I was\u00a0pretty depressed when I wrote my last entry because\u00a0I thought I had no options – I certainly didn’t have any on paper.\u00a0 But I’ve learned something: Life isnt always the way it appears to be on paper.\u00a0 I forgot something important\u00a0too – never, and I mean NEVER give up hope.\u00a0 Here’s what happened:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I went to my\u00a0audiologist and she spent over an hour reprogramming the Phonak hearing aids.\u00a0 I could tell they weren’t going to work out for me, but agreed to give them another try.\u00a0 In the meantime, she brought in the Widex and the Siemans, which weren’t supposed to work for me.\u00a0 On paper, they didn’t meet my needs.\u00a0 Nothing did.\u00a0 If the Phonak aids\u00a0didn’t work, nothing should.\u00a0 But what did we have to lose by trying, was our thinking.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So before I left with the re-programmed Phonaks, which were still sounding\u00a0awful to me,\u00a0we decided\u00a0to quickly try the Widex.\u00a0 After all, I used to have good experiences with Widex before my hearing loss hit rock bottom, so let’s see how they sound now. \u00a0We put them in my ears and it was like someone turned the world right side up again!\u00a0 Now the Widex are on, off or telecoil\u00a0– no programs to choose from, no Bluetooth, no bells and whistles.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Without any fancy programming, without any extra features, sound was so much improved, I cried.\u00a0 All of a sudden I wasn’t struggling to read lips again.\u00a0 I wasn’t making anyone repeat a million times.\u00a0 I was reading like I did two and a half years ago before getting the\u00a0Starkey hearing aids!\u00a0 (I didn’t even realize until now how much the Starkey aids muffled the sounds!)\u00a0 Sound was sharper, there was no echo, the noise wasn’t overwhelming, and all my hope came rushing back.\u00a0 Don’t get me wrong – I can’t hear again.\u00a0 That will never happen.\u00a0 But I got enough sounds to read well again.\u00a0 It makes all the difference in the world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Can I try the Siemans too?” I asked.\u00a0 “I don’t have time to program them now, so why don’t we wait until your next appointment for that,” she said.\u00a0 “Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease,” I begged. “I just want to see if they sound similar to the Widex because they have the bells and whistles that could really enhance my life!”\u00a0 We tried the Siemans and the sound was very similar to the Widex.\u00a0 Not quite as sharp, but they can be programmed and very fine tuned.\u00a0\u00a0 They may be what I’ve been praying for.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We ordered the Siemans and I’m getting them tomorrow.\u00a0 And guess what?\u00a0She decided to\u00a0let me use the Widex so I could have a better life while waiting for the Siemans to come in.\u00a0 This week has been so much better for me communication-wise than the past two and a half\u00a0years have been. And the best thing is, I know if the Siemans don’t work for any reason, I can have the Widex.\u00a0 Two options from none.\u00a0 I’d say it was a miracle.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And, with that, I’m going to leave you with this little poem I’ve always lived by and forgot to remember. The author is unknown:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t Quit<\/span><\/p>\n When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, Life is queer with its twists and turns, Often the goal is nearer than, Success is failure turned inside out– I was\u00a0pretty depressed when I wrote my last entry because\u00a0I thought I had no options – I certainly didn’t have any on paper.\u00a0 But I’ve learned something: Life isnt always the way it appears to be on paper.\u00a0 I forgot something important\u00a0too – never, and I mean NEVER give up hope.\u00a0 Here’s what happened: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lostmyhearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lostmyhearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lostmyhearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lostmyhearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lostmyhearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lostmyhearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":467,"href":"https:\/\/lostmyhearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions\/467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lostmyhearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lostmyhearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lostmyhearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWhen the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
\nWhen the funds are low and the debts are high,
\nAnd you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
\nWhen care is pressing you down a bit,
\nRest, if you must, but don’t you quit. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nAs every one of us sometimes learns,
\nAnd many a failure turns about,
\nWhen he might have won had he stuck it out;
\nDon’t give up though the pace seems slow–
\nYou may succeed with another blow. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nIt seems to a faint and faltering man,
\nOften the struggler has given up,
\nWhen he might have captured the victor’s cup,
\nAnd he learned too late when the night slipped down,
\nHow close he was to the golden crown. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nThe silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
\nAnd you never can tell how close you are,
\nIt may be near when it seems so far,
\nSo stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
\nIt’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"