[Magdalen] anomanous

[Grace Cangialosi]

This is a long, but as one who resisted any suggestion that I might have a hearing loss (mostly vanity about wearing aids), I want to share my experience. 
First, I suggest that you have a screening by a real audiologist. (Not one of those outfits that send hearing-aid ads all the time.)

My daughter finally said she could hear my car radio when I pulled in the driveway, and I’ve never liked loud music, so that was a wake-up call.
I went to UVa for a screening, and the audiologist came out and said “You have a severe hearing loss and are definitely a candidate for hearing aids.”  I said “hearing aidS?” And she said the loss was in both ears.
I thanked her, told her I couldn’t afford hearing aids—Medicare doesn’t cover them—and figured I’d start saving up.

Well, I resumed singing in a choral group and thought that a couple of the new people around me weren’t singing quite on pitch. This is a seriously auditioned group, so I thought that was unlikely. I suspected it had something to do with my hearing, and I told the director and asked her, since I sit in front, to tell me if she noticed me singing off key.
The next thing that happened was that I would be in a group meeting of some kind, and I would hear just a stream of sound from someone with no discernible words. I actually thought my mind was going.
My daughter had met an audiologist with her own practice who did free screenings and suggested I go.
I didn’t tell her what the previous results were, and her results came back the same. In fact, the first words out of her mouth were, You have a severe loss—why haven’t you had a screening before now?”
She suggested I try a pair of hearing aids, which I did, and the results were amazing. So I saved up to get some, and I’ve never been sorry. They’re almost invisible, and most people don’t even know I’m wearing them, so that took care of the vanity part.

One of the things she explained to me was that it isn’t always the volume that is the problem, it’s often not being able to distinguish consonants. That’s why speech can sound like a stream of unintelligible sound.

She’s not a distributor, so she doesn’t push any particular brand, though there are two or three she uses. Once you have them, everything is free—batteries, six-month check-ups, annual re-evaluations, even sending them back to the factory before the two-year warranty is up so they can make any necessary repairs free of charge.
I’ve referred five people to her, none of whom thought their hearing was that bad, and every one needed hearing aids. And no, it wasn’t because she pressured them—I had been noticing they were having trouble hearing, or they had expressed some concern themselves.

I understand some Medicare supplements will cover $500, but mine doesn’t.

I’ve also learned that uncorrected hearing loss increases the risk of dementia.
Anyway, if there’s any question in your mind—you or anyone else on here—get your hearing checked. And even if you want to go a cheaper route, that can still help. I have one friend who gets his at Costco.
Sorry to be so long-winded, but in the past 4 years of wearing these, I’ve become a true believer (obviously), and I think we often don’t pay enough attention to our hearing.
Grace




> On Sep 8, 2018, at 8:01 AM, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Just the other day I asked the gf to let me know if she noticed me
> mis-cuing.
> I've begun to ask "what?" more often than I'd like,
> but (truth to tell) she's always had a soft voice.
> And I know miscueing is the real indicator of hearing loss.
> As in when you say tomato and I hear lumbago.
> 
> I explained that, if I'm going to need a hearing aid,
> I'd rather start early than wait until I'm used to the silence.
> Because that makes the adjustment more difficult.
> 
> So imagine my distress when I thought I heard the President say
> anomanous.
> My head shot up. I stared at the television.
> And then he said it again.
> Like that cute little Sesame Street song: manamana.
> -M
> 
> "We have seen your Great White Hope,
> and we are not impressed."