A Journey to Better Hearing
There is no way a person with relatively normal hearing can understand what it’s like for people with hearing loss. I am blessed with good hearing in my later years, but my wife is not as fortunate, and it’s been an interesting journey for both of us.
I met my wife over twenty years ago when she was a middle school counselor and shortly thereafter transitioned to private practice. As an adult, she had chronic fluid and infections in both ears affecting her hearing. It’s not easy to be a counselor and listen to people’s problems when one can’t hear well and it is exhausting. So she had her hearing tested and purchased hearing aids. These seemed to help for several years until we retired and moved to SaddleBrooke. It seems the ear infections had taken their toll and destroyed much of her eardrums. Without the membrane to assist in conducting sound, her aids could not compensate for her hearing loss.
It’s really difficult to enjoy life in SaddleBrooke when one can’t hear the speaker at events in ballroom, music at the Performing Arts Center, or even friends at dinner in our restaurants. I saw my wife experience feelings of helplessness and begin to withdraw from socializing. Our life at home suffered as well. No longer could we carry on a conversation at a distance and I became the resident ears for the house. She had difficulty hearing the doorbell, phone ring, or even a pot boiling on the stove.
Fortunately, we soon met a couple who had already been down this road with one of them experiencing profound hearing loss and the other trying to cope. They had some great ideas, the first of which was a class at the University of Arizona on how to deal with hearing loss. Although it usually takes a person 7-10 years on average to acknowledge their hearing loss and seek help, my wife was determined to improve her hearing and her quality of life.
The class at the university taught strategies to improve our communication, such as walking to the person before speaking, facing each other when talking (people with hearing loss read lips ), and speaking slowly and clearly. She also learned there are different types of hearing loss. While most people experience sensory neural hearing loss from continuous exposure to loud noise, hers was conductive since she had no functional ear drums. She also learned there is a device called a BAHA or Bone Anchored Hearing Aid, which helps compensate for her hearing loss. It involves a surgically implanted titanium pin to conduct sound from the bone to a device on the outside of her skull. Following recovery and learning to use the device, she could hear again. Working with her Audiologist, she was also able to use the latest hearing aid technology in her other ear, which wasn’t as badly affected, so she could hear on both sides.
It’s important for people with hearing loss to realize even with the help of an Audiologist and the proper hearing devices, one’s hearing will never be the way it was before. My wife’s hearing is improved, but she still struggles to hear at times, and we both still need to practice the ‘walk before you talk’, facing each other during conversations, and speaking slowly and clearly.
The path to better hearing is a journey, and the two most important support systems are the Audiologist and a partner or friend. I’m so proud of the effort my wife puts into improving her hearing. She has her hearing tested annually and continually works with her Audiologist either in person or via email to make adjustments to her devices. She also has such a heart for those with hearing loss she started a support group here in SadddleBrooke that meets every month. Her name is Jennifer Jefferis.