Gennady Murray, a mom influencer living in New Zealand, revealed that she “suddenly” began experiencing hearing loss in her right ear at 36 weeks pregnant.
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In an Instagram post including a picture of her in the hospital, Murray shared the long story about what happened.
While getting her toddler daughter back to sleep around four in the morning, Murray “suddenly experienced a high pitched ringing in my right ear.”
“Within a short time I lost all hearing in that ear, one side of my face went numb, and I lost the ability to walk properly,” she explained.
After being rushed to a hospital four hours away, Murray went through “countless tests” before being diagnosed with “profound sudden hearing loss.” She is “completely deaf on that side,” and currently they “still don’t know why it happened.”
The hearing loss, which is so bad hearing aids won’t work, also affects Murray’s balance and ability to walk.
“Right now we’re taking things one day at a time and hoping treatment gives me the best possible chance of regaining some sort of hearing as they have said it’s not something that can happen over night it will be weeks and months and still might see no change I’ll also be focusing on my ability to regain my balance and walk,” she wrote.
Two days later, Murray shared another post giving more details about her condition.
“At this stage, the doctors believe I have viral labyrinthitis,” she wrote. According to the Cleveland Clinic, labyrinthitis is a type of inner ear infection.
“The reason they can’t say with complete certainty what caused this is because it’s not very common, but thankfully we advocated for me early and treatment started within the critical 48 hour window, giving me the best possible chance of recovering some hearing.”
As she continues to undergo testing to understand what is happening to her, Murray is staying at her mother-in-law’s house. She is also relearning how to walk, which is “hard.”
“We have a baby boy due in just a few weeks, I can’t drive, I can’t hear from one ear, and I can’t even pick up my little girl or carry her on my hip or bathe her or dance to our favourite songs,” she wrote.
She also asked that people refrain from sending “suggestions” on how to get better.
“I know every message comes from a place of love, but I’m surrounded by an amazing team of specialists who are doing everything they can. Right now, I’m just taking it one day at a time and hoping for the best.”