I Woke Up Deaf. That 1st Day Went...

It’s April 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic brought mandatory flight restrictions unless vaccinated. Having just passed my biomed physical with “exceptional results” and ideal blood pressure, I wasn’t thrilled about the shot, but I chose the Pfizer 2-dose version and accepted it as a necessary evil to fly and finally check “California beaches” off my bucket list.

The first dose went fine. Two weeks later, I received the second.
Boy, was I glad I had signed up for VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) to track what would come next.

Two days post-vaccine, I reported to VAERS that I felt an odd sensation in my ears—as if they were stuffed. Probably pollen, I thought. I added that I had moments of a mild headache and low-grade fever. But what felt strange was that my headache seemed to sit between my ears, not across my forehead like usual. Then came day three.

I’m late for work.
I sit up, confused, and check my alarm clock. It's vibrating in my hand—so it must be ringing—but I hear nothing.
No sound. No clock. Not even my own voice.

I try to speak and can only feel the vibration in my throat. I pat my ears. Am I dreaming?

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL), caused by an autoimmune reaction—a rare side effect of the COVID vaccine.

Who do I call? And how will I hear them?

To keep this short: I used voice-to-text on my phone, held it out to strangers or pharmacy drive-thrus so I could read responses in real time.

My family doctor referred me to an ENT. The ENT referred me to a local college’s deaf services department, who then referred me to Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN. That’s where I received my Nucleus 8 Cochlear Implant and was activated in May 2023.

Now, it’s been two years of reconfiguring so many things in search of calm and rediscovering joy in hobbies that feel different post-deafness. I often describe this time as like being a cow at a new gate—startled, uncertain, but slowly figuring it out.

I now find myself part of the disabled community—not born deaf but becoming deaf. That journey is different. I've only met one other person in real life who had two cochlear implants, and I’ll be sharing that encounter in my next blog post. It’s such a sweet, spontaneous connection, one that deserves its own post—and a podcast episode and YouTube video too.

🎧 Listen to the voices behind the movement – Visit the Podcast

📺 See the message come to life – Watch on YouTube

Let’s make happiness accessible, for someone we'll see today.

#LetsMakeHappinessAccessible #StepDeaf