Happy B-day, Jennie-O.

Nice thoughts are welcomed....

For quite some time I suffered from cramps in the legs when I was asleep, sometimes so bad I had to walk and walk to work them out. Several medicines were tried to no avail (including some of the very new ones). Finally, the doc tried quinine sulfate and it worked!

For nearly a year now I've been cramp-free.

Last October I had a hearing screening done, and it was recommended that I have a full hearing evaluation. A couple of weeks ago I had that done.

Apparently quinine is ototoxic -- it can kill the cililia in your middle ear and caused hearing loss in high registers (over 2,000 db). This has apparently happened to me. I have nearly constant tinnitus ("ringing" in the ears) and have been asking my wife to repeat things.

Years ago a grenade simulator went off about a meter to my left and left me with a 10% hearing loss in my left ear. It was no matter then. Now I may need hearing aids.

I'm trying a new medicine, starting tonight. Sometimes, a few times, ototoxic hearing loss can be reversed (although it is uncommon where quinine is involved).

Well, I'd rather hear than not. But the news has been hard to take.

Don't take chances with your hearing. Wear hearing protectors when you use lawn mowers or anything with a small engine, if you shoot or are around shooting, at rock concerts. Keep your MP3 player turned DOWN, and likewise when you play recordings. And watch the medicines....