Hearing loss my senior moment
A nother challenge of becoming a "senior" is that your hearing isn't what it used to be. What to do about it?
About six years ago, after much "encouragement" from my dear wife, I made my first visit to a local ear-nose-throat doctor, where I had my hearing tested first by the audiologist in his office. My wife was convinced that I was ignoring her when I didn't answer her. Testing confirmed I had some decreased hearing of certain frequencies. My boss at the time, not married, laughed that I now had the perfect medical excuse for ignoring my wife! A dangerous premise but not entirely without merit, I thought.
Up until the beginning of this year, my hearing level was fairly stable but then seemed to decline, as evidenced by my wife's increasing inquiries about why I wasn't responding to her questions or comments. So, I made another trip to the local ear-nose-throat doctor and the audiologist, with their determination that, yes, my hearing had deteriorated a bit more but was still something I could live with.
A few months later I received a mailing from a Joliet hearing aid retailer offering a 2-week free trial. Such ads are frequently sent by any number of local and national establishments.
I tried out the hearing aids and was pleasantly surprised at their comfort (I noticed my glasses more than the hearing aids), tiny size, and effectiveness, but I wasn't prepared to pay the pretty steep price.
As fate would have it, the very next day my stupidity (and age) pushed me over the hearing aid cliff. I was helping videotape the Battle of the Bands for the New Lenox Proud American Days. I had returned the hearing aids the day before. The taping involved wearing a headset to hear the director who was located next to the bandstand. We had four cameras. By the time I took off the headset, I could hardly hear a thing.
After a couple of weeks without much improvement, I went back to the ear-nose-throat doctor who confirmed the worst: my hearing had further declined, and he couldn't tell me if or when it might improve.
The first hearing aid vendor suggested I check whether my health insurance would cover hearing aids. Turns out my insurance did provide a discount with certain vendors but not his company.
I subsequently bit the bullet and got a pair from another company that was in my plan. Hearing better has been worth the cost, to me and to my wife.
The moral of this story is simple. As we grow older, our bodies start to show the wear and tear of the years and our experiences. Unfortunately, what younger ears could endure, mine couldn't. Hopefully though, the youngsters will start to realize that such abuse will catch up with them eventually.
Frank W. Palmisano, Sr. of New Lenox can be reached at nlretired@comcast.net.
