Life After Deaf

From a renowned media critic to a man with sudden and full hearing loss, Noel Holston ran the gauntlet of diagnoses, health insurance, and cochlear implant surgery. On a spring night in 2010, Noel Holston, a journalist, songwriter, and storyteller, went to bed with reasonably intact hearing. By dawn, it was gone, thus beginning a long process of hearing-restoration that included misdiagnoses, an obstinate health-insurance bureaucracy, failed cochlear-implant surgery, and a second surgery that finally worked. He negotiated the gauntlet with a wry sense of humor and the aid of his supportive wife, Marty. Life After Deaf details his experience with warmth, understanding, and candor. It’s the story not only of his way back to the world of the hearing, but of a great marriage that weathered serious testing. Their determination and resilience serve as a source of inspiration for all. Life After Deaf is not just for the more than forty million people in the United States alone who cope with some form of hearing loss, but is also for their wide circles of friends, family, caregivers, and audiologists. This highly readable book will be an invaluable guide and source of hope for the large number of baby boomers now handling hearing loss.

Life After Deaf is the true story of a woman whose life began to unravel after she suddenly went deaf due to a mystery illness. Throughout the book, the reader learns of her courageous battle to learn to live with profound deafness. Imagine trying to raise two children, run a business and be a wife while trying to navigate a new world, one that was completely foreign only days before? Author Monique Williamson tells the shocking and frightening story of becoming deaf overnight, first in one ear, then the other... even after being told by doctors that lightning never strikes twice. In Monique's case, it did. Discover how she advocated for herself, time and time again, against all odds. Even when people thought she was crazy, she knew deep down that she had a mysterious underlying illness and she vowed to keep seeking answers. Life after becoming deaf was very challenging and Monique was forced to learn to adapt. Throughout her ordeal, she gained a newfound appreciation and zest for life. After standing so close to death's door, she decided it was time to live her life fully by honouring herself more and appreciating her remarkable life. This book will inspire you and motivate you to live life to the fullest, no matter what challenges come your way.About the AuthorMonique Williamson was born and raised on the Northshore of Vancouver, B.C. She has enjoyed a career in sales and marketing most of her life and also started the first successful Flying Wedge Pizza franchise in her early 20's. Most recently she enjoys success as a top producing real estate agent alongside her husband Jesse Williamson. Her life is kept busy caring for her young son Jack and teenaged daughter Rachael. Monique advocates on behalf of those who are too sick to do so, and speaks on the world stage, sharing the motivating and empowering lessons she learned on her journey back to health.

Baffled by your new inability to hear? Know someone who is? Then I've Lost My WHAT?: A Practical Guide to Life After Deafness is for you. It talks about assistive devices, the psychology of adult-onset deafness, communication, relationships, cochlear implants, hearing aids, the Americans with Disabilities Act, telephone use, and daily life for people who've gone deaf post-lingually. "This book should be required reading for anyone who's lost their hearing or works with late-deafened individuals. I've Lost My WHAT? could very well be the late-deafened adult's Bible."-Michele Bornert, Late-deafened freelance writer "A top-notch reference for those who become deaf."-Mary Clark, former executive director, Hearing Loss Link "Shawn learned all this stuff the hard way. Now he's making sure you won't have to do it too."-Cheryl Heppner, Exec. Dir. Northern Virginia Resource, Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons