"Are you sure you can hear well enough to be a nurse?" I remember the question as if it was yesterday.  Before medical school, I was a nurse.  I remember school and walking the halls of the School of Nursing in Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  It seemed like it was never going to end.  The mornings would never end, the lectures continued without end.  I obviously had a sleep disorder because I fell asleep almost during every lecture.  It was embarassing because I was in the front row! 

I had to be up close to the professors because I have a hearing impairment.  I wear hearing aids every day.  I was born with sensorineural hearing loss, as was my baby sister.  We both wear hearing aides. 

The question haunts me because it sounded discriminatory.  At the time, I obviously was naive and innocent, and nothing should stop me from becoming a caregiver.  I didn't answer it truthfully.  I said, "of course!" and went my way, but deep inside, I needed help.  I bought super strong hearing aides and a super strong electronic stethoscope, and thus began my journey to become a caregiver for the sick.  It has been the best journey in my life.