Hearing is WONDERFUL!!!
Wednesday, April 10th, 2024 07:33 pmPosted this on my Tumblr yesterday, so now I'm sharing it here!
So I finally got the courage to get my hearing aids today and...
Holy shit, I cannot overstate how much I cried and cried and cried and in sheer awe in my audiologist's office.
(Long story short, I've had mild-to-quite-moderate hearing issues since...as long as I can remember. It took me a metric shit ton of courage (and a steady job for the money, once again Fuck U.S Healthcare) to admit I needed and deserved help. I could still feel the stigma, but didn't need to give in to it. My audiologist has been endlessly patient with me as I mulled this big, big decision these past few months.)
(Con't.: To confirm my bravery, I asked my audiologist if there were pink hearing aids available, and if so could she order them for me. She squealed with enthusiasm and promised me she would do so. So I got the pink hearing aids. They are a beautiful soft rose-colored pink and my audiologist ooh'd and aww'd for me as she fitted them over my ears.)
So...yeah.
It was...kinda-sorta uncomfortable when my audiologist (I'll call her Em) turned them on because there was initially static and then everything Sounded Fucking Different And Too Loud And Is That The Air Conditioner, Why.
The first thing I heard with my new hearing aids was Em's voice asking me how I was hearing things and how I felt.
She smiled big because I know my eyes popped wide. Em's and everything else in her office sounded so crisp and clear and amazing. For the very first time in my life, I could make out consonants.
She turned down the volume for me when I asked and reassured me this would be a huge adjustment for my life and we'd be making follow-up visits to continue to monitor and titrate the hearing aids as needed.
But during the appointment today my hearing aids have felt overwhelmingly new but perfect.
So I only had to ask her to repeat something about 1x instead of my usual average of 2-3x, sometimes up to 4x.
I almost immediately started crying and Em automatically put the tissue box near me. I wiped my eyes and blew my nose and...
I found that I hate the sound of blowing my nose. So, so loud and unpleasant.
But tissue...makes a sound when you crinkle it/rub it together.
Tissue makes the most amazing crhh-shh-crhh-cruhh sound when you rub it together.
I kept rubbing it and rubbing it and crinkling it and crinkling it and Em just smiled, smiled, smiled in delight for me.
Some things...I found I didn't like with my new hearing aids. I don't like the elevator. I don't like doors because they may creak. I don't like the sound of driving and the traffic outside (it's like...a roar present in the background?).
But I love, love, love the sound of my blinker (I didn't know it had a sound!!!). I love the sound of people's voices that I've been listening to for a long time sounding crisp and clear. I love the sound of my purse when I rub the side. I love the sound of birds chirping. I love the sound of the elevator button when I press it.
Just...guys.
Tissue makes a sound when you rub it together. And birds chirp and squeak all day.
It's like...hearing color for the first time. You get to have the world's color in your ears for the first time, like most everybody else.
It's all loud and clear as thunder, but oh what a beautiful thunder.
Bonus Updates, as I practice wiring my brain to get used to my hearing aids by walking around the house with them!
1. Tissue still crinkles when I rub/crumple it together
2. The air conditioner is terrifyingly loud. Like...a terrible, ominous roar right over my head, especially when I'm standing in the hallway (instead of a gentle sound of blowing around me without my hearing aids). I 'bout had a heart attack.
3. I'm washing my new scrubs for the work week and...I don't think I'll be wearing my hearing aids on Laundry Days.
4. The fridge has a hum! The attached freezer and my mom's chest freezer have an even stronger hum!! Such a pretty hum!
5. I will not be wearing my hearing aids on Laundry Days.
6. The coffee pot makes adorable gurgle-gurrg-gurrrg-blurp-blurp-blurp sounds! I think it's my fav sound alongside tissue!!
7. I will not be wearing my hearing aids on Laundry Days.
8. Light switches have a little click when you flip them on!
9. The coffee pot. Is. Adorable!!
So I finally got the courage to get my hearing aids today and...
Holy shit, I cannot overstate how much I cried and cried and cried and in sheer awe in my audiologist's office.
(Long story short, I've had mild-to-quite-moderate hearing issues since...as long as I can remember. It took me a metric shit ton of courage (and a steady job for the money, once again Fuck U.S Healthcare) to admit I needed and deserved help. I could still feel the stigma, but didn't need to give in to it. My audiologist has been endlessly patient with me as I mulled this big, big decision these past few months.)
(Con't.: To confirm my bravery, I asked my audiologist if there were pink hearing aids available, and if so could she order them for me. She squealed with enthusiasm and promised me she would do so. So I got the pink hearing aids. They are a beautiful soft rose-colored pink and my audiologist ooh'd and aww'd for me as she fitted them over my ears.)
So...yeah.
It was...kinda-sorta uncomfortable when my audiologist (I'll call her Em) turned them on because there was initially static and then everything Sounded Fucking Different And Too Loud And Is That The Air Conditioner, Why.
The first thing I heard with my new hearing aids was Em's voice asking me how I was hearing things and how I felt.
She smiled big because I know my eyes popped wide. Em's and everything else in her office sounded so crisp and clear and amazing. For the very first time in my life, I could make out consonants.
She turned down the volume for me when I asked and reassured me this would be a huge adjustment for my life and we'd be making follow-up visits to continue to monitor and titrate the hearing aids as needed.
But during the appointment today my hearing aids have felt overwhelmingly new but perfect.
So I only had to ask her to repeat something about 1x instead of my usual average of 2-3x, sometimes up to 4x.
I almost immediately started crying and Em automatically put the tissue box near me. I wiped my eyes and blew my nose and...
I found that I hate the sound of blowing my nose. So, so loud and unpleasant.
But tissue...makes a sound when you crinkle it/rub it together.
Tissue makes the most amazing crhh-shh-crhh-cruhh sound when you rub it together.
I kept rubbing it and rubbing it and crinkling it and crinkling it and Em just smiled, smiled, smiled in delight for me.
Some things...I found I didn't like with my new hearing aids. I don't like the elevator. I don't like doors because they may creak. I don't like the sound of driving and the traffic outside (it's like...a roar present in the background?).
But I love, love, love the sound of my blinker (I didn't know it had a sound!!!). I love the sound of people's voices that I've been listening to for a long time sounding crisp and clear. I love the sound of my purse when I rub the side. I love the sound of birds chirping. I love the sound of the elevator button when I press it.
Just...guys.
Tissue makes a sound when you rub it together. And birds chirp and squeak all day.
It's like...hearing color for the first time. You get to have the world's color in your ears for the first time, like most everybody else.
It's all loud and clear as thunder, but oh what a beautiful thunder.
Bonus Updates, as I practice wiring my brain to get used to my hearing aids by walking around the house with them!
1. Tissue still crinkles when I rub/crumple it together
2. The air conditioner is terrifyingly loud. Like...a terrible, ominous roar right over my head, especially when I'm standing in the hallway (instead of a gentle sound of blowing around me without my hearing aids). I 'bout had a heart attack.
3. I'm washing my new scrubs for the work week and...I don't think I'll be wearing my hearing aids on Laundry Days.
4. The fridge has a hum! The attached freezer and my mom's chest freezer have an even stronger hum!! Such a pretty hum!
5. I will not be wearing my hearing aids on Laundry Days.
6. The coffee pot makes adorable gurgle-gurrg-gurrrg-blurp-blurp-blurp sounds! I think it's my fav sound alongside tissue!!
7. I will not be wearing my hearing aids on Laundry Days.
8. Light switches have a little click when you flip them on!
9. The coffee pot. Is. Adorable!!