Day 11- Tell Me a Story
Journaling:
A few years back, I began to notice that I was not hearing things as well as I once had. I went to the ENT and had my hearing tested and found out that I had some loss, but not enough to need hearing aids.
During the time since then, I have slowly started needing to turn the sound up on the radio or tv, then began using closed captioning on the tv and Youtube videos. I struggled a lot with dialogue, as it seemed to be mumbled. The kids thought it was fun to mumble or just mouth things when I complained about not being able to hear them.
During the last year, I really couldn’t hear or understand a lot of conversations, especially when someone was behind me or when the person speaking to me was wearing a mask for Covid. I realized that I must have been reading lips more than I thought, mostly at the grocery store- (maybe because that is almost the only place I have gone during the quarantine/Safer At Home orders.)
In August, I went back to my ENT and had my hearing tested again. I have more loss now and have reached the point where hearing aids can help. I scheduled a hearing aid fitting for September. The aids helped a ton when I was fitted, but my Dr's office had very expensive hearing aids, and I was not feeling comfortable spending almost 5k on hearing aids when we have 2 kids in college and one approaching that age.
Jeff reminded me that Costco has a hearing aid center and they tend to be less expensive, so I made an appointment there in November. Jane, the audiologist, was very helpful, and she redid my hearing test to clarify my need for hearing enhancement. I had had a bit more loss just since the test in August, so that was a bit scary to learn.
I tried a few different types of aids, from the ones with replaceable batteries to ones that were totally in-canal, and decided upon these by Reston. They are rechargeable, and fit over my hear with a small part that drops down into the canal. I also got a Smart Mic which helps with phone conversations by directly connecting my hearing aids to my phone. I have enjoyed using the Smart Mic to listen to Podcasts and music without earphones or earbuds.
I ended up spending about $2200 and thankfully our insurance covers 2k. The other 200 was for the Smart Mic, which is considered an extra component.
I chose the charcoal platinum color, which really blends in with my hair now that it is mostly grey. I have been surprised with how hard it is for others to see the aids when I am wearing them. I recharge them each night, and clean them in the mornings before putting them on.
I have struggled a bit with mask straps, they tend to want to wrap around my hearing aids and I have to be careful when taking my mask off as my aids want to come off with the mask straps. Thankfully, I have sewn some masks with straps that tie behind my head instead of ear elastic straps. I guess I just need to sew some more of the tie-strap masks!
Here’s to hearing better, and being more confident when out in public that I won’t miss comments and be considered rude, not hard-of-hearing.
Supplies:
Designed By Soco- Love Triangles No.6- template
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Love-Triangles-No.-6.html
Sahin Designs- Magic is You- papers
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Magic-is-You-Papers.html and stamp
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Magic-is-You-Stamps.html
Heather Joyce- Acetate Alpha- title (recolored)
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Acetate-Alphas-No.11.html
Font- NeoBulletin Trash
