Monday 27 January 2014

Tracking my deafness

Since the moment I found out I was deaf, aged 10, I have always tracked my hearing loss by what I heard yesterday, last week, last month and least year. Sometimes the results are heartbreaking.

When I was 10, I could still hear the phone ring and on occasions the cat meowing. By 16, I could hear neither. At 12, I could still listen to The Archers (I was a very hip and trendy kid you know) and watch some TV without subtitles, by 16, I could do neither. From 16 to 18 I watched sound slide out of my reach in the most alarming manner. My flute became largely silent, and I was left with no choice but to give up my violin.

When I got my posh car in 2005 with a radio that worked without the need to keep a wooden stick on the passenger seat to bash it with, I could hear it on volume 23. By 2012 I needed volume 40-something and drive through the streets of west London like the deaf granny in the Specsavers hearing aid advert.

And then I got hearing aids, which gave me sound back like never before.

Post hearing aids, I have gradually been adding to the list of things I can hear.

Cats meowing: tick

Telephones ringing: yup, some of these, but not all.

The burglar alarm: NOPE, I STILL CAN'T HEAR THIS, AND HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO HAPPILY WANDER AROUND THE HOUSE WITH IT GOING OFF WHILE EVERYONE ELSE GOES MENTAL

The doorbell: yup, can hear this.

So recently, I was surprised when this Things-I-can-hear-with-my-hearing-aids list started to change again.

The cat meowing: Not always, much to her annoyance.

The doorbell: Not always, much to everyone else's annoyance.

Telephones ringing: If I hold them up to my ears, which is not really the most practical thing to do and gets weird looks from people if you're out and about.

So what's changed? Is it my ears? My hearing aids? Or that thing GPs always claimed caused my deafness before looking inside my ears and realising it didn't: WAX...

I'm not sure which one to check first...

Any advice peeps?

Love deafer DG
xx


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have helped my cousin for many years with her hearing aids, she has Aspergers. From my experience, through her, always check for a. Blocked tubes in the hearing aids. b. Ear wax! These are the two easiest and quickest routes. Then back to your ENT, you may just need turning up a little. Good luck :)

Emily Dame said...

When my aids stopped helping I had a cochlear implant. That was in 2012. I will be having my second implant surgery this year. It has changed my life. I'm still deaf w/o the cochlear device attached but when it IS attached I hear better than some of my friends and family. Maybe you need to think in this direction.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear DG LET'S HOPE IT CAN ALL BE RESOLVED WITH A HEARING AID TWEEK,

izdiher said...

You go girl !

There must be some wisdom behind this. God bless you.
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