Face me, I read lips

The photo hunt theme for the week is twisted.   I almost used this shot for electric, but it is more twisted than electrical.  This was taken after a bad windstorm in 2006 left more than a million people in western Washington without power.

For more ‘twisted’ pictures see the photo hunt website at  PhotoHunt

Whenever I have gotten new hearing aids in the past, I’ve been in shock of what I was missing.   The Naida’s are especially powerful, and with the frequency transposition technology, I’m hearing sounds that I haven’t heard in fifteen years.

I first noticed it while outside painting my deck during the Naida trial period.  This awful, inexplicable, horrid sound suddenly invaded my quiet space.  I asked my husband, “What in God’s name is that racket?!”  It was so loud.  Turned out to be geese.  But we had no geese in our yard.  I couldn’t see any geese anywhere.  They were flying overhead, he said.  I didn’t know they made noise while flying.  Can’t they fly quietly like other birds?

On the other hand, I’m hearing speech so well, I find I can multi-task better.  For example I can talk to someone and continue working without looking up.  That’s not to say I never have to lip read anymore.  It’s just that I don’t have to ask for three and four repeats.  Often I get it the first time.  I’ve been joining in on back room conversations, and I’m not feeling so left out as before.

Also– this is a biggie– I can hear on the phone!  I’m really more hard-of-hearing than deaf with these new aids, because I’m getting so much benefit from them.  They are better than any I can remember in a long time.

OK– so here’s the downside.  It has been so long since I’ve had the ability to ‘butt in’ on conversations I’m not always sure that it’s welcome.  I am also not sure exactly how to do this politely or if there is a polite way to do it at all.  I don’t want to become unpopular, but at the same time I’m so excited that I can hear what other people around me are saying, it’s all I can do not to chime in.

The other problem is it’s difficult to concentrate on my work when two or more people around me are having a conversation.  I can’t help eavesdropping.  I am not doing it on purpose.  It’s just that for the past fifteen years I have never been able to understand any chatter without looking at the mouths.  Now I’m hearing entire conversations and it’s difficult to shut it out.

Not that I’m complaining or anything.

Still, there are some issues that I’m learning to live with.  I get a sort of duel sound when I talk too loudly.  Not sure how to describe that.  It’s as if two of me are speaking.  This may be a good thing because I am not talking too loud anymore.  But sometimes a person has to shout, and the dual sound is annoying.  Second, since I’m hearing so well it would be nice to be able to have directional microphone.  I really miss that feature which I had on my old aids.  Yesterday a couple people were having a loud conversation behind me, and I couldn’t understand the person in front of me because the people behind were talking louder than the one speaking to me.

My third complaint has to do with operation of the aid itself.  I get four programs.  Currently I have my aid programmed on telecoil (for phone), telecoil plus mic (for those instances when I’m using a loop), music (for a full sound), and I’m not sure what you call this last one but it focuses on speech.  I use this last a lot when I’m on the information desk at work.  OK– so I’ve got programs 1,2,3, and 4, and 5 — which is the normal default program.  What I hate is I have to scroll through every program to get to the program I want.   I can’t just click a button for the telecoil phone setting, which is a no-brainer, really.  A person should be to click for telecoil because we need to answer the phone quickly.  I feel the same about the “speech enhancement” program.  You don’t plan ahead for people to be talking loudly behind you.  It would be nice to be able to click to number four, and have it be instantaneous rather than having to scroll through three programs while the person in front of you is yapping away.

Phonak’s solution is the remote control, which is very nice.  But expensive!!  It’s an extra $750.00!  Currently what I’m doing is leaving my program on the default while working in the back room where I’m more likely to answer a phone.  When on the desk, I use program four.  This works in a pinch, but is less convenient than it should be.

But those are my only complaints.  I’m just real happy with these super aids.  I have nothing against cochlear implants, but I am pleased that I was disqualified by 3% by the  HNT sentence score for my left side, and also that my insurance refused to pay for the hybrid.  I was so close to getting an implant, and I’m so happy with these aids.

It’s upside down week, and I had a real hard time coming up with a picture.  I don’t take too many upside down shots.  Not on purpose anyway.  But I did find this–

My favorite kite flying upside down.  The white thing is supposed to be a cow jumping over the moon, but in this shot it is under the moon.  I have three kites.  This one is a Chinese dragon kite, though there is no dragon on it.  The name comes from its shape.  It’s a bit difficult to put up, except in the windiest weather.  This day it was so windy on the beach that it put its own self up.  For a bit of legend about Chinese dragon kites read here.

Legend has it, that while preparing to attack an enemy’s fortified palace, the general slowly released his kite into the air, and used it to measure the distance remaining between his forces and the old fortress walls. Using the length of his line as a guide, he ordered his men to begin digging tunnels, quietly, so that when the time came, they could hide in the dugouts and crawl through those tunnels to get in the palace from underneath its walls. After the tunnels had finally been completed, many believe that General Han Hsin tied his kite to a nearby tree and left it to fly alone overhead. The enemy forces were distracted by the frightening and colorful dragon kite which sailed high over the palace walls. As they watched the kite and searched the ground for attackers, Han Hsin’s men were already inside the palace, surprising its unprepared defenders. The use of the dragon kite in this ancient military ambush led to a victory for the wise kite keeper, General Hsin.”

I don’t know if the legend is true, but it’s a great story just the same.  Kites have many purposes besides pleasure.  They have been used in many wars including the Civil War and during WWII by all sides.  They have been used to measure wind velocity and atmospheric conditions as well.

My other two kites are deltas– a red and yellow girl, and a cool purple, blue, and pink lady.  I love them all.  The deltas go up incredibly easy in winds just 3mph.  On a beach it’s all I can do to keep those babies from flying.  But the dragon takes some pampering.  I suppose that’s why I love her best.  When she flies she is spectacular.   I may have been bringing her in here.  Normally she flies right side up.   Looking at this picture makes me wish it were spring again.

“Oh my God! Those are so CUTE!”

How often does anyone say that about new hearing aids? Maybe new shoes or glasses, but never hearing aids. Not until now. That’s exactly what my coworkers said when I wore my new aids to work last Wednesday.   The first time I saw the Phonak Naida in zebra stripes I knew those were the aids for me.

Hearing people are wearing all kinds of stuff on their ears these days– headphones, headsets, bluetooth– not to mention piercings everywhere. They’re getting used to the idea that things on or in your ears don’t need to be invisible. Ear wear can be cool, distinctive, fun, decorative. . . Why shouldn’t hearing aids be like that?

About ten years ago, I knew a gutsy woman who painted flower designs on her beige hearing aids with a fine tipped paint brush and paints made to adhere to plastics. She used to give workshops about how to do it at our local HLAA meetings. She wore her hair short to show off her art work. And she had several piercings in her ears to draw attention. The basic idea was that people would be less likely to forget she couldn’t hear if they saw her aids all the time.

Those of us who have worn aids a long time know that self-disclosure is the first step towards getting the accommodations we want and need. The more visible your disability the more likely people are to remember you need a little help.

I never had the nerve to paint my aids. It wasn’t because I wanted to hide them but I was afraid I might damage them with paints. Luckily, hearing aid manufacturers started making visible aids that are actually somewhat attractive. It wasn’t until 2002 I saw a super fun hearing aid for the first time ever– the Delta made by Oticon. Oh My GOSH! Was it ever cute! But not adequate for my hearing needs.

Oticon Delta

The one my audi showed me was bright green. I’ve seen these in zebra too. But Oticon doesn’t make their power aids nearly as attractive. The Epoq for all its state of the art bluetooth, automatic everything is pretty boring in design.

Later, Bernafon won a prestigious design award for its “brite” model.

Bernafon Brite

Again, it’s not powerful enough for me, but it sure is cute. Bernafon is made by Siemens so it has to be a very well made aid. My Siemens Prisma P is STILL working well after ten years of constant use. I’ve never had to send it in for one single repair! The Brite is comparable to the Oticon Delta AND it’s much more reasonably priced at Costco.

Speaking of Siemens, I LOVE the Siemens Vibe!

Siemens Vibe

Their ad campaign is “Live Outloud!” — a great message for hearing aid avoiders. But again, it’s not powerful enough for me.

Phonak listens. The Naida is a powerful aid in fun colors. Here are my new Naidas worn by my favorite hearing aid model– Teddy.

Phonak Naida Zebra on Teddy

They don’t show up on me too well due to my thick, thick hair. But the great thing about them is when I lay them down somewhere I can find them easily. The white shows up well on wood tables. (Yes, yes I know I should always put them in a case instead of putting them on a table, especially with a kitty in the house who loves to bat them around.)

Even better, I’m finding that since I can hear better with them I’m wearing them more often. The problem with my old aids was they weren’t adequately amplifying speech, and yet other sounds were uncomfortable. I didn’t even realize that was the problem. The molds were bothering me something awful, but I guess that was because I wasn’t getting much benefit from the aids. I’m wearing the same molds now (will be getting new ones soon). Yet– since the sound is better, my ears are happier. This last surprised me.

At the heart of this collage are my hearing aids, worn by a gargoyle. I’ve been going deaf for over thirty years. Here are some of the gadgets that have kept me connected to the hearing world, but keep in mind it is only a small sampling. I’ve got tote bags full of electronic devices for the deaf. No one depends more on electricity for communication than deaf people, and no other group of people is more tech savvy.

deaf gadgets

Phonak Naida

I already wrote about the Naidas and the deaf intern at my audiologist’s office a couple weeks ago.   I had planned on trying both the Phonak Naidas and the Oticon Epoqs.  Then I got sidetracked with two more visits to two different implant centers.  I qualified for the cochlear hybrid– again– but my insurance denied it on the basis that the cochlear hybrid is still considered experimental/investigational since the FDA hasn’t approved it.

I’m OK with that.  After the second adjustment on the Naidas, most my issues seemed to be resolved, and I got to the point that I really liked those aids.   I still have a problem with the ear molds, but strangely because of the sound improvement the molds don’t bother me nearly as much.

If it weren’t for the fact that my audi ordered beige without asking what color I wanted, I might have kept them, but I had my heart set on zebra stripes so I sent the beige ones back and I’m waiting for the zebra stripes now.  In the meantime I am trying the Oticon Epoqs, which my audi was strongly pushing.

I hate them.  I won’t say they are a bad aid, but they are bad for me.  Aside

Epoq RITE power

from the sound distortion, program delays and lack of a directional microphone the thing that bothers me most is that the Epoqs simply don’t have as much power as the Naidas.  I will be starting right out being over extended in these aids.  With a progressive hearing loss like mine, they could be useless within six months.

The main selling point as far as my audi is concerned is that they ‘look better.”  I had to admit the thin tubes and open ear fit were appealing, though I don’t care about looks.  It’s comfort I’m after.  But because of the severity of my hearing loss, I have to go with a tight fitting hard plastic mold in my ear that looks like an ITE aid with the thin tube coming out that attaches to the BTE part.  I almost laughed out loud when I saw them.  Better looking???   If they helped me hear better at work, I could put up with all that stuff in my ears– but they don’t because I’m too deaf for the Epoq.

I have been thinking a lot about my audiologist lately.  I have gone there for almost thirty years.  It seems like he is more interested in fitting me with an Oticon aid than in finding the right aid that works.  I have had to be firm and demanding about the features I wanted in an aid–features the Oticon Epoq doesn’t have such as sound recovery.  I realize there are always consessions, but ultimately I am the one who is spending the money and wearing these things.   Ideally it would be nice if my audiologist would tell me what’s new with ALL the aids, rather than just what’s new in Oticon aids.

Also, it really, really bothers me that the people in this office know next to nothing about ALD’s such as the Phonak Smartlink.   When I mentioned I wanted to check into an FM system like the Smartlink, they pushed Oticon’s blue tooth system– telling me it was ‘cheaper’  But what they didn’t tell me was that it wasn’t designed to wear when you’re out and about socializing, like at a restaurant or working.  Supposedly it’s great for the TV– which would be wonderful if I watched TV very often.  But I don’t.

I have become very dissatisfyed with this audiologist.  Now I feel it’s too late to switch because I don’t want to start all over again somewhere else.  Even if I did find another audiologist I could run into the same kind of crap.   It will be OK this time because of the deaf intern and the fact that I sorta knew what I wanted going in.  The deaf intern actually DOES listen to me, and gets it about the zebra stripes.  Ironic, isn’t it?  He even offered his own Smartlink for me to try.  But after I buy, I plan on searching for a new audi because the intern will only be staying a few more months.

If I had not gone to the International Federation of Hard of Hearing Con last summer, I would have been clueless about the Naidas, and frequency transposition (they call it ’sound recovery’), which is the perfect solution for people like me with a steep ski slope hearing loss.  Because my audi doesn’t Phonak, he wouldn’t have recommended them.  But it turns out they are the best aid for me, AND they cost $1500.00 less than the Epoqs my audi loves so much, which means I can afford a Smartlink now too!

I thought this would be a good time to emphasize again just how important it is to find a good audiologist who is more interested in fitting you properly than in selling a particular aid.  Several websites talk about your rights as a patient.  Audiologists often push you to make your decision too quickly.  You have thirty days.  It’s really helpful if you research all the latest stuff on hearing aids before visiting an audiologist, so you have some clue what your needs might be.  Do not do what I have done.  Do not fall into the rut of seeing someone you don’t like for thirty years, so that you then find it too awkward to break free.  Shop around, research, check out Costco.

This week’s photo hunt theme is orange.  Here are some cute jars of “Whoop Ass” hot sauce.  I loved these little man jars with their little orange cowboy hat lids.  This hot sauce display was taken in a gift shop in Tombstone, Arizona.

HOT Little Men

PhotoHunt

I was nominated for this Honest Scrap Award by Jelly.  It was nice of her to think of me, so I decided to play along and list ten honest things about myself.  Then I’m supposed to name ten others to play, but not sure I know of ten others besides the bloggers she already named.  Please feel free to participate if you like– ANYONE. 

1. There’s a weird thing about the soft palate in the back of my throat that allows me to make piggy noises without opening my mouth.
2. I do not have a uvula because it was accidentally cut off during a tonsillectomy.
3. I am a second hand store junky.  Yesterday’s fabulous find was a pair of Chicos pink striped linen capris—perfect condition—$3.00.
4. I envy over weight people who are comfortable in their bodies.
5. When I was eight I broke my arm performing dangerous acrobatics while pretending to be in the circus.
6. I am afraid of heights. Now.
7. I love camping and I am really pretty good at tying knots, pitching tents, cooking over a campfire and all that kind of stuff.
8. I pretty much live in slippers and mules.
9. First crush was a pediatric dentist, and I’ve had a thing for men in white lab coats ever since.
10. I am super klutzy at sports that involve moving spheres.

Please– if you decide to play this meme, link back to me so I can read your ten things.