Eh?

Tomorrow I will go to my audiologist to have a hearing check and a hearing aid adjustment.

 I am two minds about this visit.

 I am grateful. Grateful that I can afford to hear. Very few insurance policies cover the ability to hear. Whether that be hearing aids or Cochlear Implants, it is basically a cash based business. Almost as if it was boob job or a face lift. Why, in this day and age, would some people have to chose between rent or gasoline and hearing? My hearing aids cost $2700.00 A PIECE! My loss is A-typical so the average Costco type product is not helpful to me. Can you believe that something so TINY could cost that? In a day and age when an IPhone has 4 processor cores and processes at 2.34 GHz costs about $700.00. Do you know how easy it is to lose a tiny little flesh colored tear drop shaped button? I have not lost one yet but I have had a number of very manic searches.

 The other is nervousness. I have a distinct feeling that the results of the test will not be a good one. A confirmation of what I really already know. It is getting harder and harder to understand what people are saying. I know it...they know it. I walked in on the Boy Scout telling my Gigi how bad it is getting. He said it out of concern...he's scared too. 

 I have let go of my dream to walk the Camino de Santiago. It frightens me when I cannot hear important things. I now take someone with me when it is critical to get certain information. I am mad at myself for not being brave enough to do it. Maybe I will gain confidence and do it someday but, for now, it is off the table.

 All that being said.....I am still very grateful.

Comments

  1. anne marie in phillyOctober 4, 2018 at 2:50 AM

    grateful you can see an MD and get the help you need.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marie SmithOctober 4, 2018 at 4:53 AM

    Thinking of you today, Linda.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Margaret (Peggy or Peg too)October 4, 2018 at 6:27 AM

    By chance did you see the program Sunday Morning on CBS this past Sunday. It was about advancements in hearing aid and making them more affordable. I hope that can help you.
    I don't think I have what you are dealing - just typical boomer type loss of hearing. I know how much it bothers me so I understand what you are talking about. It is scary.
    We just keep talking about brushing up on our sign language. I learned sigh language when I could hear perfectly in my younger days. Rick and i still use it when in a crowd because we both have difficulty hearing in a crowded area. I hope you get some good answers and new aids that will make it so you will be sick of hearing everything. :-) Because when I'm in California I will talk your ear off. :-) ((hugs)) Good Luck tomorrow!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Linda dOctober 5, 2018 at 11:15 AM

      I just watched it. It made some good points, especially in regards to price.

      Delete
  4. BirdieOctober 5, 2018 at 10:36 AM

    You are brave. My vision is becoming worse quite quickly but I am too afraid to go to the opthamologist to get it checked. I know the answer is going to be transplants and that scares me.
    Keep us posted on your results. xo

    ReplyDelete
  5. JonoOctober 6, 2018 at 5:44 PM

    I have tried them and I like them, but the money is much too much.

    ReplyDelete
  6. BillOctober 7, 2018 at 7:08 AM

    I hope that everything worked out at the audiologist for you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. GroatieDecember 4, 2018 at 11:08 AM

    Hi Linda, Hello from Scotland. I know you posted this entry some time ago, but it struck a chord with me... I'm hearing impaired since birth (high tone loss due to nerve damage. I had severe jaundice in utero and was born 10 weeks early).

    Now I feel that, 64 years later, age related loss is creeping in, and tinnitus too. The effort of listening is such that I have to be sure a social event is worth the effort, and struggling to hear forced my early retirement almost two years ago.

    I'm mindful of the increased risk of dementia in people with poor hearing due to the lack of stimulation, and so I'll be investing in hearing aids in February - I could get free ones supplied by the NHS here in Scotland, but I want to have a choice, so I'm paying. As you say, way too much. But for the versatility I want, I think it will be worth it.

    I hope your audiology appointment well well and understand so well the letting go of dreams due to the barriers hearing loss imposes. I too would have loved to walk the Camino. Maybe I might walk one of the Scottish pilgrimage routes in stages, once I'm fit enough.

    I'd also like to 'do' Hadrian's Wall from coast to coast. The great thing is a bus travels along the route and people can hop on and off when they get tired! I bet many a centurion would have loved that. Like you I wouldn't do it on my own with my current degree of hearing impairment. Maybe I'd just take the car...



    ReplyDelete

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