Hey, all!
I was adjusting well to being SSD on the left; two and 1/2 months post-op, feeling good, and back in the classroom. When talking to individual students whose voices aren't very pronounced (esp. young ladies) I often found myself bending down, putting a cupped hand around my "good" ear, and putting the ear right in their faces to hear them! (Huh? What d'ya say?) Also, for example, if Norma and I were walking, I would have to walk with her on my right side to hear her- if she were on my left, it became muffled and distorted.
So last Monday, Norm 'n me drove to Ann Arbor (Go Blue) to a U of M audiologist to get my BAHA. I was so stoked! I was under the (false) impression that I would, for all intents and purposes, "hear" on my left side again.
The first thing the audiologist explained to me was, in fact, having a BAHA does not significantly improve the volume you hear the world. It does, however, significantly improve life quality for SSD types, like most of us!
I was a little dissapointed at first. It took a few days of wearing the BAHA to notice a couple of things:
1) I don't have to bend down to put my ear in a student's face as often.
2) When I wear the BAHA, and someone on my left side is talking to me, I don't have to turn my head to hear them-- just listen a little more closely.
So, no, it wasn't like, I put on the BAHA, and, "Oh my God! I can hear again!" Yet, it has made things a whole lot easier!
BTW- almost 3 months after the awesome House docs removed my little friend, and I'm feeling great!
Dale
