My Hearing Aid Saga

You might recall in an earlier post I mentioned that my accompanying John to his follow-up appointment for his hearing aids proved to be quite beneficial indeed. Now I'll explain.

Naturally, John and I go to the same audiologist. Actually, we go to the audiologist whose office is shared by my ENT specialist. John only needs to see the audiologist but I also have to see the specialist because I have "ear" issues. Let's back up a bit.

In my early teen years, I spent many week-ends auditioning loud rock bands to play at our Saturday night community dances. Saturday evenings, of course, were spent enjoying the sounds of those bands playing in the school gymnasium. My hearing suffered. (Some of the bands? The Guess Who; The Staccatos; The W-5)

I was left with, for lack of a better description, a rigid stapes bone in the right ear, which basically means that sound doesn't get through on that side very well. Back when this hearing loss was first diagnosed, the only solution was risky surgery -- and I am not a risk taker so I opted not to go that route. Since my early 20s, I relied primarily on my left ear to do my hearing for me.

Then, in 2005 when I couldn't hear my beautiful boy talking to me, my daughter convinced me that I had to do something; my hearing was definitely getting worse. By then, technology had advanced such that a hearing aid was finally an option for my right ear. While there was evidence of hearing loss in my left ear, it was not yet "ready" for an aid. So I've been wearing a hearing aid in my right ear since September 2005, and my goodness, what a difference. I could not believe how noisy a place this world really is!

Then, last summer during my annual hearing test, it was discovered that the hearing in my left ear had declined to the point where I now needed assistance for that ear as well (a fact that was not lost on my daughter). Of course, we won't be surprised to learn that I have what is known as "awkward hearing loss" -- each ear's hearing loss is from a different cause and is of different degree (most people, as they age, lose their hearing in both ears equally). So, last September I bought top-of-the-line, super-duper, Cadillacs of hearing aids. These babies are programmed for my specific hearing loss and are fully automatic: they know when I enter a noisy room; they know when I leave a noisy room; they know when I pick up the phone; they know when I hang up the phone. I'm surprised they don't change their own batteries (I wish they would change their own batteries!). But my oh my, the sounds I had to learn all over again! Would you believe I didn't recognize the ticking of the wall clock in the bathroom? I actually went in search of what could be causing that funny noise!

Now, back to the visit a couple of weeks ago for John's follow-up. The audiologist asked John how his aids were working in certain settings and there ensued a discussion about how they work in a restaurant. After he described how his worked, I described how mine worked (very unlike his). The audiologist offered to take a look at the programming of mine after she finished addressing all of John's issues (his hearing aids ended up being sent back for adjustments).

Fast forward to her review of my hearing aids. She asked several questions; she attempted to reprogram the aids; she consulted my file; she consulted a colleague. "Mrs. Fowler," she says, "the reason you are having the problem you describe is because you are supposed to have two microphones and you only have one." Effectively, what is happening when I enter a restaurant is, the one microphone is shutting down because I'm in a noisy environment, but I'm left with no means of hearing the people I'm dining with (the function of the second microphone).

A very interesting discussion followed about why, if I SHOULD have two microphones, there is only one; why I didn't get what I paid for; why it wasn't noticed before now since I had been in complaining of this same issue on two different occasions (to two different technicians mind you); how isn't it interesting how this might never have come to light had I not accompanied my husband to his appointment.

Anyway, today, we took delivery of John's new hearing aids (with which he thinks he is going to be VERY happy) and new moulds were taken for my new hearing aids -- the ones that will have TWO microphones.

The audiologist is heading off on holidays so it will be late-August before I get my new hearing aids but hey, that's not too bad. A mere eleven months after I paid for my high-end, super duper, Cadillacs of hearing aids, I will actually take delivery of what I bought!