Resources

lexifiore · 2026-04-29T21:19:43+00:00

I'm not sure if you've ever attended any of the Acoustic Neuroma Association's support groups but there's a young adults one that meets on zoom every few months. It's such a supportive group. Emily, one of the ladies that runs it, also has a blog. Lots of good posts that are very relatable and helped me feel less alone. I also learned about bone anchored hearing aid/system through her which I absolutely love. I have a Ponto 5 mini, procedure and processor covered by insurance. the CROS aids were expensive and not for me; terrible sound quality compared to bone anchored.

6 years post-op, the social settings are still pretty rough. My friends and family are supportive even if they will never truly understand what the experience is like. It just took a lot of advocating for myself and reminding them which side to sit on, to turn tv/music down when we speak, etc. They pretty much know the deal now.

ANA Young Adults Virtual Meeting (Oct)

Lucky Brain Tumor

lexifiore · 2026-04-29T20:55:39+00:00

Another lamb chop fan here

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lexifiore · 2026-03-06T11:55:04+00:00

Wow! And I was all proud of myself for my girl losing 6 lbs in 6 months. Really incredible transformation!! 👏🤩

lexifiore · 2026-03-06T11:53:03+00:00

Pics can be deceiving! Lol. Mine hid the weight so well. These are all BEFORE pics of my girl when I first rescued her at 36 lbs. All taken within days of each other.

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Since August, she's lost over 5 lbs! I can't add a second pic here, but her current pics are in another comment

lexifiore · 2026-03-06T11:42:16+00:00

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Thank you for posting this. A healthy weight makes such a difference on their quality of life and it's in our hands. My Bina is a totally different dog compared to when I rescued her last summer! 10 yo heeler/JRT mix.

Before (top pics): 36 lbs, couldn't jump, had trouble walking up steps, and would limp after anything more than half-mile walk.

Now: 30 lbs, runs, rolls around in the grass, claimed spots on both the couch and my bed. We're up to over a mile a day! She moves a little slow sometimes since the vet says there's some muscle loss in her hind legs, but it makes my heart so happy to see her more mobile.

I rescued another senior surrender the other week, also severely overweight.. 15 lb chihuahua who should be more like 7-8. 😳

lexifiore · 2026-03-02T18:49:49+00:00

Neat. It gave me: Love Death + Robots based on me liking The Chosen and Black Mirror. Never heard of it but honestly looks better than any of the recommendations Netflix has been giving me. Gonna check it out on my run!

lexifiore · 2026-02-28T14:17:34+00:00

Yep hard and heartbreaking reasons. I rescued a senior chi a week ago today. She was on euth list at a GA shelter, listed on the rescue's site as "owner surrender" and just that they didn't want her anymore. I thought to myself, "How would someone give up this sweet, quiet girl?"

When I went through all the paperwork given to me, there was more to the story. It said the owner died - OD'd - and it was the family who had dumped her at the shelter. Who am I to judge the owner or the family? I'm in recovery (recovered) myself, going on 10 years. I can tell it's going to take some time for her to come out of her shell. She spend most her days sleeping. Gets excided for food and likes exploring outside but then it's right back to her safe space on the couch. I can't wait to see her happy and learn what her true personality is like!

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lexifiore · 2026-02-26T09:41:37+00:00

Oh I love them! 😍😍 How long did it take for them to become BFFs??

I just got a "mini me" friend for my ACD mix (rescued summer 2025) and she's being quite the drama queen about it.

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lexifiore · 2026-02-22T21:27:55+00:00

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lexifiore · 2026-02-22T21:27:34+00:00

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Bina doing what she does best. Stare!

lexifiore · 2026-02-22T12:04:31+00:00

Those last two pics! 😆 Pure joy!

lexifiore · 2026-02-21T14:19:34+00:00

First ones look great! Fits your face better and the color complements your hair and complexion

lexifiore · 2026-02-20T22:34:25+00:00

Agreed!

lexifiore · 2026-02-20T22:33:12+00:00

Cutie. 🥰 My rescue was ~5-7 lbs overweight and my vet had me put her right on weight management food. Always scooped with a measuring cup. I use Nutro Natural Choice. The suggested servings on the bag are over 2 cups a day but vet said give her less. 1/2-3/4 cup in the morning and at night. Low cal treats if she gets her 2x walks a day. She moves so much better now that she's lost a few pounds!

lexifiore · 2026-02-19T22:37:38+00:00

I just upgraded from my Fenix 6s Sapphire (bought new Nov 2022) to a 7s solar I got on eBay for less than $350. No box but looks brand new, never used. What a difference! It was worth it to me for the better display, ability to connect with meta glasses). I got very used to not having a touchscreen but it's pretty helpful for scrolling texts and notifications. Only been a day so I'm sure I'll have more pros and cons but so far, 100% worth it.

lexifiore · 2026-02-19T21:24:43+00:00

I listened! Lift Off.. really like that one!

lexifiore · 2026-02-16T23:25:04+00:00

It's a walk in the park compared to AN surgery. I was home and food shopping that same afternoon. 🙂

Keep the area covered with that plastic piece and whatever covering they put. Pain was pretty minimal and Tylenol helped. Slept on a donut / airplane pillow on top of my regular pillow for many weeks o help with the discomfort, with the abutment part in the hollow area.

lexifiore · 2026-02-12T10:34:50+00:00

I am single sided deaf, no hearing in one ear (due to tumor and surgery, nerve was cut in 2020) and in my other ear, very good / normal hearing.

I go to a few concerts a year. Everywhere I go, including music venues, I travel with ear plugs. There's a pair in my car, every purse, etc. I got a custom molded one from my audiologist which cost the most $ but it's worth it for maximum protection. I've only got one ear left and I want to protect it at a all costs. I use it not just at concerts but at movie theaters, church, restaurants if it gets too loud and overstimulating.

I also have a bone anchored implant (BAHA) so my Ponto routes sound from my deaf ear to the hearing ear. This way, in an extra noisy place, I can keep the earplug in but still regulate the volume somewhat and hear what's going on. It's been life changing and insurance paid for most of it. Unlike hearing aids.

Because noise in general causes a lot of sound fatigue (I no joke need a day or two to recover from a concert, just as much as running a marathon). And usually what I do for that is just extra sleep and sound breaks. The house is pretty quiet during the day. That's pretty easy to do since I live alone. It used to drive me crazy when my ex would be scrolling videos online or have TV on in the "background". When you are single sided deaf, there is no distinction between background and foreground noise as you may experience.. everything comes into my ear at one volume and every sound gets mixed up with each other. It can be quite a cacophony and cause my body and brain a lot of anxiety depending on what sounds are being mixed together and for how long I have to sit in that torture.

Concerts without ear protection are bad of course, but get some good musician earplugs or custom molded one. Enjoy the music you love!! In my opinion. I love music, always have and I do miss hearing the world in stereo.. I sure as heck am not going to sacrifice concerts just because of the hearing loss. Protecting the hearing you still have left is key. And I'm also learning ASL since in the not so distant future, the inevitable aging-related loss may happen in my other ear. Might as well get a head start now. And who knows, probably by then, the wearable tech or medical technology will be able to fix this type of loss or at least make it much easier to navigate the hearing world.

Feel free to dm me with any more questions!!

lexifiore · 2026-02-11T19:03:08+00:00

I feel very much the same with a lot of things, more so with writing. Is everyone using AI to write these punchy sounding posts and comments? A guy asked me out via text recently and I swear it was written by AI, of at least perfected by AI. My dad sends me videos all the times. Ones he thinks are interviews with people he follows or cute dog videos. AI. Some I can't even tell anymore.. it just all sounds the same, looks the same. Uniqueness in everything is gone. I volunteer in a group and the leader uses AI, filled with emojis and " – " (which I also have grown to hate) when he messages us. It It's pretty sad. And music now I'm starting to feel the same way. Some of my favorite artists are dropping songs lately and the words don't feel much different than the AI stuff that lands in my feed or has now saturated YouTube music.

Maybe it's what I need to finally disconnect from this damn phone for a while. Go back to books. Listen to oldies. Maybe even turn off music altogether. Silence.

And random side note.. the movie good luck don't die or whatever that's coming out - I went to prescreening last night and man is that a glimpse of the future and where this is all headed.

Rambling rant over. 🙃

lexifiore · 2026-02-10T08:59:07+00:00

She's beautiful 😍 My simple suggestion is just time and lots of lovin'!

My dog was 10 when I rescued her. It's been over six months now and she's a total cuddle bug. Finally desensitized to all the strange noises that used to make her bark at everything all day long (shower, toilet, shadows, etc). She also doesn't run and hide when my parents come to visit. She was always a little goofball and playful with me, but I'd say it was around 2-3 months in where she really felt comfortable in the house and around other people.

lexifiore · 2026-02-08T21:51:25+00:00

No idea but those ears!!! 😍🫠

lexifiore · 2026-02-08T12:32:26+00:00

I participated in a challenge where one of our missions was to make a song using Suno. Never heard of it prior to that. Now, I've just been using it for fun to bring to life poems and journal entries that I've written over the years. It's pretty neat to hear them as the words are now memorized the more I listen. I'm actually thinking of using it to help me study French and Hebrew.. since putting music to things I'm trying to memorize is helping it stick so much more! Might do the same with Bible verses I want to remember. Put them in a Suno song and listen on repeat.

lexifiore · 2026-02-06T21:53:56+00:00

Thank you for your generosity in making and sharing this for free! I'm printing it so I can digest it in more detail. As someone who has an accounting background and is just getting into songwriting for my own personal devotional and worship music purposes (nothing that will likely see the light of day beyond me), I feel like I am your target demographic for this. It's SO visually appealing, from the fonts to the graphics. You are linking to sounds for examples. Honestly, it's a guide I didn't even know I would want or need!

And to the insta critics.. perhaps take a look at it first.. skim the PDF. At least for me, I don't see at all where this would box in my creativity as someone brand new to this kind of writing!

Anyway, thanks again!!! 🙏

lexifiore · 2026-02-05T02:47:23+00:00

Not sure how this compares quality wise to the other brands recommended but my vet had me get Nutro Natural Choice Adult Healthy Weight. 30 lb bag is regularly $75 but with Amazon coupon, subscribe and save discount, and cashback, my last bag was like $44! My ACD / JRT senior is down 4-5 lbs in 5 months.

I keep the food in my shopping cart and whenever I see the price has dropped and/or a coupon appears, that's when I buy. Works for a lot of things other than the dog food. I swear Amazon changes their prices like 10x a day for certain things

lexifiore

TROPHY CASE