BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE

• by Poppy Lesti
• July 13 2006

Having a hearing loss is really hard. It is insidious. It usually starts slowly and creeps up on us. We respond in kind. We ignore it and gradually start to limit our lives. We stay at home a lot more—social situations are just too hard to deal with. We don’t go out with our friends as much—it is too hard to hear in restaurants. We don’t go to the movies anymore—can’t understand them. We alienate our families with the tv volume so loud. We frustrate our family with being able to hear them in the morning and afternoon but ignoring what they say in the evening—convenient hearing.

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FIRST STEPS

• by Anne Wicklund
• 27 Aug, 2006

I am profoundly sorry for your newest challenge. Since my husband began to lose his hearing at the age of 52, I totally understand what you are going through. But life is not over – this is the very best time to experience this issue because the new technologies make it so much easier than what our parents and grandparents endured. That said, there are a number of things you can do: I would strongly suggest that you get a hearing test – perhaps you will benefit from hearing aids. The new ones are so small. Costco gives hearing tests at no charge.

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