here), several colleagues and I have decided to take it a step further and translate our concerns into actions.  Central to many of our strongest criticism is the fact that our doctoral education does not measure up to the standards other doctoral degrees.  In our strive for full practice authority, the value of our education has been repeatedly questioned. It is undeniable that there currently exists differences amongst audiology programs, that not all is created equal.  It is time we request the Academy to strengthen our educational core and make our experience unified, dignified and wholesome.  For that to happen, we need your help.  I implore you to take a moment, click on the resolution below, and enter your name in support of it.  We will be needing as many signatures as possible, so forward it along to all your colleagues.



https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/audresolution

Thank you.

Andy Lau, Au.D.

Problems with formulas

As much as I admire the myriad of models currently available in promoting efficiency and efficacy in the business and social world; I remain wary of the fact that we have perhaps become too formulaic in our approach to human interaction and life in general.  Formulas can sometime extinguish creativity and suffocate spontaneity.  Rules are necessary, but if we become too adherent to them, and leave little room for aberration, than we inadvertently limit ourselves.  By abiding to rules stringently, we are in fact surrendering our faculty to think critically. Flexibility is lost when we ensconce ourselves in the false security accord by formulas.  We risk yielding too readily to a certain set of outcomes on some logic tree or flow-chart, and neglect the fact there is something more.  Thinking outside the box is good, but who placed us in a box in the first place?  Having formulas work for dealing with the ordinary, but I do believe ultimately our goal is to be able to act extraordinary.

I believe the lesser the rules, the more flexibility therein.  The truth is the more we seek to define, the more we confine ourselves.  Systems strip away humanity in that we seek to operationally define human existence to measurable units, neglecting the fact that we have the potential to be infinite, that our experience can be vast.  Think of the Ten Commandments or the Golden Rule; they are sublime in their simplicity.  The message is simple: be nice to one another, and don’t desire beyond your needs.  Yet much of that is lost in translation beneath the layers of formulas.  

DC- Some thoughts

Say what you will of DC, say you are suspicious of the beltway politics, say it is corrupted, say it is disconnected from the "real" America, say you are disgusted with the pettiness of politicians.  Regardless, if you have not visit this place, I strongly urge you to do so, for nowhere else than in this nation's capitol is more done to pay tribute to the ideals of America.  Nowhere else are there more sacred ground dedicated to the heroes, nowhere else is the rich history of this country preserved, its diversity celebrated.

Unless you turn a blind eye, and stick to your guns no matter what, it is hard to be in this town and not be reminded daily, from moment to moment, what freedom, democracy, honor, and duty really means; and the necessary sacrifices and dedication therein. Beneath all the cynicism, DC remains the meeting point for romantics and idealists.  It is where budding lawyers come hoping to fight for what they believe is right, and conversations on what is constitutional are held regularly with passion and civility.  It is the place where the voices of dissent rings loud and clear, and is even respected.  This is a town where the future of America congregate, attracted by legacies and legends of trailblazers. 

Come, sit upon the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at night and reflect by the Reflecting Pool.  Pay your respects at the memorials dedicated to the numerous selfless men and women who went and fought for what was right.  Go wander in the museums and be at lost in the seamless merger of science, art, and culture.  Enjoy the vastness of the Tidal Basin, be astounded by the majestic monoliths,  and be humbled by the sublime memorials.  Come to the crossroads of the nation and meet with people from all walks of life, from all over, and be proud of what being American truly means.  

For if you are disillusioned, if you think the worst of your government, disenfranchised by the direction in which this nation is heading, there is no better place to eradicate those notions than to come here and speak with those who gather here with hopes of making a difference, with eagerness to learn of this nation's rich tapestry, with understanding that this nation was build on an ideal and remains forever incomplete but perfect in its mosaic of imperfections.

Come visit the District of Columbia, and I guaranteed you will continue to have hope for this nation. 

Audiologica- The movie

You know, I think it would be a fun idea to have a sci fi film be made about the world of audiology.  I can almost picture, an epic CGI film combining the efforts of the likes of JJ Abrams, James Cameron, and Joss Whedon.

The year will be 6500AD, the place Audiolgica, a long lost planet that was rediscovered following the destruction of earth, in an event known as the Ada rebellion. Humans would have long since evolved into a new species with heightened hearing and balance.  They would have implants that directly linked them into various communication networks.  These networks would actually dictate their philosophies, their behavior and their outlook.  In truth, these networks form the basis of social structures known as tribes.  Each tribe has a specialty, but they are always in search of ways to one up the other.  Of the various tribes, the Fonakan Pedos tribe, the Starkiki tribe, the Oticronan, the Re-So-Unda and the Widexans are perhaps the most powerful.  Together they form an uneasy coaliation with constantly shifting alliances.

The planet itself falls under the jurisdiction of the Tri-A Alliance.  A young ruling body that has three main objectives: 1)unification of all the tribes, 2)separation from the Ashatan Council, a distant ruling body, and 3) ward off all outword invaders such as the Dispensers.  This is a world of espionage, subtefuge, and sabotage. 

Yet, even in the midst of all the petty conflicts, there lies a greater enemy in the shadows waiting for the opportune moment to appear.  An enemy of the old world equipped with ancient knowledge an experienc spawned from milenium of existence - the Amahoarde.  They were an elite race, once mighty and worshiped.  Now they are fallen angels of a world past.  Cast out by the Ada rebellion, they were relegated to history, all but forgotten.  A mighty race once adored, now drifitng to oblivion.  Still, they remain powerful, bidding their time, equipped with sorcery that could dislodge otoliths and evoke roaring tinnitus. They await a glorious return to rule over Audiologica.  

 It is into this world of conflict that we introduce our protagonist (played by Mel Gibson?).  He is uniquely qualified to unify the alliances and pacify the Amahoardes.  But first, he must overcome the opposition of the Ashatans (headed by Christopher Lee?) and those who seek to destroy him even before he rise to power.  

  

Draft - Be there for your patients

Sometimes it is easy to forget that our patients are more than just a medical record number, a case history, a hearing test, a diagnosis, a report awaiting to be finished.  Sometimes it is easy for us to get into a routine, and go through the motions.  I know I am guilty of doing so; after  a while, everything blurs together, back to back patients, day after day.  A patient can get lost in a miasma of diagnostic codes and statistics.  Yet, the truth remains while they are one of many, to our patients we may simply be the one and only.

The beauty of becoming an audiologist, at least one that appeals to me strongly is the sheer amount of time we get to spend with our patients.  By virtue of exposure, and by virtue of the nature of our work, we suddenly become more than just a doctor- we become their confidant, their nurturer, their advocate.  We may joke amongst ourselves about things like keeping within our scope of practice and avoid becoming marriage counselors.  Yet, frequently, and as my supervisor once commented, that first set of hearing aids a patient buys are not for themselves but rather for their relationships.  More often than not, that soundbooth becomes almost a confessional, a sacred space in which patients confess to us their deepest fears, their feelings of inadequacy, their frustrations, their dreams and desires.  When we sit with them, when we walk them through the test, when we discuss with them about hearing loss, about their tinnitus, about their balance problems we often end up talking about a whole lot more.  If we listen carefully, pay close attention and read between the lines, we would realize our patients have actually divulge to us beyond a list of symptoms and red flags.  We are invited to take a glimpse into their lives, their secrets.  We are entrusted with so much more; never take that duty lightly.

It is such a blessing, albeit at times a blessing in a "hideous" disguise, when our patients feel comfortable enough to be true with us.  It is a blessing when a patient can feel our unconditional positive regards for them to the point of letting slide their strong fronts.  There are many tears of joy shed in an audiologist's office.  You have seen it on youtube and heard tell from many people who have experienced the activation of a CI, the wonders of hearing sounds again because of hearing aids and ALDs.  Similarly there are a lot of tears shed because of fear and the sensation of helplessness.  We may not always be able to fix the problem they present to us, but one thing we can be darn sure of is we can be there for them.  We are in the business of hearing and balance, and more importantly, we are in the vocation of listening and keeping centered; two things essential to  helping people stay engaged in their world.

We may not be priests, psychologists and counselors, but that should not deter us from being the best ministers, healers, and nurturers that we can be.  Stop, listen.  Time is relative, and when you can lose track of time, and have a moment with a patient, you might just step back and realize you have made better use of that second, minute, hour than had you worried about getting by the minute and making it to the next.

What I am trying to say is this:  be there for your patients.  Let your love for your patients pervade all your actions.  You may feel the need to help many, but focus on helping the one in front of you, and you will be surprised by just how much and many you have helped at the end of the day.

Quo Vadis

“The revolution remains incomplete; my fellow comrades, you must continue to work hard towards that end.”

- parting words by Dr. Sun Yat-sen

There is no denying that the field of audiology has grown in leaps and bounds since its inception following the Second World War.  Our greatest achievement yet, besides the numerous advancements we have seen in the field of hearing aids, is moving from a master level degree to a doctoral degree.  Now we are in the midst of attaining Limited License Physician Status, Direct Access and Expanded Audiology Benefits under Medicare

While this is all good, I must ask of the field to pause and consider for a moment, where are we really in our growth spurt?  Are we growing incrementally in a logical fashion, or have we made some leaps prematurely thereby placing the cart before the horse so to speak.  I expect a lot of raised eyebrow by now from those of you who are reading this.  Some of you may even be feeling incredulous that I should even dare post such a question.  Yet, as I look at our internal struggles, review the commentaries and attacks from our opposition, and observe our rebuttals to those aforementioned challenges; I cannot help but liken the experience to watching an angst-filled teenager trying to figure out their place and identity in the “real world”.  What is more, I am forced to entertain the notion that we are not ready quite yet.  I do believe that we still have ways to go to establish ourselves before we can ask of others to regard us with respect and entrust us with the responsibilities that we are asking to undertake.  To continue with the analogy- we haven’t quite earned the rights to the car keys just yet. 

First and foremost, while we have given ourselves a proper title, we haven’t really established a model or office that goes with that prestige.  What I mean by that is we haven’t really able to promote a mode of care that encompass our scope of practice and recognized by those whom we serve.  Currently, we are split between either an ENT model (where we play an almost auxiliary role), or a dispensing model.  There really isn't an "audiology" model, or at least one that is readily identifiable or distinguishable by the populace.  There remains a dissonance in our potential patient’s paradigm of what an audiologist actually does.   Insofar when people still say “what?” and literally means it when we introduce ourselves as audiologists; or associate us only with hearing aids, we remain severely limited. 

This is problematic, this disparity that exists as compared to when a lawyer, an optometrist, a chiropractor, a dentist steps up to introduce themselves. People almost usually know their respective scope of practice.  We need to promote ourselves beyond hearing. Truly, and more accurately, we are the doctors of the inner ear (with outer and middle ear attached).  This definition extends beyond hearing, and entails balance and listening.  I want to see the day when audiologists introduce themselves, people would immediately conjure up a profession who caters to their hearing, listening, and balancing needs.

We do so, not by asking for the keys to the car immediately so to speak, but to demonstrate that we are the mature adult everyone else expects of us.  We do so by (1) unifying our curriculum and strengthening our boards, (2) increasing our appeal to attract audiology candidates beyond CSD/ Speech path majors, especially to pre-med and science related majors, and (3) establishing a diagnostic and treatment protocol that is uniquely audiology. 

The ACAE and ABA have been making progress towards achieving objective 1.  My rationale for objective 2 is to ensure that moving forward, audiologists will have friends and network in fellow medical professions.  Historically, audiology has attracted candidates primarily from Speech Pathology, Communication programs.  Often times, these candidates do not have a lot of interaction with students from pre-med programs by virtue of their curriculum requirements (i.e. fewer science courses).  From a networking perspective, this is detrimental to our field in the long run as we would have fewer friends and allies in the medical fields to support our cause. We need their friendship from undergraduate all the way through graduate years.  Beyond networking, a candidate who has gone through the rigorous discipline of science provides a different insight and approach to problem solving than someone who has a therapeutic background. At the risk of oversimplifying the situation, but more to the point, it is the difference between being active and reactive. Active would be asking the questions of how and why, reactive would be what we do about it. As audiologists, we should be able to do both nicely.  We should be able to take the initiative and understand the pathophysiology, anticipate the symptoms and subsequently treat them.  Our weakness in this area, namely our projected image of over-reliance on hearing aids, has subjected ourselves to attacks from physicians. We are doctors, and our knowledge base, our way of thinking needs to be more proactive.  Ultimately, I want audiology to be a discipline that is attractive to anyone, and audiology programs have the ability to build everyone up to be the desirable audiologist regardless of their background.  After all, as it is true in genetics, we need diversity to ensure better survival; I believe different disciplines coming to audiology will do just that.

This brings me back to the audiology model, and the current preconception that audiologists sell hearing aids.  The problem with building a profession around the sales of hearing aids, especially in the era of plug and play, is we risk being ousted by technology. When the focus is placed on a product and not the person, we are doomed.  A profession should not be built around a product; rather it should be built upon the person.  Getting hearing aids should not be like getting a pill.  The cost of a hearing aid may be dictated by research and design costs, but the value of our services must prove more worthwhile.  We are the human quotient in a world that is ever becoming impersonal.  In a field that specializes and espouse better communication we need to bring the focus back to human relationships.  We need to be the reputable doctor who knows and understands.  We bring value to the experience; our compassion, our understanding, our motivation, and our involvement in helping a patient attain success should be the key.  In order for that to happen, we need a clear protocol. This way, when people talks about us, they know we are more than capable of dispensing hearing aids.  They know what to expect beyond that.  We listen to their needs, we help them hear, and we can treat their balance problems. 

This is the direction of audiology that I envision-  a profession that is unified in its education experience, fully acknowledged/ esteemed by the other professions, so much so that eventually we can even be involved in some therapeutic rights (e.g. prescribing drops or antibiotics for ear infections).  We are young, and we have some ground to cover.  Yet I firmly believe we can accomplish and continue the efforts of our trailblazers before us.  I envision a day when wanting to become an audiologist is as cliché as wanting to become an astronaut, a lawyer, a doctor, a policemen or a fireman.

Balancing Act

Some of the most difficult patients that an audiologist will ever encounter are those who presents with dizziness problems.  "Dizziness" is a very generic term, but at the core of it is that a very fundamental faculty critical to survival is completely askew. In other words, and no pun intended, these patients are quite imbalanced in all sense of the word as they no longer have a reference point. One can therefore only imagine the emotional and physiological burden that these patients carry with them when they walk through the door. 

To further exacerbate the problem, much of what the patients would read regarding the diagnostic tests involved are typically reviews latent with terminology that liken the experience to what a spy would endure should they be caught by the enemy (e.g. you will be strapped into place, a harness placed upon you,  your vision is obscured, there is a dark enclosure, you would be spun/rotate around, and water will be flushed into your ears etc.) As one patient who has underwent repeated balance tests described to me, "it is an ordeal built upon an ordeal, a strain upon what is already strenuous".  Already, it is an uphill battle from the start.  

It is therefore critical for the audiologist not only to be aware of the all the symptoms and potential differential diagnostics so as to speed up the diagnostic process; but to be ever ready to cater to the psychological and emotional needs of these patients.  Yes, it can be quite difficult at times, and we forever run the risk of being cynical as clinicians, especially if you have seen your fair share of malingerers and conversion disorder patients. The truth of the matter is, all dizzy patients will present you with anxiety, with doubt.  

They may want to believe in you, they may want to trust you, but their fear pervades their actions.  It behooves the audiologist to alleviate that fear as much as possible.  For the reality is this, good raw data are hard to come by when they are convoluted by anxiety and augmentation of psychosomatic manifestations.  Technique is essential, but more importantly ministry, compassion, motivation, and encouragement attributes to a significant portion to the success of a balance diagnostic battery. After all, it is an exhaustive battery in all sense of the word.   

Little things such as reminding the patient to breath, to unlock their knees, to relax the neck and shoulders go a long way in clearing the data of outliers and artifact.  In my personal experience, unconditional positive regards have far reaching effect in making the whole experience for the patient an enlightening and even at times a fun experience.   What is more, I have truly found that laughter indeed is the best medicine in those situations.  While anecdotal at this point, I have found more often than not when I am capable of making a patient laugh, despite how scared they are, or when i can turn them onto talking about something that is dear to their hearts as means of tasking, I get amazingly clear data.  Contrastingly, when I am unable to engage the patient, when I am unable to wholeheartedly cheer them, I get mediocre data which while textbook by virtue of the patient's pathology, is not beautiful.  

It is a balancing act to keep the patient engaged and at the same time diverge their attention away from their symptoms.  It may also require some acting initially to ward off the negative energy/ vibes that is emitted by a patient when you first encounter them.  It is necessary to build a positive rapport from the very beginning; after all, the testing process can become personable for both parties involved.    

I have heard a lot of reasons why audiologists have "shy" away from balance testing;  from not getting enough reimbursement to testing equipment being hard to come by.  Yet, I sincerely urge all of you out there to give it a try.  As much as I enjoy helping someone to hear better, as much as I find hearing test to be fascinating, I find my interactions with dizzy patients to be most rewarding.  It is a challenge for sure, but when you can connect with a dizzy patient, when you can engage them, be their coach, listen to their life stories, cheer them on, you both walk away from that experience enriched.  It is a balancing act, and it is a tough act to follow.    

Christ coming to a Church near you

The following preview has been approved for ALL AUDIENCES.

A Trinity Production

(scene opens with a zoom in to a pair of feet in sandals walking down a dusty street, mystic chanting is heard in the background).

Voice-over: You have heard how he faced the accused in silence. (flashes to scenes of a bearded man standing in a courtyard amidst a crowd of jeering Roman centurions and other robed men)

You have heard him suffer (flashes to close-up of same bearded man, blood trickling down from his forehead where a crown of thorns have bitten and broken the skin; him grunting in effort to drag a cross down a road while being watched by a throng of people. Zoom into a woman holding a baby just as the baby looks away).

You thought him dead! (A peal is heard with finality, thunder and lightening across a blackening sky, zoom into a woman as she wails, and then a deafening crack as an altar in a dimly lighted room cleft in twain, then total DARKNESS)

... silence...

(scene changes to a sunny sky, several seconds later a flock of doves bursting from bottom of the screen, brilliant music playing)

But now he is BACK (sporadic collages of a pierced right hand, pierced left hand, and pierced feet with just the bottom edge of robe showing).

(more scenes of people suddenly stopping what they are doing, surprise on their faces)

JESUS! The comeback tour! (Beethoven's 9th blasting in the background as a figure is shown silhouetted in a blaze of light while more doves burst forth from behind him flying in all directions)

Come celebrate him LIVE at a church near you.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Falling in love

Do you know why they all it falling in love?  Because falling is a scary thing.  Think about that critical moment when you are leaning just a tad too far in your chair and on the brink of falling, wasn't it frightful?  Or better yet, when you are dreaming and you are falling, wasn't it always advised that you should wake up just before you actually fell?  So there it is, falling is a scary thing.  It is like standing on the cusp of a cliff, looking down, do you jump or do you hold back? Yet, the more amazing components of falling in love are the leap of faith, and gravity.  

See, the act of falling in love has three parts to it.  The scary part where you fall, and the first part where you have hope and take that leap of faith.  That first part is crucial in that you have to be motivated to take the plunge.  That is the beauty of love, it starts off with a leap of faith.  Have you ever played that game at camp where you stand elevated with your back turned towards a group of people, and the whole objective was to fall into their arms.  Wasn't that something?  Just be ready to fall and see who catches you.  You have got to believe that someone will catch you.  That kind of hope is amazing, that trust in humanity is precious.   

The third part is that love gravitates us.  The reason we can even fall is because there is gravity, and love is at the center of it.  It attracts us, we are drawn to it, like moths to a flame (although that properly opens a whole new slew of analogies, and I digress).  

Back to falling, as scary as it gets, it is also very elating isn't it?  Bungee jumping, skydiving, roller coaster these all have a certain appeal because in the act of falling we become alive, adrenaline pumping. If you fall from high enough, you may even hit terminal velocity and free fall for a bit. That moment of clarity, I have been told, is divine in of itself.

And, if you are safety conscious, what is great about bungee jumping, skydiving, and riding roller coaster is that they are actually quite safe.  There is either a safety harness or parachute involved.  If faith alone does not work, then, at least trust in the safety that is your family and loved ones to have your back when you do decided to take a leap and fall.

One more thing, it is falling in love.  Don't change the tense, make it perpetual.  The problem when we refer the action to a different tense other than the present participle is we relegate it to something less significant.  Falling, it represents constant motion, it denotes a continuous pull by the never ending gravitational force of love.  Love never cease, and the act of moving towards it should be perpetual.    

 So I say let's fall in love.

(I know there are some of you out there, and part of me too, who remains cynical. Kind of like that joke:  if at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.  I still choose to believe falling in love is a good thing, and an essential experience).  

I can't get a job because I don't have the experience because I can't get a job...

If my life was a 1920 gangster movie, this would be part where I am having trouble joining the outfit:

Cast:- HR department played by some shadowy figure in a fedora, trench coat, and who smokes a cigar. (Possibly voiced by Nick Nolte)- Me, looking remarkably like a newsboy, eight-piece cap and all. 

Scene: HR: "Sorry kiddo, no dice, the boss man says you ain't got the street smarts yet to cut it in the outfit. Wizen up a little, and maybe we will take a look again down the road." 

Me: "Whaddayamin I ain't got the creds? I have been bustin ma hump fer the past tootin years as a gofer intern and extern! Ain't that count fer somethin?"

Music and Audiology

"A sound life involves oscillating through ups and downs, finding that which resonates with your existence, accomplishing something that will reverberate in generations to come. Do not be afraid of coming across intense. Be always ready and willing to pitch in, because the truth is, life is the melody and you are the lyricist."

There are many compelling reasons that propelled me into the field of audiology.  Some border on the theological, and some along the practical.  Yet, perhaps the one that appeals to me the most is the  knowledge that I am in a vocation that will help people hear music.  Yes, audiology as a field has not been very focused on music, in fact some may even argued that we have thus far focused primarily on helping people hear everyday speech better.  The frequency response of most hearing aids can attest to this.

While I grant that to be the case, central to my personal pursuit of promoting hearing and balance in people's lives, is the firm belief that through helping people hear better, I can increase their chance of being exposed to music.  There is something magical about music that speaks louder than some of the best written speeches.  There is something about melodies that transcends all else.  When one speaks of sound, of resonance, of striking a cord, of tugging at the heart strings; one does not immediately conjure up lyrical poetries.  No, one imagines a song, a melody that stirs within them a memory, an emotion.

Music speaks, it is a form of communication.  I know as verbose as I tend to be at times, I find myself relating more to music, and reveal more of myself through songs than I would if I was speaking in tongues.  If we are lucky, each of us have strong ties to music, be it an early memory of a simple tune hummed by your mother or father as they lulled you to sleep, or a particular song that speaks out to you at a certain time when you are feeling most misunderstood.

Music are tied deeply into emotions.  Film score composers know this to be true.  Even from the early days of silent film to current blockbuster, sound effects and film scores have a special place in engaging the audience.   Music amplify, and even dictates how we feel during a certain scene.

At it's heart, music is vibration of a most complex nature.  With it comes vibrance, rhythm, and cadence. It makes words into lyrics, it turned walking into dancing. Think of the progression of movies.  When a play was not enough, we moved to operas, and from there we moved on to musicals.  Simply put, music is the spice to life.  Sure sure, we can have great conversations, but life would be so much more if we have background music and theme songs to go with it.

Being an audiologist allows me the opportunity to ensure people around have the faculties necessary to appreciate music, to feel the beat, to sing and dance.  There is music in all things, from a child's laughter to familiar voice, and I want everyone to hear it  Music helps us to stay sharp when the world is flat.