Can you hear me now?

About three years ago, I got sick.  Probably strep or some other viral thing, who knows. It couldn't have been enough for me to be concerned with at the time.  I was probably busy with work and life and did my best to manage my symptoms.  I don't really remember.   If I ran to the doc every time I got the sniffles I'd have an even bigger problem, called Hypochrondria.  But shortly after that, I noticed I had tinnitus.  That kept getting louder.  And I finally went to see an ear doc.

His take?  "I wish you had come to me sooner I could have helped you."

I can't even tell you how pissed that made me feel - it's a wonder I didn't tell him to eff off.  I came to see him at the height of the tinnitis, and I doubt that even a couple of weeks before that he could have done much, or even known what to do.  Tinnitis can have a myriad of causes, and can come and go.  He actually had me get a brain MRI to make sure I didn't have an acoustic neuroma - which I did not.  A year after that, when my symptoms had not improved and I noticed I was saying "huh?" a lot, I had my hearing checking again.  BIG hearing loss on the right.   I waited a year or so and had it checked again.  No change.  

Sadly, I have come to grips with having permanent hearing loss. 

Fast forward to now.

See it?

I now have bionic ears.  Hearing aids on both ears, although I'm not sure whether I will keep the one on the left.  It's been a few days and I can tell you it's been quite the adjustment.  I can hear my husband breathe.  I can hear the wind chimes in the back yard with the door closed.  I can hear the tiny beep coming from the house alarm system.  And I can hear the cat lick herself sitting next to me.  Some of these sounds are more disturbing to me than helpful, but I am pushing forward with this.  Only time will tell if this is a big benefit to my daily life, or just another hassle.  And meanwhile, I'm trying to look at it much the same way one does when told they need glasses - get them and move on.