Wednesday, March 19, 2008

I can hear you!

Aside.

Last Friday I paid a return visit to Kate – the Audiologist. She had got my PCAs and I realised I had misunderstood where they would actually be on my person. The small triangle goes behind the top of my ear and the tiny plastic bob on the end - inside. It is better to have one either side and apart from a tiny bleep as you attach them they make no sound apart from another tiny bleep when the battery is low. The batteries last 70 hours so one changes them once a week and it is preferable to change both at once.

Kate attached me to a screen and adjusted everything. One starts on a low level so that the brain has time to adjust to the extra sound. Next week I shall have them re-adjusted to a different level. In fact once I start wearing them in the morning I forget they are there and one can’t see if I am wearing them or not.

You mustn’t wear them in the shower or at the hairdressers and it is best to do whatever you are doing with them over a bed or sofa to avoid accidents and of course they should be kept well away from toddlers and puppies who apparently love to chew them.

Kate and MTL chattered away at different levels and I could hear perfectly well. I am really doing this for the future as most of the time I hear normal speech. But now I feel in a much better position and it is a great relief. Maybe before I get completely ga- ga they will have invented one for the brain. I was given a very smart protective bag containing a small triangular bed for them and I small triangular purse to slip them into at the hairdressers for instance. There is also a cleaning cloth, spare batteries; spare little plastic ends and care instructions.

25 comments:

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Do you realise, now you can hear when *people* are talking your name behind your back. tee hee.

Pat said...

GG: the thing I'm most looking forward to is eaves -dropping on public transport. The times I've had to stop myself from saying 'Could you both speak up please - I can't quite hear you.'

savannah said...

good for you being proactive, darlin! a good reminder for me, not the hearing, but my glasses! i think i need to change them!

Pat said...

Savannah: good- I'm glad It's so easy to make do when we should use any help we can get. We deserve it:)

Kim Ayres said...

I imagine it would be quite good to be able to turn them down when your hearing gets a bit worse too. Not having to put up with people listening to dodgy music on their mobile phones on the bus etc

Rob Windstrel Watson said...

When I got my varifocal glasses it re-empowered me.

I'd been holding out for so long not being able to read in a supermarket whether a white wine was sweet or the dry I wanted and numerous other daily short reading issues when I had my distance glasses on.

One day I was in a shop buying a digital camera and handed over one credit card and typed in my other credit card's pin number. The fuss it caused made me feel like a criminal.

I bought the varifocals the next day and have not regretted them once.

I hope your new gadget does as much to re-empower you as my varifocals did for me :-)

apprentice said...

Well done for going and getting this sorted out. You'll probably find your eyes go now, they say one sense compensates for another!
Or maybe you'll just stop smelling horris things, that would nice!

Anonymous said...

When the girls were 3 we were home in the summertime and my mother lost her hearing aid. Half a day later we found it poking out of the cat's litter tray! The girls had buried it there but hadn't known what we were looking for when we asked them if they'd seen granny's hearing aid.

Luckily, the litter tray hadn't been used that day and my mother is the type of woman who disinfects her cat tray every night.

Unknown said...

Well done and good luck on your eavesdropping!

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Oooh, yes, eavesdropping on public transport! Hahaha, I wonder what people would've done if you'd asked them to speak up.

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

My comment was not saved! Maybe blogger needs a hearing aid.

I was saying I like the thought of eavesdropping on public transport, and hahaha what would people say if you ask them to speak up, you can't hear them.

kenju said...

They look almost identical to the ones I will get. Congrats and good luck with them!

Pat said...

Kim: I think in that case one would just take them out.

Rob: well done! I wish all men were as sensible. I love my varifocals but have a pair of reading glasses for bed, as I read lying down - which seemed to surprise the optician.

Anna: gee thanks! that's something to look forwrd to:)

Sam: that must have been hairy - if you'll pardon the pun - they are soooo expensive. They advise always doing anything with them ove a bed or sofa - which does make sense.

Johng: about the eavesdropping - it isn't anti social - its just getting local colour - for my writing you understand? Nowhere like a bus in deepest Lancashire.

GG: it got there in the end. See the comment above. I never had the cheek to ask.

Judy: my batteries have just run out for the first time but I'll wait until I am bright and breezy - i;n the morning - to change them.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

WOW! It sounds like you are all set, Pat. I appreciate you explaining the process, especially with Kate..No one I know has ever shared these things....I found this very informative so I thank you for that! Much good luck with your NEW Ears....(lol)

Anonymous said...

Fortunately I have very sensitive hearing. I can hear practically every conversation on the bus, even if I am at the back. It has one big disadvantage though. If I am in a crowded room, I cannot separate all the sounds around me and just focus on the person who is talking to me, and I have to keep saying "Sorry, can you repeat that" etc., to which they reply "ARE YOU DEAF OR SOMETHING?"

I can't have the radio on in the car when I have a chatty passenger. Sometimes I think I get more sense out of the radio than her!

Pat said...

Naomi: it makes me happy to think my burblings may impart useful info sometimes. I don't see the point of being secretive about it.

Keith - Grumps: that is part of the problem - separating sounds. Lots of people just put up with it. Pas moi!

FOUR DINNERS said...

"We can rebuild her"....

You turning into the Terminator or Robocop then? ;-)

Pat said...

4D:We can rebuild her"....

Did I say that? Where? Explain young man, please.

Anonymous said...

I bet the little bed and pocket is cute - do you find your handbag filling up with little gadget holders? I have one for my iPod, one for the headset, one for the phone, one for the TomTom - the list is endless!
Sorry I've been quiet recently - explanation on my site.
belle

rashbre said...

I like the idea of the brain aid. But knowing the state of the software industry I guess we'd have to put up with the occasional 'reset' as well.

Pat said...

Belle: You are right - in a pretty lime green and black. Haven't graduated to iPod or Tom Tom??? but camera,glasses and mobile practically fill it. I'll be over later to see what you have been up to.

Rashbre: maybe by the time it would be of any use to you it would be perfected. Not that I can imagine you needing help:)

Kanani said...

Sounds great, Pat. It must be a relief to know you're hearing everything. My neighbor just got a set. Now when I say hello to her, she can hear me!

I was wondering how long those batteries last. So I guess this means when you travel, you have to take and extra set, right?

Glad to hear you can now hear YTL!

Pat said...

Kanani: the batteries last for a week approx. Carrying them is no problem - a flat card of 6 batteries is about the size of a credit card. I was nervous about changing them but it's fine.

FOUR DINNERS said...

4D:We can rebuild her"....

Did I say that? Where? Explain young man, please.

You didn't. Just sprung to what passes for my mind.

Caz reckons I'm going deaf 'cause I never hear her when she says stuff like "Are the beds made?" or "Are the rubbish bags out?"

I mean!! What questions to ask in the middle of The Simpsons eh?

Pat said...

4D: you make beds? I'm impressed.