kestrell

Yesterday I did my marathon of five doctor appointments in a single day, , and the highlight was that I finally received my purple ear. Actually, just the rubbery coil that goes into my ear is purple; the small plastic box that contains the battery and the mic (the whole thing is a little bit narower and shorter than the first two joints of my pinky finger( is silver, and the plastic tube which connects the two pieces is clear.

By the time I showed up, the audiologist had already programmed the hearing aid using the results from my hearing test, so it is programmed to make up for the particular pitches affected by my hearing loss. The audiologist also programmed the chip in the hearing aid to slowly increase in gain over a period of weeks, so that I'm not overwhelmed by an onslaught of noise which I've become unaccustomed to. When Alexx and I emerged from the hospital, it was rush hour, and I really appreciated the fact that I wasn't hearing it at full capacity yet, as even the increased sound level which I am currently experiencing is kind of...distracting.

Hearing aids are not quite the same as biological hearing--everything, including my own voice, sounds as if I am hearing it over a mic, which I am. I find myself turning my head from side to side while listening to music in order to study the differences. Hearing aid sound reminds me of the sound quality you get from a portable radio. Also, my hair brushing against the mic--which is at the very topmost arc of my outer ear--makes a small rustling sound, so I may be pulling my hair back more often.

All in all, though, it's pretty awesome, as I can now hear things on my left side, 360 degrees.

I'll get Alexx to take a picture as soon as I mod it with the tiny hearing aid tatoo I want to get for it.

Yesterday I went to one of the audiologists at Boston Medical Center to get fitted for my new hearing aid.

While my hearing loss is only categorized as "moderate," we all agree that hearing loss of any sort which interferes with localization for a blind person is significant. Also, I miss a lot of what people say if there is a background noise, like the TV, or running water, or the dishwasher, or another conversation, or one of those annoying people who crinkle bags or play with a beeping device while someone on a panel is speaking. Still, it's pretty clear from things the audiologists say that a lot of people opt to not get hearing aids.

Of course, one reason why a lot of people probably go without hearing aids is that they cost $1400, and health insurance tends not to cover any of the cost.
This also explains why I keep hearing TV commercials for cheap hearing aids, including
the Lee Majors bionic hearing aid commercial
https://www.getleemajorsbionicear.com/default.aspx?mid=884417&a=115739&s=CD5447-&ClickID=06_39223192_13f64784-3245-4b31-b363-79c695df8e13

Anyway, for $1400 you get a digital hearing aid with a computer chip wich is programmed according to your particular loss of hearing and a hearing aid which is shaped to your particular ear shape. You also get to choose a number of options. I wanted a hearing aid with a volume control, since I am also sensitive to noise, so I chose one with a rocker switch on the outside. I also chose the sort of hearing aid which fits over the outside of the ear, which is basically two pieces, the little microphone/volume switch part which goes outside the ear and the speaker part which nestles closer to the inside of the ear. Plus, I got to choose to have it in purple (second color choice: silver). There was a catalogue for a company called Resound which had one hearing aid called "Leaf," which was leaf green, but, sadly, it wasn't available in the kind of hearing device I needed.

The fitting part involved taking a kind of pink putty/clay which was used to take an impression of the inside of my left ear, after the audiologist put in a tiny cotton ball with a string on it, which I promptly dubbed the "ear tampon." Once the putty stuff has hardened, the audiologist pops it out and the impression, along with the specifics of your order, is sent off to the hearing aid company.

So I now have one more appt. for the medical extravaganza on June 30, when I see the otolaryngologist, the audiologist (twice--once for a hearing test and once for the hearing aid), the rheumotologist, the neurologist, and the radiology dept for a mammogram. After this, I will come home and have ice cream. Maybe even ice cream with rainbow sprinkles.

Today has been a pretty high arthritis pain day, and none of my over-the-counter drugs seem to be having any effect. I recently signed up for an e-mail alert called MediClime which sends alers for migraine and arthritis days, so obviously there is some sort of connection with weather, although this article
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=14686
seems to rather sit the fence on the subject. I have a theory that my arthritis pain is always the worst a day or two before a major precipitation event. I actually like rainy days because that means I'm less likely to be in pain. Anyway, I've finally made an appointment with a rheumatologist because it turns out that my hearing loss is--most other likely possibilities having been eliminated--due to my rheumatoid arthritis (yes, there is a scientifically-demonstrated link), and thus the hearing loss may be able to be reversed through therapies. I get to find out more on June 30, when I will be undergoing what Alexx and I have taken to calling the "medical extravaganza," during which I will be seeing every specialist I have who is located at Boson Medical. That list includes: a hearing specialist, a rheumatologist, an otolaryngolist, a neurologist and, last but not least, a radiologist for a mammogram.

It's not easy being a medical mystery.

I just got back from the audiologist. I've been experiencing significant hearing loss in my left ear, mostly in missing conversations when there is background noise and, when using headphones, hearing the sound in the left earphone as high and tinny. The really big issue though is that you need two good ears for echolocation, so I've been having lots of trouble tracking people in my proximity and bumping into housemates a lot more often.

The audiologist was a middle-aged woman with an alto voice, and we went through a number of hearing tests. The right ear is normal, and the middle ear of the left ear is fine. Then there was this test where I sat in a sound booth with headphones on and the audiologist spoke words through the headphones and I was supposed to repeat the words, "cupcake," "sailboat," "playground."

Right ear, fine. Left ear--

suddenly Turret
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKVuPUY9D-A
is talking to me: "cupcake!."

So how does an alto voice turn into Turret? It seems I not only have a hearing loss (the left ear is operating at 78 percent), but there is a sound distortion occuring. A sound distortion that makes things in my left ear sound like Turret ("Hey! It's me!")

I now have an appt. with a doctor to find the medical cause of the hearing loss, because a hearing loss on only one side could be something related to my arthritis or fibromyalgia or possibly a tumor. The hearing loss is permanent, and I will be getting some sort of device, depending on the situation, perhaps a hearing aid or cochlear implant.

Now I'm going to go find out if I can tweak my text-to-speech program to sound like Turret.

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Entries tagged with hearing loss

I now have a purple ear

My new hearing aid is purple

Article on whether affects arthritis weather

Results of hearing test

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