Speak up!!!

[sildil]

Well, a VERY interesting afternoon. I finally got my hearing test appointment, and was most surprised to find out that firstly, I have ‘substantial hearing loss in both ears, more in the right’, and secondly (and this was most surprising) that it is congenital and I have always had it.

I have obviously developed ways of coping, I know that I always like to see people as they speak and I think I have used lip reading more than I realise to fill in the gaps. I hear consonants, and certain pitches of voice are fine, but others are not. For example, I can hear Ilye perfectly well on the phone, but I can’t hear my eldest son who has a very soft, even voice. (That’s NOT to say Ilye is loud!)

It’s only been a noticable difficulty to me since taking two jobs that involve talking to unknown people on the phone or interviewing them, as in my last job, hence the fact its only been discovered now. I am getting a hearing aid for my right ear to begin with, typically in this country this will take weeks, but I have managed OK the past 49 years, so a few more weeks won’t matter! (Unfortunately, when the Doc said I should browse the RNID website to find things that will help with hearing the phone, I kept thinking of an old ‘Not the Nine O Clock News’ comedy sketch, ‘This Man is Deaf’, which had me giggling away stupidly…anyone who remembers it will realise why.)

Luckily it will get no worse, except in the usual way, possibly, as I get older, which was very good news. Anyway, please make sure I hear any comments you might leave by annunciating clearly, and please do speak up!!!

Comments

[jaiden-s.livejournal.com]

At least you know now....And at least it won't get any worse.
((hugs))

[sildil]

yes it IS good knowing as I always said my hearing wasn't so good but wondered if I was imagining it and also people sometimes didn't believe me. I'm relieved it won't get worse too, the thought of losing music was too much to think about!

[ilye-elf.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm actually surprised you can hear me okay on the phone (well, relatively okay given the number of times I usually have to repeat myself!) because I know I mumble and run my words together. Be interesting to see how things are once you do get the hearing aid!

[sildil]

LOL yes, and you are one of the CLEAR speakers! Goodness knows what other poor souls think who have to put up with me!

[feanaros-house.livejournal.com]

I am glad this was finally diagnosed. It must be frustrating and cannot believe it went undiagnosed so long. Stay on top of the people with your hearing aid. The more I hear about your Health Service, the less I trust it.

Maeglin

[sildil]

Yes, it has always been frustrating actually, more so with people who either get impatient with me or who don't believe it when I have said I don't hear them.

And although the health service is slow, it IS free! I shan't have to pay anything for my hearing aid. It's not anyone's fault really that it wasn't picked up, after all this IS the first time I have drawn anyone's attention to the problem, I assumed that my hearing was 'normal' to date, and that I just had problems with directional hearing 'as everyone else does'. Since its always been a problem, I didn't see it as such. But it has gone a long way to explain certain habits of mine, like I always like to see the person I am talking to, prefer television to radio, and if I don't see faces, and especially if there is background noise I don't always hear what they say.

The main thing is that it isn't degenerative, and an aid (or even two if I find one works well) should help a lot.

[feanaros-house.livejournal.com]

Perhaps, it's good that it is free but, I think, with my own illness, I might be free and dead already. No one told my family there was nothing to be done and go home. Also, with children, doctors are supposed to be aware that the child may not know what normal vision and hearing are and to check them.

Narvi's father has a hearing aid and the trickiest thing seemed to be getting it adjusted properly so he didn't get feedback with the amplification. Once that was accomplished, he was again avid for all the gossip.

Maeglin

[sildil]

Thankfully palliative care in this country is second to none nowadays, I know a lot about it as my better half works extremely closely with it through his work (he's actually becoming pretty much an expert on all aspects of care and palliative treatment in the UK these days) and though there are obviously the few who do slip through the net, as there would be everywhere, the majority do get the high quality care and treatment that you do in the US. The problem here has always been getting the initial diagnosis/appointment, but the more serious the condition, the faster the consultation.

Things have come a very long way since I was a child too, with my type of hearing loss (which is apparently called 'pan shaped deafness' or something like that anyway, after the shape of the graph) I can hear noises at each end of the spectrum pretty well, not perfect, but more than adequate to get by with, so routine tests as a child probably would have seemed fine. The tests are so much more accurate now, that it is far easier to spot a problem and diagnose it.