signing off

[bigblock73]

Due to some recent events in my life, I have decided to take a break from the hobby and concentrate on getting my life back in order and to a place I feel more comfortable and in control.

A little background...

You see, I have been deaf in my right ear since birth and have roughly 70% remaining in my left, now to some of you that may sound bad but this is all I have ever known (it doesn't bother me) and I can function completely normal without any "aids". Over the past few months my hearing has been fluctuating up and down, and let me tell you, with only one hearing ear it is quite scary. I have seen numerous ear doctors and none of them have been able to tell me what is going on. Fed up with the lack of answers, I started doing alot of research on my own and found a condition that matched what I was going thru...LVAS. Once I learned about LVAS I ran that by my ENT doctor and he decided a CT scan was in order. After the CT scan he looked at it and it "appeared" normal to him (at least in my hearing ear), so he referred me to a specialist (ENT neurologist) at the U of M. After a two month wait to get in I finally spoke with the specialist and he confirmed it was LVAS.

For those of you who do not know what LVAS is, it is a fairly newly discovered condition with no known cure. My hearing has been deteriorating somewhat rapidly as of late and the doctor predicts that to continue. Although he said I would never go completely deaf, if I intend to hear in the future I will either need surgeries or hearing aids to do so. As if losing your hearing isn't bad enough, physical and strenous activities only make matters worse and speed up the deterioration process.

Not satisfied with this, I asked for a referral to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN (one of the best in the world) and will be making that two-hour trip (each way) this Thursday the 25th to get a second opinion. Although I am going there with high expectations, I am almost positive I will be told the same thing I was already told.

For anyone wishing to learn more about LVAS, here is a link I found. http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/LVAS.htm

For the time being, Yeller will be put on hold until I can figure out this and straighten out my life. Just in case you were wondering, I dropped off the cab last week for final bodywork and paint...I should have it back home and on the frame in a week or two...then it will collect dust until at least springtime.

In closing, I want to thank each and every one of you for the help you handed to me, the good times you have shared with me, the firendships you have given to me, and the happiness you have brought me. I hope this doesn't sound like a "poor me" letter, I just felt my friends should know.

I will return (you have been warned ), I just need time to figure this out and cope with it, accept it, and learn how to adjust to it.

Thanks again everyone!

...Jeff