Huh? What’s That?

Huh? What’s That?

Well anyone that knows me has probably heard me say that. I’ve always known that I’ve had hearing loss. I remember getting hearing tests early on in grade school, and the nurse not believing that I couldn’t hear some of the sounds (she told me to go home and clean the wax out of my ears!?!). I also remember an early childhood trip to an audiologist that confirmed the hearing loss, and them saying that I shouldn’t be exposed to loud noises.

Bridget kept telling me that I didn’t hear her well… well I guess many wives think that their husbands don’t hear them well, but I knew she was really right with this one. Recently she had me make a doctor’s appointment to go and see Dr. Mauriello at Ear, Nose and Throat Associates of Chester County. I was reluctant at first because I hate going to see the doctor… and I had seen Dr. Mauriello before for my CPAP surgery, and decided not to go with him since he wanted to do a temporary tracheotomy as part of the procedure in order to keep my airway open.

But she persisted and I went back anyway. He was just as nice as he was when I saw him a couple years back. He even asked about how my sleep apnea was going and was pleased to hear that it had improved. He then had an audiologist in the office do a standard hearing test, which including repeating words she said and listening for beeps. I was shocked when I saw the results with Dr. Mauriello.

My hearing at low frequencies (like men’s voices) was within normal ranges, with just 10-20 decibels of loss. However, at higher frequencies (like in women’s and children’s voices), my loss increased as the frequencies got higher, up to a 80 dB hearing loss. For reference, 80 decibels is about the sound level of a telephone dial tone, or vacuum cleaner.

This is what my audiogram looked like (this isn’t mine, but very close to what mine looks like):

To the doctor, it wasn’t a question of if I needed to get hearing aids. He was excited that the hearing aids would solve my hearing problems completely and make an incredible amount of difference in my life. So he make an appointment for me to meet with his director of audiology the next week.

I went into that appointment after doing a lot of research thinking I wanted a Siemens open fit behind the ear (BTE) hearing aid. But she recommended the Phonak brand, since they are the largest worldwide manufacturer and the technology leader in hearing aids. She also said that a completely in the canal (CIC) type of hearing aid would fit my lifestyle better.

So we decided to go with the top of the line Phonak hearing aid, called the Exélia. These hearing aids have all of the latest technology included in them, which makes them ideal. My ear canal was too small for them to fit completely in the canal (CIC), but I got the next smallest size, in the canal (ITC). So they can’t be seen at all from the front of me, and when looking directly at my ear they are less noticeable. They are designed and colored to look like a shadow.

Here’s what they look like:

I’ve been wearing them for a week now, and I am simply amazed! I had a meeting today and could hear every single word spoken, even from the people over the speaker phone.  In the past, I could never hear them at all, because I couldn’t see their lips moving. Apparently I depended on reading lips and putting jumbled sounding words together in order to make sense of what I was hearing (or not hearing).

I was even talking and adding my input much more in the meeting. Most every other time I would sit there and listen but not really hear everything. Typically before I would only just say yes/no when asked a direct question. 

I also used to like to listen to music with the bass turned down and the treble all the way up, to compensate for my hearing… now I am listening to songs I’ve heard a million times in the past like they are brand new, since I can hear notes, sounds, lyrics and even instruments that I’ve never heard before. Everything sounds so new, and so clear now!

Needless to say I am very happy… happy that I can hear and interact better now than I could ever had before. Happy that Bridget had me get a hearing test. And happy that she added the hearing aids that I wanted to our budget, even when that means cutting back in other places.