Hello all,
I have now had my Transear for about 10 days. I felt I owed this group a review.
1) I picked an audiologist who has fit three or four Transears. I called the Transear folk,s and asked them who had experience in my area. I chose one that is about an hour drive away based on their experience. I think this experience was vital in the process.
2) My hearing test results were almost exactly like they were about 4 months ago, zero word recognition on the AN side, some residual hearing. Basically, I can hear distorted sounds but don't understand any words. Imagine an AM radio tuned between stations.
3) This particular audiologist sells both Baha and Transear although I brought up the Transear, she said it was the best choice for me. She went over all of the other options, including stronger traditional aids, Baha, etc. We agreed that Transear was the best option.
4) I ordered mine in black. I am mostly bald, and in my experience with previous aids, the black at least looked like a fancy bluetooth headset. It feels a bit more high tech vs old school flesh color.
5) About 2.5 weeks later it arrived. Upon inserting, the improvement was instant. I could hear the audiologist speaking directly into my deaf side. Previously, the "head shadow" would completely block the sound. I was VERY excited. I am still a bit emotional about the situation and this was the first positive emotion in a long time.
6) The first week was great. I was not asking coworkers to repeat themselves at all. I was in a very important meeting where a manager sat down on my AN side. At first I shuttered, thinking I was going to have problems, I heard every word. The sound quality is still a bit AM radio like but at least the station is tuned now.
7) Unfortunately, by the end of the week my ear was very very sore. I went back and had it sanded and was instructed to leave it out for a day or two to allow my ear canal to heal a bit. I could not stand to not wear it at work Friday, so I wore it soreness and all. I have had it out all weekend and my ear feels fine. I will use it again starting tomorrow morning at work.
In short, I am very happy with things so far, and feel like life can be very close to normal again thanks to the Transear.
Jim
