Hello Dr. Reikowski,
You asked me for some of my thoughts on being hearing-impaired so here goes,
There are some days that I think it sucks to be me but, then I get thru another day and think ok, on to the next and then every day just becomes another day to get thru and I find that I actually do pretty good even though it’s probably the hardest thing I’ve had to do. It pays to be stubborn I guess. My hearing problems started even before I was born with Rubella, German Measles, and now here I am still navigating at 63 years old . .
But being hearing-impaired is exhausting, confusing, stressful and isolating and the more I isolate, the easier it is to manage. I know, they say that isolating is not a good thing but it is usually someone not going thru this and they are clueless.
Since I got my new hearing aid, it has been a double edged sword, the sounds I’ve been missing! And yet some noises are too much! how can that be???
As I mentioned to you at my last appt. that it sounds stupid to even say can we turn the volume down? See? It does sound stupid but, I’m not sure how I want to hear since I haven’t heard very well in a long time. But normal hearing folks can’t just turn the volume down. So, how do they hear? What noise level can I tolerate or want to? I don’t know if I will figure it out.
As I get older, it is getting harder to remember what it was like to hear normally if I ever even did because I have been in the hearing impaired world longer than I was in the hearing world and I have a pretty good memory but this particular memory is eluding me.
Right now I have a new aid and anticipate getting an implant in the near future and I wonder what that will be like. Will I manage? Will I be disappointed? Will I really want the implant? Is it going to be too much?
The new hearing aid has me dazed and confused. Everything to get used to again. My brain has become overloaded and I hope some of the noise fades in the background. It can’t happen soon enough. I’m afraid my brain won’t cooperate and I will be struggling for longer than I care too…
I hope this helps to understand a little of how I feel and relate to my hearing loss.
Sincerely,
C. S.
Thanks for sharing your story.
I am also very thankful that this was shared!
Thank you for sharing, that was excellent!! It’s not easy putting thoughts and feelings in to words. It was emotional and moving.
Agree Gail. It was emotional for sure!
I am very appreciative to have received this very thoughtful and personal sharing of this patients feelings of their hearing loss and abilities. The perceptions are very touching!
She sounds like she has a lot of concerns with her hearing aids. What was the outcome?
The degree of hearing loss certainly brings many challenges with hearing aid use.
Particularly, in these days of mask use has added more difficulties without visual cues. She is doing well overall with the sounds we can offer. A cochlear implant will be a good option to address as time goes.