Young woman may lose hearing, not dreams

EAST NORRITON, Pa. - July 14, 2010 (WPVI) -- A young woman who once dreamed of being a singer had her dreams changed drastically 3 years ago.

20-year-old Kristen D'Antonio sings about wishful thinking from her East Norriton living room, but that wish may soon fall silent.

"Being where I am right now is really scary," Kristen said.

In 2007, Kristen was diagnosed with a rare genetic illness called Neurofibromatosis type 2, a disorder of the central nervous system that forms tumors on the nerves that send sudden impulses from her inner ears to her brain.

"It was like all my senses would turn off, I would see like that crackly white snow like on a television and I would hear "chh" and I wasn't able to talk, it was almost like I wasn't there," Kristen said.

The tumors are not malignant, but they will eventually make her deaf.

"My entire life has been centered around music and to have that taken away from me is unsettling," Kristen said.

So Kristen has put together a "bucket list" of sorts, hoping to continue to do what's she's always done, to fill her mind and her soul with as many concerts as possible, but this time, to do it before her world goes silent.

"Even if I lose the song in itself, the way it sounds and being able to hear that song again, I still have the memory of that show," Kristen said.

On the top of her list are the Foo Fighters and U2.

When she's really sad, she listens to Bon Jovi, the one artist on her bucket list she hopes to meet.

Kristen's hearing loss, so far, is gradual. She could be totally deaf in ten years. A tumor has also paralyzed her left vocal chord, which could leave her unable to sing or speak, but her outlook remains upbeat.

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pennsylvania, montgomery county, U2, bon jovi, local/state

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