So, my boyfriend finally convinced me to get a hearing test. I went to my PCP thinking I just had a wax buildup only to find out a few weeks later that in fact I am losing my hearing! And I was so sure during the audiogram that I was passing with flying colors! haha
I have the ski slope thing, where you lose the high pitched sounds? I don't miss them, really. I didn't even know they were gone! It might explain my lisp, however. Also, I didn't know I had a lisp, either. I think I sound normal. It's funny how your perceptions of things can be so backwards sometimes.
My audiologist tells me that I'm borderline as far as needing bilateral hearing aids. She told me to come back in a year for another hearing check, or sooner if I start having a lot of communication problems and we can look into the hearing aid option. I have good insurance that will cover them 100%, so that's not a worry. I'm lucky in that respect.
What I'm currently worried about is this: I am in school studying respiratory therapy. I am not onto the clinical portion yet, where you have to listen with a stethoscope and all of that, and I don't have to deal with muffled voices through surgical masks. The audiologist thinks I might have a lot of trouble when I get to that stage and will probably want hearing aids at that point.
I'm worried about being dropped from my RT program if I get hearing aids, though. I go to a community college, but I've never seen any type of disabled student. My ENT told me he can fax stuff to the school if I find that I need help hearing, but again, I am afraid of getting special treatment even if I need it. I don't want to stick out anymore than I already do.
Also, I am afraid for the future. My dad started losing his hearing around my age and it just got worse and worse until he couldn't work anymore. He refuses to wear hearing aids though. He was in the military, but when his hearing got so bad that he couldn't perform his job (linguist), they discharged him. I'm worried that my hearing is going to become worse and worse like his did. I wonder if I will still be able to work, or even have a hospital hire me. Even more, I worry that if my hearing continues to deteriorate that I will be stuck in this in between state of not being able to communicate with the hearing or the deaf!
Anyway, this is quite an introduction. I don't even know if anyone will read this, but it felt good to write it down. When I've told a small number of family and friends that I'm legitimitely (sp?) losing my hearing, they seem unimpressed and unconcerned. Probably because they have an easy time hearing! It makes me feel...worried and ashamed and slightly awkward. My mother seems to think that it is a "phase" I'm going through and most of my friends seem to believe that I have selective hearing. At least my boyfriend is very supportive.
I have the ski slope thing, where you lose the high pitched sounds? I don't miss them, really. I didn't even know they were gone! It might explain my lisp, however. Also, I didn't know I had a lisp, either. I think I sound normal. It's funny how your perceptions of things can be so backwards sometimes.
My audiologist tells me that I'm borderline as far as needing bilateral hearing aids. She told me to come back in a year for another hearing check, or sooner if I start having a lot of communication problems and we can look into the hearing aid option. I have good insurance that will cover them 100%, so that's not a worry. I'm lucky in that respect.
What I'm currently worried about is this: I am in school studying respiratory therapy. I am not onto the clinical portion yet, where you have to listen with a stethoscope and all of that, and I don't have to deal with muffled voices through surgical masks. The audiologist thinks I might have a lot of trouble when I get to that stage and will probably want hearing aids at that point.
I'm worried about being dropped from my RT program if I get hearing aids, though. I go to a community college, but I've never seen any type of disabled student. My ENT told me he can fax stuff to the school if I find that I need help hearing, but again, I am afraid of getting special treatment even if I need it. I don't want to stick out anymore than I already do.
Also, I am afraid for the future. My dad started losing his hearing around my age and it just got worse and worse until he couldn't work anymore. He refuses to wear hearing aids though. He was in the military, but when his hearing got so bad that he couldn't perform his job (linguist), they discharged him. I'm worried that my hearing is going to become worse and worse like his did. I wonder if I will still be able to work, or even have a hospital hire me. Even more, I worry that if my hearing continues to deteriorate that I will be stuck in this in between state of not being able to communicate with the hearing or the deaf!
Anyway, this is quite an introduction. I don't even know if anyone will read this, but it felt good to write it down. When I've told a small number of family and friends that I'm legitimitely (sp?) losing my hearing, they seem unimpressed and unconcerned. Probably because they have an easy time hearing! It makes me feel...worried and ashamed and slightly awkward. My mother seems to think that it is a "phase" I'm going through and most of my friends seem to believe that I have selective hearing. At least my boyfriend is very supportive.
to Alldeaf, LungLover. 
Read a few more!!
