One of my hearing aids conked out last week so I’ve been operating with only one. It has not been a fun week. Nor have I been especially fun to be around. It’s hard to be a delightful conversationalist when everyone around me is mumbling or whispering.
My hearing loss is not a secret by any means but it is fairly invisible when I’ve got my hearing aids in. Plus I am an excellent lip reader. (But bear in mind I have to be close enough to see your lips move so I can’t lip read across a room. I wish I could — that would make parties a lot more interesting.)
I don’t have a mild hearing loss. Without getting all technical, it is in the moderate range. This means without my aids I have a hard time functioning — it takes a lot out of me. Even with my aids I find it extremely difficult to talk on an ordinary telephone. I’m lucky that I have a amplification device on my telephone at work. It would be hard to work in communications otherwise,
It is exhausting trying to lip read all day and it is almost impossible to participate in a group discussion or meeting when more than one person talks at a time.
So this week as been very hard. Sure I have the one aid in but it’s not enough.
Until I get my hearing aid fixed or replaced, I expect to be drained by the end of the day. I just want to get home and stop trying to listen and understand. A bath helps. So does a drop of scotch.
But I am grateful this is only temporary. Hearing aids keep getting better and better and I without them many of us would not be able to function well in the hearing world.