I am in the third day of wearing hearing aids. My wife Carol has been suggesting that I needed them for years, but I actually had my hearing tested by an audiologist some ten years ago and found out that while I had some hearing loss in the higher frequencies in both ears, the right worse than the left, my hearing was in the normal range and hearing aids were not indicated. This time around, though,when I had another test by another audiologist (not associated with any hearing aid company but employed by the local hospital) the results showed significant hearing loss in both ears, the right again worse than the left. Hearing aids were indicated, and I ordered a pair and arranged to have them fitted and adjusted to be of maximum help.
These are made by Unicon, and the style name is "Moxi Fit Pro". The electronics in these little things are amazing, but they are very light and sit unseen behind the ear with only a tiny wire covered in clear plastic connecting them to a speaker that sits snugly in the ear canal, close to the ear drum. The whole thing is a tiny microphone amplification system. Each has a battery that will last a week to ten days, and each has a button. The button on the right ear piece turns up the volume, while the button on the left ear piece turns it down. After a few tries I've gotten to where I can hit the buttons on the first or second try. They make a tone in the ear as the volume goes up or down, with a distinguishable tone when the highest or lowest level is reached after repeated pressings. There is a magnetic device that gives excellent hearing in either ear on the telephone, although I have to attach a magnet to my cellphone to use it since there is no magnet in the cell phone as there is in the land line handset. It also will sync with my cell or other electronic device via Bluetooth, so I foresee a future of listening to my computer, iPod, or the radio or television via my hearing aid. Supposedly they will focus on conversations anywhere in a crowded room and will enhance music listening as well. We'll see.
These things are not cheap, although I admit I could have ordered less expensive models. My insurance will pay only $600, and the balance is up to me. It is a significant balance. I wonder how retired people with hearing loss who depend only on Medicare manage; Medicare pays nothing toward the cost of hearing aids. I guess being nearly deaf isn't as serious as other forms of disability, the treatments of which are covered by Medicare. The batteries will run about $100 per year. I wonder what my oldest nephew, who was born with a serious condition that will inevitably lead to total deafness in a few years, will do.
And hearing aids don't last forever. It's likely I will need to replace them in five years or so, and that will likely continue for the rest of my life. That means I can count on spending more than $30,000 on hearing aids if I last another twenty years. That amount of money could renovate our kitchen, or pay for several cruises. It certainly got my attention. My nephew, who is not yet forty, will have to pay a lot more than that.
Unlike the diabetes, though, the hearing aids don't cause any major change in lifestyle, other than remembering to take them off before I shower. The two minor things I have to get used to are itching in the ear canal and a slight echo in hearing my own voice. Both of those things involve my brain becoming used to what is now the new reality. And neither effects my ability to play bridge, so that's okay. I guess I can get used to hearing Carol when she talks.
