Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Do you hear what I hear?

Listen…. Do you want to know a secret… do you promise not to tell?


Yep I am full if secrets this week and I would like to start off with this particular one that I have had since age eleven. That is when it all was discovered.

When I was in 5th grade my mother noticed I was struggling in school, so she had me go have a list of testing done. One was to check my hearing, and the results were not so good. It turned out that I had major hearing loss in my right ear. I was told that someday down the road I would probably need a hearing aid.

They say it’s from when I had bacterial meningitis at 18 months old. Not so bad after being in a coma for 4 days, numerous spinal taps and record high fevers. As other children/babies were dying from this illness at this time. The doctors were in shock that I didn’t end up blind, deaf or mentally challenged from the meningitis.

Years passed…..

In the spring of 2008 I started having “episodes” or vertigo as some may call it. I ended up going to see an ENT (ear, nose and throat specialist) and I had the opportunity to have a hearing test done by the audiologist. The results were not good, I had almost 50 percent hearing loss in my right ear and the left ear was starting to go as well, it had 25 percent loss. I pretty much ignored that whole ordeal after my “episodes” stopped.

Until one day last summer (July 2010) I decided to go across the street to Harbor Audiology and check on my hearing, just to see if I had anymore loss.

Yep I sure did and that is when I decided to take advantage of my insurance and do something about it. I figured I am 30 years old and I really don’t care what people may think or say about me wearing a hearing device as much as I did in my younger days.

So I went for it and I was fitted for one hearing device for my right ear.

I will never forget the day I got my “new ear”, it was amazing just how deaf I was in that ear. It shocked me just how much I never heard before. I was excited to hear my doctor type on the keyboard keys or a pen drop on the desk. Even to hear my children in a whole new way just meant the world to me. How did I live life like this with out even noticing… I even had to tell T to stop talking so loud, which is an extremely rare since he is so soft spoken. I literally cried like a baby the day I got my hearing device, it just amazed me how long I went with out hearing things and people correctly. It certainly gave me a better outlook on life and sound.

So there is my secret for today, it’s a secret because nobody knew I even have this device unless I tell them. *wink*



This is exactly what my hearing device looks like, its so tiny you can't even see it when I have it one. The best part its PINK!

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