What's that?

Though I kept telling myself it was the same thing and I knew the rewards could greatly outweigh the inconveniences, there remained years and years of delays, excuses and procrastination.

When I was 12, the school nurse told my mother about my poor eyesight. In short order, I was wearing glasses from the time I rolled out of bed until my head hit the pillow at night. Minor changes to my life paid great dividends in being able to see clearly.

When I was somewhere in my 40s, I became aware of the fact I could not hear as well in my right ear as my left. Instead of promptly addressing my hearing loss and getting a hearing aid, I made adjustments.

Most telling was that my wife and I became accustomed to always walking with her on my left side. It became such an ingrained practice that I expected others automatically to move to my left and Leah said she made it a habit to put other people on her right.

Such a move was not possible when I was driving, however, so we just dealt with it. Leah spoke up, I turned my head some when necessary and we did not play the radio.

Around other people, I did not hesitate to explain I did not hear well and tried to get into a good position and/or ask them to speak up. When needed, I asked them to repeat something, which most did not seem to mind, most of the time.

I owe it to my mother’s experiences that I forced the issue. She had poor hearing for years and never did anything about it. She would fuss to us about speaking up and looking at her while talking, but she pretty much withdrew around others. In later years, she spent a lot of time just not paying attention to what was going on around her.

That would not happen to me, I swore, and yet I put off getting help.

Until a few weeks ago, that is.

Since Thanksgiving, I’ve been wearing a hearing aid in my right ear and am ready to pronounce it a success.

Leah and I now make it a practice to walk on the other side. I can hear her while driving. I can hear other sounds while on the phone. It’s easier to pick up conversations when in a group of people.

The jury’s still out on whether it helps me triangulate on the direction of an unknown sound, but I hope it helps there, too.

We still have not boosted the power all the way to 100 percent and we’re continuing to fine-tune the device, but I’m already happy with it.

Do you hear me?
 
(c) 2011 by Steve Martaindale