Hear Ye, Hear Ye

My mental health professional assigned homework: "Update your blogs!" so here I am.

This all started, probably in the late sixties, with Jimi Hendrix and Cream. Then in the seventies I worked in loud environments for a few years. In the eighties I was sound man for a ridiculously loud rock band for a while, and then I started working in wood shops with power tools, air compressors, forklifts and vacuum systems roaring all around me. By the turn of the millennium, my high frequency hearing was toast.

In 2010 I got my first hearing aids. They were very uncomfortable and made all noises louder than they needed to be. Turning them on or off involved opening or closing the little tiny battery compartment, a very difficult task with my tremors and arthritis. They were very expensive, so I was hesitant to wear them to work, to walk outdoors unless the weather was perfect (wind made a horrible sound!) or to get sweaty. In short, I rarely wore them. And yet they crapped out in a couple of years. Not a good experience.

Since then there has been steadily increasing lobbying going on to improve my hearing once again. I, of course, hesitated - dug in my heels, you might say - and deferred  any action until a couple of months ago. At that time I received yet another mailing from Miracle Ear, this time with a Free Gift for anyone who comes for a hearing test and consultation. As my co-worker Steve said decades ago, "If it's for free it's for me!" So I went. With Carmen's last words ringing in my ears, "Don't sign anything!" I set out for the bus ride to my appointment with Gary.

Gary put me in the sound proof booth with the headphones and the Jeopardy button and did the testing I've had so many times before - press the button when you hear a tone. Then he drew the graph of my hearing frequencies - good on the low frequencies and off the scale bad on the highs. He pulled out a pair of hearing aids and synced them with his computer, programming my needs into them. Then he put them on me and in me, and suddenly I could hear a whole world of sound I couldn't remember ever hearing before. He took me outside into the parking lot, just fifty feet away from busy San Jose Boulevard, and talked to me in a normal speaking voice. I understood every word. He walked away ten feet and talked. I understood. He went another ten feet. Still I understood him in spite of all the traffic noise. I was duly impressed. We went back inside and he took them off. The world collapsed back to the limited hearing of my unaugmented ears. I nearly cried. But I didn't sign anything. I asked how long the "special price" of only $5700 was good for. Three days. I took my free gift home along with a new appreciation for how far hearing aid technology has come in ten years.

After I recovered from that experience, I went to the AARP website to see what they might recommend. There was an ad for "hear.com" touting affordable hearing aids. How can you go wrong with AARP? So I called them. They set me up an appointment with Randy at Ear To Hear on Hartley Road, also easily accessible by bus. They also set me up for financing, with a 45 day risk-free trial period. Great. I went to see Randy on the day after Christmas. He did another hearing test and drew another graph - I can draw it in my sleep now - and put a pair of Signa hearing aids on me and in me. It was better, but not as good as Miracle Ear by far. He said he was starting me off slowly and would bump up the volume over the next three weeks. I wore them home and walking the dog and working around the house. In three weeks he had stepped up the volume to where it is now, and I'm happy with them. There are no batteries to juggle, and putting them on and off the induction charger turns them off and on. they are comfortable enough that I forget I'm wearing them. And they are only $3500

Next week we are going to an appointment with Costco Hearing Aid Center. Theirs are less expensive than Ear To Hear. We'll see if they make me as happy as my 45 day risk-free trial.