Veronica's Journey to Hearing Again
Veronica L. Davila ...
Veronica is a great sister and my best friend. She is a very strong and independent woman and would be the last person to ask for help; even though she has spent a life time helping others. You may not know about Veronica’s health challenges over the last couple of years but she has been through a lot.
Here is her story…
In September 2012, Veronica suffered sudden hearing loss after a severe vertigo attack that doctors said was caused by an undiagnosed viral infection. Medical treatments to restore her hearing were unsuccessful and she was left with "profound" hearing loss in her left ear.
In November 2013, Veronica had another severe vertigo attack and on Friday of Thanksgiving week, she was rushed by ambulance to the hospital because she couldn’t get out of bed. The doctors discovered that this time, she had lost over 50% of the hearing in the right ear.
Veronica endured many MRIs, blood tests, steroid injections, hyperbaric treatments, and acupuncture and days of poking and prodding by specialists at Johns Hopkins, George Washington Hospital and the Mayo Clinic (FL) in an attempt to recover her hearing but in the end, she remained totally deaf in her left ear and with only 10% hearing in her right ear. She was fitted for a hearing aid for her right ear and worked through months of vestibular therapy to address the continued lack of balance. During this time, she was unable to work for extended periods of time, live in her own home for a year or drive.
Just as she was adjusting to her “new norm” she lost what little hearing she had left. She began to withdraw and limited her time around people outside of her immediate family. The hearing aid she had been fitted with was of little use to her because now, sounds were extremely low, and words were not clear at all.
She began six consecutive months of more vigorous treatments with the hope of recovering some of her hearing and maintian what hearing remained. All attempts failed. You can imagine the devastating blow this was both mentally and emotionally.
In September 2014, Veronica made the brave decision to opt for a Cochlear Implant at Johns Hopkins and started her long rehabilitation journey to hearing again.
Although her new norm may consist of having a huge, loving service dog named Sammie ( provided by the Top Dogg's Kidz and K9's Foundation ) to accompany her, assist with her balance, alert her if someone calls her name from behind and making a few other lifestyle adjustments, being a Christian she knows not to lean to her own understanding . She is prayerful that she will overcome this challenge and use this experience to help encourage and educate others.
Her need ...
As if the stress of suffering profound hearing loss wasn’t enough, being unable to work during her treatment and recovery exacerbated the situation. Fortunately, she did have help from family and friends but after two and a half years, financially, it just wasn’t enough. Worrying about the mounting expenses for the cochlear implant surgery, hearing aid and accessories, vestibular therapy, and post implant speech therapy, plus the transportation cost of obtaining her much-needed service dog (Giant Schnauzer) and on-going training has delayed her full recovery.
How you can help ...
Veronica is now in need of additional financial resources to help cover the cost of the surgery, and the ongoing costs of continued treatment.
We are asking that you help Veronica offset the financial obligations that have been placed on her by making your best contribution.
"A generous man will himself be blessed ..."
(Proverbs 22:9)
