| Author |
Message |
    
Molly Brent
Awareness Member
Post Number:
23
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 07:55 am: |   |
I posted here telling about my stroke, my 100% loss of hearing, my inability to walk etc.....Well, I found the best ear doctor in the world, Dr. John shea Jr. of the Shea Clinic in Memphis. I just returned home last night.
I had 3 surgeries on my ear in three days. My hearing has gone from 100% loss to 42% loss. The nerve was not dead and he believes in time, I will be 100% cured. I can also walk again. The symptoms associated with inner ear problems
were sever. The pressure in my ears was 6 times the normal and he had never known of it being that high without rupturing. After all the tests were completed, I went straight to surgery.
Thanks all for the prayers. They were answered when Dr. Shea called me last week and said get there as fast as I could. I still have a lot of noise in my ears and I stagger and need help walking, but in time I feel certain this amazing doctor can do miracles. I can now carry on a conversation with my right ear plugged.......I've know him for 4 days now.
I'm far from being well, but I can hear again. I believe every word Dr. Shea says and I am totally confident that he will have me back on my feet fully recovered....it will just take a little time.
Thanks,
Molly Brent |
Claudia Turner VanLydegraf
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1244
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 09:09 am: | |
I am so glad Molly. After talking to you, my heart went out to you and your husband who sounds so sweet and is full of concern. You get better fast, you know you can, so JUST DO IT......
The update on my situation is, they received the newest letter that I sent on Monday May 17, 2004, again CERTIFIED, and telling them it was a CEASE AND DESIST DEMAND (if you want me to send you a copy to be able to look over, I will email you one) at 8:26 am May 21, 2004, and they have NOT as of late last night, taken my book off of the PA roster so, I will give them a few days to do that, then I will go to the FTC and Coyright Division and lodge complaints and investigation requests with those agencies. At the moment, I am waiting and seeing what will happen, if anything.
I sincerely hope everything continues to get better and better for you, and I know that you are in the best hands possible, there with your doctors and with you very loving husband. Take care and get stronger, young lady! You have all my hopes and wishes for a speedy recovery.
Claudia
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Bill Nelson
Wandering Member
Post Number:
158
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 09:09 am: | |
Good news, Molly.
Here's wishing for a total recovery.
bn |
Nancy Marie
Unity Member
Post Number:
1740
Registered: 08-2001
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 09:30 am: | |
That is good news, Molly and I pray for your total recovery.
blessings, Kitty |
Nancy Mehl
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1748
Registered: 08-2001
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 11:41 am: | |
Molly,
What wonderful news! I'm thrilled for you.
Nancy
www.nancymehlbooks.com
www.myshelf.com |
Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
3018
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 12:16 pm: | |
I am so happy to hear your news, Molly. I pray your transition to total wellness is swift. |
Diana Hignutt
Awareness Member
Post Number:
39
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 12:29 pm: | |
Molly,
This is great news! Keep it up. You're in my thoughts and prayers.
Diana |
Molly Brent
Awareness Member
Post Number:
24
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 12:46 pm: | |
Diana, I saw you on television. I was disapponited that your book was not mentioned but they did put your name and the name of the book under your picture when you were on. .......and you look just like your picture and you and your wife both sounded so intelligent. I yelled to my husband when I quite by accident saw it in an ad of the up coming show. I even changed a doc's appointment so I could be home to watch. You done good, girl.
Molly |
Barbara Korsness (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 24.170.164.170
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 11:18 am: | |
Molly,
I am so glad yor hearing has been restored. I can identify with you to some extent. A few years back I lost both my voice and hearing from a virus. It took about a month to regain my voice and most of my hearing has returned, excepr in my right ear. Not long after that I started getting dizzy spells. It got so bad that I couldn't walk. At times the spells would last up to eight hours. The results were seasickness, and you know what happens when your seasick.
After a trip to emergency, I learned I have Meiniers (not sure how to spell it), a problem with the inner ear. I have to take antivert tablets each day. I was down to one a day, but started getting spells at work and had to up the dosage. Since I turned 65 in Dec and work for the school system, I decided to retire at the end of this school year. Now I hope I can stay retired. My husband is having heart problems now.
Do you hear noises in your head from your ear problem? I do and some times it is nerve racking.
Having problems with your book did not help. Stress can do a lot of negative things. I am glad things are looking up for you. I will pray for your continued health, and success with your future plans for your book.
Now that I have more time, I hope to come to these boards more often. I recoginze many of you from the "other Board" and am glad that many of you are doing much better with your careers. I never posted much there, and but did learn alot. I have learned much more from here.
Barbara Korsness
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Molly Brent
Awareness Member
Post Number:
28
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 12:03 pm: | |
Barbara, Yes, I still have a few dizzy spells and noise....at night it bothers me a lot worse than the day.......Dr. Shea has had great success with getting rid of or at least making the "spells" and noise amost go away.......
I have a lot of information about him and his clinic and in fact, just wrote an article about him. If Joyce is reading this, perhaps she can post it for you.
my computer has not been working.......I've lost almost everything........
Please go to Dr. Shea. If it hasn't been too long, he may can help you, but he is an expert in Meniere's Disease.
Shea Clinic
6133 Poplar Pike at Ridgeway
Memphis, TN 38119
901 761 9720
You can also look him up on the net...
Tinnitus, or noise in the ears is caused by various things, but his treatment
cured symptoms in 50% of test cases and reduced noise in another 25%
Since my surgeries about a week ago, I went from 100% hearing loss to 42% hearing loss. The first few days, I could hardly walk and still go in a wheelchair when I go out of the house. Today I have had only one dizzy spell and they seem to be getting less daily. I can't stand the noise of a casino etc
or crowds now. the noise comes and goes in my ears......I think its gone and WHAM......
I really believe, in time, all my symptoms will go away. I am taking 2 pills a day, less salt, and a few things like that. I can provide you will the names of the meds and all instructions if you want them. brentmolly@hotmail.com
My next appt is on the 16th. If you go, I'd love to meet you. There is a Resident Inn (Marriot) which joins his clinic) I am not a doctor person......so when I say this guy is good, thats an understatement. He dicovered the treatment and invented much of the equipment.
I hope to be talking with you. AS I stated in my article, it is a 5 hour drive to Dr. Shea from Laurel, MS...unless your husband knows a shortcut, in which case add an hour......
if you live close by let me know.....
Best of luck to you and I hope to see you again on the boards. I am in rehab
(exercise helps) but I have heart problems too and I'm working again.... If you have any questions I can help you with, call me or e mail me. I have tons of literature on the subject now.
Molly |
Joyce Scarbrough
Wandering Member
Post Number:
115
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 06:22 pm: | |
Here is Molly's story about her visit to the Shea Clinic:
“A Miracle for Molly”
by Molly Marx Brent
People may not regard my experience as a miracle. Miracles imply mysticism or irrefutable religious occurrences. I can’t claim anything like that, but this is my story and it’s true.
The past few years brought some major health problems. I’m no sissy when it comes to adversity, but this new problem was devastating.
In September 2003, I began getting disoriented. One day I backed out of my driveway and couldn’t decide which side of the street I was supposed to use. I pulled back into the garage knowing my driving days were over. Another time I couldn’t find my way out of a service station. Even stranger things were happening. Inanimate objects moved. I was dizzy and running into walls. Sometimes the spells were so bad that my head felt like an inflated balloon on the verge of explosion. There was noise in my ears and my vision was blurred.
To complicate things more, I had a bout of pneumonia and several deaths in the family during this time period. I was unable to rest or even slow down, plus I was working on a deadline to get a book published.
Doctors finally cured the infection, but the symptoms continued. On May 11 of this year, I was sent to an allergist. Allergy tests were done and, as expected, I was highly allergic to almost everything, but because of my heart problems, the allergies could not be treated aggressively.
On May 12, I was having a normal morning until I picked up the phone to call the bank. I handed the phone to my husband and said, “The phone is dead. There is no dial tone.”
He listened. “You can’t hear this dial tone? The phone is working fine.”
That’s when we discovered that I was totally deaf in my left ear.
I called the allergist first to see if my hearing loss could be related to the tests. He didn’t call back and his office staff seemed unconcerned and made no effort to get any answers.
I then called the hospital and spoke to a nurse. She was very compassionate but had no idea as to the cause of my hearing loss. She suggested that I go to the emergency room.
Then I went to visit a doctor who is a personal friend. Ears aren’t his specialty, but I knew he could tell me how to get help. He was in surgery, but his office manager made appointments for me with other doctors.
Brain scans and all manner of tests ensued after that, including a hearing test that confirmed I was 100% deaf in my left ear.
Several of the medical personnel thought I’d had a stroke. They all agreed that the nerve in my ear was dead and my hearing loss was permanent. Over and over I was told, “There is no treatment. There is nothing anyone can do.”
My stubborn nature wouldn’t let me give up. I went home and got on the Internet to ask my friends to pray. I talked to others on the net with the same problems. I sought the help of doctors online. They all gave me advice on how to live with my deafness because “there is no treatment.”
They told me it was only natural to imagine that I could hear a faint dial tone, but it wasn’t really there. One day soon, I would admit to myself that I was deaf, and then I could get on with learning to live with it.
Finally, I remembered a conversation I’d had about 25 years ago with my family doctor: “If you ever need to see the best ear doctor in the world, go to Dr. John Shea Jr. in Memphis.” I thought he must have surely retired by now, but I decided to look him up on the Internet. There he was— Shea Ear Clinic in Memphis. I emailed him immediately and described my symptoms.
That was Saturday, May 15. When I had not received a response by the following Tuesday, I began losing hope and started to cry, something very atypical for me.
Somewhere amidst my tears, I remembered a story I heard on "The West Wing" one night.
A man was watching the news when a weather bulletin broke in . . . “The area is about to flood. Evacuate immediately!” The man, a devout Christian, asked God to save him and refused to leave.
The next morning, a police car arrived to rescue him. Again he prayed, and refused to leave. When the floods came, a boat came to save him and he again refused to leave. When the flood waters reached the second floor of his house, a helicopter came to rescue him, but he told them God would protect him and still refused to leave.
Minutes later, the man was washed away and drowned. When he met God, he said, “I prayed for help, Lord. Why didn’t you help me?”
God answered, “I sent you word to evacuate by the weather bulletin. I sent a police car, a boat, and a helicopter to rescue you. How can I help you if you refuse my help?”
As I remembered this story, I began to cry even harder. I placed my hand over my deaf ear and prayed a simple prayer: “God, if you can’t perform a miracle for me, please send someone to rescue me.” I removed my hand from my ear to answer the phone.
“Hello, Molly, this is Dr. Shea. I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner, but my secretary just showed me your email. From what you describe in your message, I think I can help you if you can get here right away.”
I told him I could hear a faint dial tone and that nobody believed me. He did.
After I hung up, I listened for the dial tone again. It was even louder than it had been before my prayer and the call.
My husband went outside and called me on the phone. I couldn’t understand the words, but I heard him. It wasn’t my imagination. God had answered my prayer. That call from Dr. Shea was my lifeboat.
I left for Memphis immediately. It’s only a five-hour drive from Laurel, Mississippi—unless your husband knows a shortcut. In that case, add an extra hour.
After almost a full day of tests, Dr. Shea told me I had not had a stroke. I had Meniere's Disease.
The nerve in my ear wasn’t dead, and he was positive he could help me with the treatment he had discovered. Within minutes, I was in surgery and returned two more times over the next two days.
Dr. Shea’s treatment involved having my inner ear infused with dexamethasone through a small incision in the round window in my middle ear, while also receiving intravenous dexamethasone.
After the 3-minute treatment, I had to lie still for 2 hours while the medicine drained down to my inner ear. This was done for 3 days. That’s it.
I returned home Sunday, May 23. My hearing loss has been reduced from 100% to 42%. I can now understand 88% of everything that is said. Dr. Shea strongly feels that I will be totally cured in time. I’ve known Dr. Shea for a few days, but he has changed my life forever.
Was this a miracle? Probably not. It’s really just another day at Dr. Shea’s clinic.
After he studied the final tests before I left his clinic, he had a sparkle in his eyes like a kid on Christmas morning. “Molly, I knew we could do it. Give me a big hug and get out of here. I have patients waiting.”
Dr. Shea is nearing 80 years old. Maybe he can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound or fly faster than a speeding bullet, but you can bet he will run down the clinic’s corridor at record-breaking speed and hurdle a few gurneys blocking his way to get to a patient who needs him.
He is my Superman and my hero, and I’ll be eternally grateful to him.
I don’t blame the other doctors for giving me the wrong diagnosis. They don’t have the sophisticated equipment for testing that Dr. Shea has.
I do blame them for telling me unequivocally that there was no treatment. There is a treatment. Many times there is a complete cure if patients are sent to Dr. Shea soon enough.
Patients should be told immediately about this amazing man in Memphis. I hate to think of all the people learning to live with symptoms like mine or deafness who think there is no help available. There is a treatment and a cure.
That is the purpose of this article—to let the world know that no one has to live with these symptoms. Do not wait. Tell your doctor about Dr. Shea and call the Shea Clinic in Memphis.
Get that lifeboat launched to rescue you as quickly as possible.
Dr. Shea is an amazing doctor and an equally amazing man. He graduated from Notre Dame in only 18 months and graduated from Harvard Medical School at the age of 22. He is married to a former Miss America, Lynda Lee Meade from Mississippi. (I tell him that is his real claim to fame.)
If you want more information, call me. I CAN HEAR YOU NOW.
Dr. John Shea, Jr.
Shea Ear Clinic
6133 Popular Pike at Ridgeway
Memphis, TN 38119
Phone (901) 761-8720
Fax (901) 763-4400
Toyce (aka Molly's assistant)
True Blue Forever
Read the first chapter at http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
See the hunk at http://www.southernbelleauthor.com/joycepersonalpage
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Molly Brent
Awareness Member
Post Number:
32
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 06:42 pm: | |
It's true. I don't know how I ever got along without Joyce's help.
Remember those old folks and the computer jokes.....Well, I looked for an ON button for four days. However, my recent problems were not operator error.......
I was having an average 10 virus checks a day with at least 10 t0 20 found each time. It has been in the shop four times.....I am getting a new one Tues although this one is fairly new..
Molly
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Claudia Turner VanLydegraf
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1302
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 06:57 pm: | |
That is a totally wonderful story and tribute to Dr. Shea. He must indeed, be a beautiful man. For one, I simply love the old doctors who took the time and patience to get to the right answers and always wanted to do everything they could for the patient, nevermind the timing or the cost or the discomfort to themselves.
I used to work for just such a doctor in Hermosa Beach, who up until the middle 80's was still making house calls to his elderly patients. He was in his 70's then. But he wouldn't give up or slow down. He was one of Eisenhower's flight surgeons in WWII. One of those totally brilliant men who learned medicine by the seat of their pants and always felt for what the patient was feeling. Not like those nowdays who administer tests and verdicts, not really feeling what they are saying. His name was Dr. G. Douglas Johnston. He must be 85-90 now, and I think that he might still practice a bit of medicine, when he feels the need. I tried to call his office a few months ago and he was still listed as active.
That was a really a great piece, Molly, and thanks Joyce for helping Molly to share it.
Claudia |
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