Welcome to Storyworthy. My name is Christine Blackburn, and I'm coming to you from Los Angeles, California.

Whether you're a longtime fan of the show or a brand new listener, welcome to Storyworthy.

Now, as most of you know, I have slowed down my episodes dramatically because I lost my hearing.

That's right. In May of 2024, I became deaf in my right ear. How does this happen?

Well, it's a good question. For some people, it's a tumor. For other people, it's a virus.

They really don't know. Now, the good news is, I have no tumors. Thank you. Thank you very much.

But the bad news is I did lose my hearing. So if you've listened to the show in the last couple of months,

you may have heard me talk about this before. And I had to go through my insurance, of course,

to find out how I can pay for a cochlear implant,

because I am a candidate for a cochlear implant. So, anyway, to make a long story short,

I fought with the insurance company, and I finally received the approval to see an odor laryngologist down at USC.

USC, Kek Medicine has been like the leading people in cochlear implants for years.

So it's a good place for me to be.

It's a teaching hospital.

And I met with the surgeon on Monday.

So that was exciting. He came into the room at the hospital

with the team of people and, you know, talking about my hearing. So I'm going to get this cochlear

implant. I'm waiting for a surgery date. But I had to have a lot of stuff leading up to that,

you know, like an MRI and a CAT scan. And I had to get a lot of stuff leading up to that, you know, like an MRI and a cat scan.

And I had to get a new vaccine I wasn't familiar with called Prevnar.

Anyway, that's like for pneumonia.

The point is, I'm all set ready to rock and roll and ready to get this cochlear implant.

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