Sunday, February 08, 2015

Louie Giglio - Indescribable

Dee Sholl's story !;An incredible journey.

FWBC alum is a master pianist...but can’t hear By Andrea Osmun g05 Published: Nov 08, 2014 The following article is featured in the FWVine, Winter, 2014. Dee and her husband, Keith g67, shared in part of the Sunday Sing (on Saturday). For a link to the video, click here For a link to purchase Dee's CD "From My Heart", click here “Dee” Sholl g64 is a master pianist and organist and uses her musical talent to minister to others -- despite not being able to fully hear. Dee played the piano and partnered with her husband, Keith g67, who led a portion of the Sunday Sing during Homecoming. She shared her story of losing her hearing as a child and then finding a large brain tumor that almost rendered her paralyzed and unable to play the piano as an adult. There was not a dry eye in the room. Losing her hearing When Dee was a baby, she contracted a severe case of the measles from her brother, who brought the illness home from school. “I got it the worst out of the three of us kids,” she said. “I was put in a darkened bedroom, I refused to eat, and I didn’t know my parents. I was very sick. The doctor came to see me. That was back when they still made house calls. I don’t know what he did, whether he gave me a shot, I don’t know. But my family and church family began to pray because they didn’t know if I would pull through. I did pull through.” Tinkering with the piano When Dee was three, she was drawn to the large piano her dad bought for her. “The amazing thing is, my father was not a musician in any way, shape or form,” she said. “When he had a little red-haired girl, he said, ‘I’m going to buy her a piano.’ It was strange because he was not a musician. It was a God-ordained thing.” Dee and her family lived on a farm. They had no neighbors and no TV to entertain them. So the piano gave her something to do. “I’d come home from church when I was three, and my mother would catch me going to the piano and picking out the last hymn I’d heard. I would work on it all week. Then, the next week, I’d pick out the last hymn again. I was playing by ear.” By the time Dee was four, she became bored with the melody and began to watch the church pianist, who was using both hands. She would come home, find a note and a chord that would match and taught herself to play with both hands through trial and error. “My mother said I did it quite quickly,” she said. “I had a knack for matching tones.” Discovering the art of lip reading Throughout grade school, Dee’s teachers sent home notes to her parents, saying they didn’t think she could hear very well. Her doctor said her tonsillitis was connected to the Eustachian tubes in her ears and promised her parents that when her tonsils were taken out, she’d get back to normal. That never happened. Her parents started asking her teachers each year to seat her in the front row so she could pay attention. “When I was in the fourth grade, my mother took me to the eye doctor. During the procedure to check my eyes, I realized I didn’t know what the doctor was saying, and he realized I wasn’t responding,” Dee said. “I remember, he dragged the stool across the wooden floor and I could hear that. He talked into my ear so I could respond.” The doctor told her mother that Dee’s eyesight was fine, but she had severe hearing loss. He recommended a hearing doctor down the street, who examined Dee and told her mother she could hear only vowels. “He also said I was the best lip reader he ever came across,” she said. “I didn’t know I couldn’t hear and that I was reading lips.” Finding comfort in the music Even though she couldn’t fully hear, Dee continued to play the piano, finding comfort in not having to pay attention to words, just the music. She became the church pianist at the age of nine. Her father placed a mirror on the piano so she could see the worship leader and read lips to find out what hymn they were singing. When she accompanied people, she watched them closely so she could stay with them. Back then, Dee opted not to get a hearing aid, because hearing aids were big, bulky knobs doctors put in your ears, with a long chord. She thought people would laugh at her, and she had grown accustomed to reading lips. “I was able to hide [my hearing loss] from people, because I didn’t want to be treated differently,” she said. “I fooled a lot of people.” Adjusting to a world of sounds When Dee started college, the president told her she had to wear a hearing aid. The change was dramatic for her. “I truly lived in a quiet world,” she said. “I had one hearing aid but it was enough to drive me nuts. I couldn’t hear all this noise. It made me nervous. It was quite an adjustment.” Professor Ira Gerig told her she had to start wearing hearing aids when she played the piano because she developed a “heavy touch.” Whenever she played, she would pound out the notes so she could hear them. Professor Gerig taught her to play more softly and mind the dynamics. “Because of him, I got adjusted. Now I wear two hearing aids,” Dee said. “I had a wonderful experience working with Ira Gerig. I’m grateful for him in my life.” Professor Gerig also convinced Dee to learn the organ. She originally didn’t like the organ, but Ira Gerig told her church pianists were “a dime a dozen.” So she majored in piano performance and sacred music and minored in organ. She never regretted it. “I’ve been the organist and pianist in every church we’ve been in,” she said. “The Lord has really used me.” Trusting Christ in the unknown When she turned 38, she started having severe headaches, and they continued for another two and half years. Although she was tested at the hospital, the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong until she became very sick. Finally, they discovered through a CAT Scan that Dee had a large, 10-centimeter brain tumor. It was caused by the radiation she received for her hearing loss when she was nine. The tumor was so large that Dee had to take steroids for five days to shrink it down before the surgery. The night before the surgery, the surgeon and his team explained that her tumor was pressed up against her brain stem. She had a 50-percent chance of getting through the surgery. “If I did, I might be in a coma or vegetative state, paralyzed,” she said. “That struck a nerve with me. I said, ‘You mean I may never play piano again?’ The doctor said, ‘I can’t promise that.’” When Dee was alone that night, she rededicated her life to Christ and decided that she’d be okay no matter what happened. If that meant she’d be paralyzed, she knew God would give her a new ministry. She would still serve Him. Thankfully, she did make it through that surgery. Since then, she’s had two more brain tumors and has had to go regularly to the Cleveland Clinic for MRIs. The doctors watch her closely and extract the tumors when they’re still small, using a Gamma Knife. “It’s not painful,” she said. “I have to be careful and stay up in a chair for 24 hours, because (the tumor) could swell. I have to keep my head up, but it’s okay. I can do that. I’m so thankful. I did not want another surgery.” Sharing hope and healing with others Dee and her husband Keith have been married since after they graduated from FWBC. They have two sons, and they live in Sylvania, Ohio, outside Toledo. Dee has been teaching the piano for more than 50 years now, ever since she was 14 years old and her neighbors asked her to teach their children. “The Lord has allowed me to do ministry where I share my story,” she said. “I’ve found a lot of hurting people who haven’t learned how to trust the Lord. They are without hope. I share how Christ is our hope. When we accept Him as our Savior, He is there. He is faithful. “I’m still playing the piano and through it all, God has been with me and has a plan for my life. I’m just being obedient to whatever that is.”

Our pastor's wife can't hear, but makes the piano sound like angels !

Dee Sholl's Testimoney and Song; Our pastor's wife.