Author: Jemmie Jems

Under the name Francis Lee, I write interracial Christian romantic suspense. My stories are about finding enduring love when hope and redemption seem unattainable as danger lurks around every corner. My characters learn that where there is darkness, "joy will always come in the morning".

4 ways of coping with Tinnitus

Focus on something else…

When you have constant tinnitus there is no silence.

Noise is always there. When I wrote this post, I was sitting on commuter train in their Quiet Zone area which of course was not so quiet because the fan in the cabin was very loud.  But helpful.  It was constant and it helped me to focus on something other than the ringing in my ears. This brings me to the last suggestion in coping with tinnitus – Focus on Something Else

Some people are so disturbed by their tinnitus that they ask for some kind of solution in desperation; from operations, medications or therapy. What works for some may not work for others. People do different things to help with mild to moderate cases of tinnitus. The list below is a simple suggestion and can be used as a starting point.

My advise is to always see a professional first: your Doctor, Audiologist or Hearing Instrument Specialist.  These people are trained to help and know the best avenue for you to take.

Everyday Coping Methods for Those with Tinnitus

  • Diet – Some swear by having a well-balanced diet.   And to watch the sodium intake and the amount of caffeine you consume daily.
  • Relaxation – a good vacation or a staycation, just time off from that busy schedule to de-stress and relax.  Find a quiet place to close your eyes and put your head back if only for 15 minutes daily to start. Have a good night sleep. Check out this cool post: Power Napping vs Sleeping
  • Exercise –  is good but in moderation. If you are starting a new exercise program please check with your doctor especially if you haven’t been active for a while. Take up walking.  It is great exercise and it doesn’t cost much.  All you need are good pair of walking shoes and comfortable clothing.  No time?  Take a walk at lunch or on your break. It doesn’t have to be a long walk just enough to get you moving. Or learn a new game or sport to keep active.
  • Learn something new or do something old you enjoy –  revisit that stamp collection or take an art class or learn to play an instrument the list goes on. My example:
    Last year my sister and I took up Line dancing. Who would think! But we loved it. We had a workout, met new people and learned something new.  Got the brain working differently. It was a great exercise for the body and healthy for the brain.

The Take Away

When you are occupied with something else other than the noises in your ears you can slowly begin not noticing the ringing as much.

Remember – before starting any form of exercise speak to your doctor first.  

For some exercise ideas check out:  Social and Emotional Benefits of Regular Exercise

Writing Journey Step #2 How to take criticism good or bad and work with it

When receiving a rejection or advise please, please listen and keep an open mind

Ok, I haven’t posted anything since before late spring or early summer but I haven’t forgotten.  As always life gets in the way but in a good way.  I have to work out my time in odd hours.  I quote loosely from a blog I read about Toni Morrison…I write on the fringes of my life. That is awesome and so write…ok no pun…

I need to share. I’ve completed a few things I find fascinating.  I went to a romance writers conference and I pitched my book idea.  She liked it and gave me some great ideas I plan to use.  I had a reader read my synopsis and she didn’t like it and told me why.

The advise was hard to take but I didn’t respond right away but played it over in my head before I could come to terms with what she said.

That’s the hard part.  Acceptance.

I remember a rejection I received from a editor I queried from a publishing house I wanted so badly to accept my work. and I was upset.  I believed she didn’t understand the concept of my novel.  The gall of the woman after I worked so hard, I knew I was right and she was wrong.  I wrote back thanking her for the decision but not before I explained to her my novel, again.  That was stupid.  But at the time I got it off my chest and out there which didn’t help me much because it was still a rejection and I mostly wouldn’t submit to that line ever again.

Step #2 

When receiving a rejection or advise please, please listen and keep an open mind.  Think about it this way:

  • Was it good advise?
  • How can you learn to adapt or make some changes that can work to having an editor read my work and get excited about it?
  • Editors read so many different requests so how can your work stand out?
  • What is your targeted publisher or editor looking for?  In other words do some research on the publishing house or editor before submitting because your work maybe good but they may not be looking for work in the genre your writing.
  • Be kind and thank them for looking at your work.  They have busy schedules too.
  • And finally, don’t stop writing.

Cheers to all the adventures in writing and keep going…

 

6 Important Factors to Understanding Hearing and Hearing Aids for Caregivers

Understanding Hearing Loss and the Importance of Hearing Aids
The human ear is an important organ in the body responsible for hearing and balance. When hearing is partially or totally impaired our ability to communicate with others can become difficult and frustrating leading to relationship breakdowns, isolation and depression. There is no respecter of age, ethnicity, culture, class, race or sex when it comes to hearing loss. Hearing loss affects not only the person diagnosed but it also loved ones, family members, friends, co- workers and caregivers. Therefore learning about hearing, hearing loss and different solutions that bridge the communication gap whether it is a hearing aid, assistive listening device, lip- reading, sign language, written messages, text messaging, video conferencing et cetera help us to understand and communicate better with the hearing impaired person.
“Next to the eye the ear is the most important of human sense organs. It allows us to communicate and to exchange ideas“
This section is a basic look at understanding hearing by reviewing:

  1.  What is hearing?
  2. What is a hearing loss?
  3.  Anatomy of the Ear
  4.  Importance of a hearing test
  5.  What are hearing aids good for and how they work.
  6. Communication Cues
  1. What is hearing?
    Hearing is the ability to perceive sound when it is conducted through the ear. When someone has a hearing loss that ability to hear sound is reduced because there is impairment in one or more parts of the ear. A person with hearing loss is called Hard of Hearing. Hard of Hearing does not mean the person is Deaf Identified but they have some reduction in hearing that can range from mild to profound. Whereas someone who is Deaf Identified abilities to communicate is visually based and sometimes also can be sound based supported. In other words, a person who identifies themselves as deaf can lip-read, use sign language, look at body language, facial language or written language to communicate and can use a hearing device. (Canadian Hard of Hearing Association)

To be continued in next post

Tinnitus- the Unwelcomed Family Member

Tinnitus is an unwelcomed experience.  For all of us who suffer from tinnitus it could come and go as it pleases or it could decide to stay.  We have no control over this ringing in- the- ear- menace but, we try to live with it daily, sometimes with success and others times without.

One thing you must realise is that you are not alone.  Tinnitus does not only affect the sufferer but others like family members, friends and colleagues, basically anyone close. These people could become your greatest support group.

What is the best way to get this support?

Take a guest with you to your appointment for the hearing test and tinnitus assessment.  It will deepen their understanding about what you are experiencing which could then lead to a good sense of sympathy.

It is this sympathy that is needed.  Sympathy leads to kindness.  And kindness leads to support.

You need support because tinnitus could at times be overwhelming.  People closest to you can give you the support you need. The more they understand the better the support.

Don’t keep your tinnitus suffering to yourself.  Tell someone who would listen.

Next post — a few tinnitus treatments…

Talk later….

Happy New Year April 1st

 

2018 is one quarter completed and what have I done? This is a question that resounds in my ear almost every day as I look back at January and forward into my future.  Sure, I try and make the New Year resolutions of exercising and being a good person.. But have I don’t any of these things?  Yes and no.  Like most, I start out strong until life gets in the way and things fall along the wayside.  Then, I get disappointed in myself and I try to pick up my tattered resolutions and move on. Hoping to start again strong, and ending my year strong and successful.

 

What I don’t see or fail to understand is that every day I am blessed with a new beginning.  This Easter weekend I looked at the history of the Jewish people with regards to the Passover and I looked at the Christian faith with regards to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and I saw the evidence of new beginnings.

 

The children of Israel left their lives of bondage and ventured into the desert towards the Promise land, a land flowing with milk and honey.  As they prepared for that journey God told them to sacrifice a lamb and put the blood of that lamb on the doorposts and lintel of their homes. When angel of death sees the blood he will pass over the home and spare them from death and judgement.   

 

The Christian’s author is Jesus and He was taken and crucified as the perfect sacrifice. He died for the sins of the world, was buried and on the 3rd day He rose from the grave and then later ascended to Heaven. Resurrection is a new beginning, and this season is the perfect opportunity to see things fresh.

Some people don’t get the opportunity to see the newness of life as a good thing.  Tragedy, pain, emotional stress, failed and disappointing goals and relationship are a few things that can cause the darkness of depression to seep into life.  Life becomes hard to bare and the future looks so grim where any thought of a new beginning with hope and happiness becomes elusive and impossible to envision.

 

Recently, I heard of a number of families in my Christian community losing a family member to suicide.  When I was a child the word suicide never came up and if it did then everything was hushed up and  “this doesn’t happen or shouldn’t happen” were whispered. Today, suicide is still happening and in my Christian community it is becoming an acceptable ending.

 

This is not right and Christians need to talk.  We need to look into what mental illness is all about and we need to look for those signs of mental illness in our families and not take things for granted.  Some people need help and don’t know how to ask or maybe they don’t know where they could go for help.  I hear people saying they need to go to the Lord and read the Bible more.  That is very true and I am not disagreeing.  But as in the times of Jesus, people brought those needing to be healed to Him.  Some of the sick could not come to Jesus themselves but needed some kind of physical support.  This is what we need today not just physical but emotional support.  We need to support one another in a healthy way by being there when someone needs to talk. We need to be trustworthy.  We need to look into resources and ethical information for people going through problems and the families of those touched by this suicide to turn to.  We in the churches need to be educated on the right way to deal with this problem of suicide. This is not the time or the place for a gossip mill; this is someone’s life.  Jesus said, “I came to preserve life.”  As Christians we are to be like Christ and to preserve life.

 

This is a new beginning one quarter gone of this 2018, a time to make a fresh start for myself as well as for others. 

 

 

     

 

The Easter Egg story

Why the egg at Easter?

Ever wonder what the story is behind the Easter egg?  Why use the egg?  Is it something to do with the Christian faith or the Jewish faith?  Is it a religious symbol at all?  And what’s this about Easter as being Christian or pagan?

I grew curious so I asked my co-workers, clients, friends and family and none of them had much of a clue as to the meaning behind the egg at Easter or otherwise known as the paschal egg.  The word paschal relates to Easter or it relates to Jewish Passover.

Historically, the egg was used by ancient cultures in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Crete.

this egg was painted in Punic a language known by the ancient people of Carthage.  The tradition of painting eggs goes back to Africa some 60,000 years ago.  It was a symbol of death and rebirth

The early Christians of Mesopotamia painted eggs red as they remember Jesus Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. The egg was seen as the tomb in which he was laid and where he rose, the red colour symbolized the blood he shed on the cross.  The egg is used at the time of Easter as a memorial within the Christian faith.

Non Christians use the Easter bunny as a symbol of rebirth with regards to the coming of the Spring season.

Some quick facts about Easter…

 

 

Carry- on Tinnitus Step#2

Step #2

Now that you’ve seen the Audiologist or the Hearing Instrument Specialist and they’ve given you a hearing test what is there left to do?

Talk…..

The hearing professional will discuss the results of the hearing test.  You may or may not have hearing loss but you may still suffer from tinnitus.

How is that possible?

Don’t people with hearing loss all have tinnitus?

It is true about 90% of people with tinnitus also have hearing loss and tinnitus affects 1 in 5 people. What about the rest of us?

Let’s work backwards with some basic information about tinnitus.

Tinnitus or some pronounce it tin-eye-tus or tin-a-tus is not a disease but a symptom resulting from a number of causes most common is hearing loss but others are: ear infections, hearing loss, constant exposure to loud noises, brain tumor, emotional stress, exposure to certain medication , head or neck injury, hypertension, heart disease and earwax to name a few.

There are different types of tinnitus: subjective, objective and pulsatile.  Subjective is the most frequent type and it is explained as hearing sound when there is no external sound and it can present itself as ringing, clicking, hissing or buzzing; some people even experience hearing music.

Tinnitus also triggers an emotional response in each individual in unique portions. In other words, tinnitus affects everyone differently and their reactions are all different. Some people can ignore the noise in their ears, whereas others are frustrated and even can be emotionally distraught. No two people are the same.

So where do you go from here?

Counselling is needed and your hearing professional is going to be able to help you with that.

Find out more next week.

If anyone has any questions, please e-mail me.

Until next time…

That Constant Ringing in My Ears

There is no cure.

I hear the ringing, the buzzing, the clicking that noise sometimes throughout the day but it happens mostly at night before bed when everything is quiet.  This is called Tinnitus and many people young and old suffer from this condition.

I work as at a hearing clinic as a Hearing Specialist and I’ve noticed since the flu season began several people have visited the clinic with symptoms of tinnitus. Most are getting over the flu virus and report that the tinnitus was strongest when they were laid up with the flu and now they’re “better” the tinnitus is still present.

I know my tinnitus began with a virus and never went away even after I got better and that was over 10 years ago.  The ringing in my ears gets more prevalent when I am stressed or I’m lacking sleep and then calms down when I sleep better and take my vitamins.  That works for me so far, but it may not work for others.

At the clinic before I suggest any kind of solution to help the client with tinnitus, I take a case history and I do a full hearing assessment.  You see tinnitus and hearing loss go hand and hand but there is also a percentage of people suffering from tinnitus who have no hearing loss.

Step #1  get your hearing tested by a registered Audiologist or a Hearing Instrument Practitioner.  These people can help you and guide in the right direction.

Recently, I learned of a tinnitus workshop at Sunnybrook Hospital and check out their website called Your Health Matters @ health.sunnybrook.ca/wellness/tinnitus-ringing-ears/ This is a great resource.

I’ll write about Step #2 next time

Procrastination

That is not the key but it is sometimes my middle name.  It is almost the end of the week and I am still finding time to write. So proud of me.Wonder how long that will last.  If that ugly procrastination comes forward then wham, I’ll kick it to the curb. (I hope)

My characters surprise me every single day and I am learning more and more about them as they evolve. And I’m writing on “the fringes of the life.” I write on my commute home instead of sleeping.  It does beat missing my stop.

Great writing source full of information and helpful tips called  thecreativepenn.com by the writer Joanna Penn.  Check it out.

Take care and God bless

Writing Journey

Yes, I am writing an outline for my new romantic suspense novel.  I will keep this blog informed and try to work on my website blog as well.

I worked hard yesterday for sometime developing characters, scenes and the plot.  My characters are taking a life of their own but it is all exciting. I am following several people on Twitter who are encouraging. I have a working schedule and will try hard to stick to it but I do have wiggle room.

Later and God bless

Mimie