Hearing Aids?

[sonshine]

Hi,
 
I am trying out my 5th hearing aid.  I still have some hearing left in my tumor ear,though not the best.  I am wondering how others are doing that use hearing aids (the regular type) after their AN surgery?  Do you find that they help?  Do you find that you still have trouble hearing even with the hearing aid on?  Hearing loss after "trama" or AN surgery,  is not the same as hearing loss from getting older.  What kind of outcome have you had?  What hearing aid worked best for you?

Thanks,

sonshine 

[russ]

Hi Sonshine!
  I'm deaf left and 50% loss right and working on the 5th or 6th hearing aid. This latest digital is valued at $3,000. There is a bit of improvement in speech discrimination and being able to hear environmenental sounds, but, all in all, I would not say 3 K. worth of improvement. I use headphones for TV or radio.
  Sometimes it's too loud with the aid, sometimes to soft, a channel is fuzzy, another allows too much background noise and on all 3 programmable memories, up close sounds are painfully loud.
  Sometimes I could just throw it and get one of those cow horns as it seems cupping my ear with a hand is about as useful and definitely less trouble free. I've had the latest HA adjust 15 x in as many weeks.
  I talked with Mayo Clinic audiology about the problems and they said many just do not adapt well to digital circuitry. I need a digitally programmable analogue. Now, who makes those and again, how much?
  Maybe I should do one of those advertisements for Starkey Company and drive my car on top it to prove how indestructable it is.
  Golly; I wish I could be as positive about NF-2 as some are on their support group and message board...
  sigh...
  Take care, Sonshine!
  Russ

[bjordanr]

I am 100% deaf in the right side and pretty good hearing on the left. I tried the CROS hearing aid for a while but stopped because it picks up feedback around stuff like computers and also in a crowded room (like a restaurant) it drove me crazy as all the background noise was so amplified!

[OneEye]

I tried the CROS hearing aid also and have gotten where I rarely use it because of all the confusion it picks up.  I have also had problems with the crossover cord giving all kinds of static.  I've replaced it twice, but after a couple months the static is back.

My biggest annoyance with hearing in only one ear is the loss of the sense of direction sounds are coming from.  The phone rings but I can't find the stupid phone before it quits ringing!  Someone honks and I can't tell which way to jump or if I need to jump!  Very frustrating.

OneEye 

[Goldineye]

ONeeye, Funny that you say  you can't tell where sounds are coming from. I am the same way, deaf in left ear and finding it so hard to adjust. And I can never find my phone either.  But when ever I feel down and feel all alone in this situation I find people on this site that are in the same boat. So the heck with our phones and locating them. If it's that inportant they will call back.... Goldineye

[luv2teachsped]

I agree.  I have a very difficult time locating sound.  A friend of mine, who has also had the surgery, told me when someone calls out to her she just stops and waits for them to come to her.  Much easier than to try and figure out who and where they are calling from!  I have really appreciated this board.  When I feel frustrated or sorry for myself I get on the board and know I am not alone.Thanks.luv2teach

[Bob Partak]

I had CK radiosurgery Sept."04" and lost the 44% word recognition i had, now I'm deaf on my left side. My right side has lost high freq. sound so hearing has been a huge challenge for me. I'm considring a cros hearing aid and appreciate everyones comments re: them. 
With one ear I also can't tell dierctions noises come from, can't hear the lecturer in a large conference room or in church, I turn the T.V. volume up too loud(says my wife), and basicly get so frustrated that I go to a different room and read. I don't even enjoy the radio anymore. Restaurants are pure hell. Has anyone had this much trouble adapting and do you ever adapt?
I know a dentist who was born with one functional ear. He tells me if he learned to get by in school   (including professional school) and in the social community he thinks I will in time, but perhaps with the aid of a hearing aid for my good ear. He thinks part of my frustration is knowing what I lost, and he never experienced it- i.e. sterio sound. Anyway, I'm interested in how others are handling being deaf in one ear. Thanks, Bob

[Windsong]

Bob,..... Hi.....

Am deaf in one ear, some loss in other...How do I handle it?

First, went and got a hearing aid. The kind you stick in your ear.

While waiting for it a doc noticed I seemed to be lip reading... i was unconsciously watching everyone's lips it seems.

The hearing aid was weird. Turning on a tap was excruciating as it was painfully loud  listening to the cascading water.

After a while I realized I was listening to my fave stereo cd's less and less as i could no longer hear the nuances. (The leit motifs underneath the main melody).

Being in a restaurant or anywhere else for that matter became an ordeal as frustration and fatigue set in as i tried to make sense of all the sounds and focus on what I did want to hear....

Socializing lessened.

Knowing where exactly sound came from was weird. Was it the fridge compressor or the a/c making that awful gurgling sound? Still don't know but have been looking at new fridges....anyone else like stainless steel? lol...

I figure some people think I am being really picky as I say I want the spot in the corner of a room (with the best position for hearing  sound...like in a restaurant or in someone's living room etc....)...and some people hate being asked to move....others are accomodating....

Fatigue is a big factor.....

Forgot the hearing aid and dropped it on the floor while changing clothes...

People get irritated at being asked to repeat what they said if it's more than one sentence in length.

Here's another one:   I am right handed. I used to hold a phone at my left ear. Now I am deaf left ear, hold phone on right, and since not always on a phone where can use a shoulder rest and sometimes need to write something down it's a pain.. scrunching up shoulder to keep phone in place, flipping thru pages of a book, trying to write etc all using the same right hand/arm/shoulder.... usually a complete disaster.... phone drops, or pen drops, or book flips and lands on floor with pages spread and muscles in neck shoulder arm go into their own "ouch" what ya doing to me screaming scenarios.....

There's plenty more about being deaf like this in one ear...
I bet others have more to add here.

Hope this helps,
Sunny



The list goes on.
Maybe others can add to this and give examples of their own experience

[bluestar]

I bought a digital cros hearing aid (without the cord). I don't use it - I think the main reason is vanity. They are large and clumsy (though when I think nowhere as bad as hearing aids in tghe 50's and 60's). I think for me it is a symbol of being old ( I am 59 - ands that is old).

It consists of 2 behind the ear aids with tubes going to the ears, one is a transmitter from the deaf ear and the other is the receiver to the good ear. At this stage I don't need correction to the good ear.

When I wore it, I still had problems with it in meetings - with the sounds being confused and background noise was a problem. Hearing was still difficult.

At this stage I have isolated myself a lot because of the fatigue, my hearing asnd the droopy face without a smile. I have had the first operration to get the facial nerve working again but now need to wait for 9 months for the nerve to heal.

If I go out to a meeting I find that after an hour I am exhausted and c annot take anymore in. My memory goes and I can't even remember what I have said.

I HAVE just started vestibular therapy - so I hope that makes things better.

And yet reading these posts I know that there are many worse off then I am

How do others cope?

Bluestar

[russ]

Hi Vera
  I did well with one hearing ear only once I got rid of the Cros Aids. Now that the other ear is going, I've become pretty much a recluse as a HA for that one side has become an exercise in frustration!
  Oh; To be caught in deafnesses doorway... It's exhausting, and then add chronic oscillopsia/dizziness?
  And now the NF-2 affecting my feet and legs; I'm about ready for the old folks home sometimes.
  You say 59 is old? I'm 55 and think that is young to have these problems and want to do things as 'normals'.
  Best wishes for your facial reanimation and vest. rehab!
  Russ