Listen with Your Heart (Part 3)

Months of combined magnified external sounds (courtesy of my cheap hearing aids) and the internal sounds of tinnitus was no longer fit for healthy living. 

It progressed from punishment to torture. So I decided to take action. Listening with my heart was no longer enough.  

I needed a good listening ear.  

  

Tinnitus has made my ear its permanent address. I’ve tried all means to evict it, but nada. 

People who are hearing impaired are missing out on the words of the world. Help can only come from a pair of hearing aids that costs a king’s ransom—enough to feed a hundred hungry children in one week. 

But missing one of the senses, like a diminished sense of hearing, can significantly affect the brain. My friend, Dr. Cely (Ph.D. in geriatric nursing) warned, “When aural input is reduced, the brain undergoes structural and functional changes, as it is designed to interpret sound, not just receive it. 

So I ran to my EENT who likewise warned me. “Get yourself a good pair of hearing aids soon or else . . .”  He wrote an order on his RX pad. 

Oh-oh. 

I rushed to the Hearing Aid Center that gave me another heating test. Same problem. “Say aloud the third word you hear.” 

You are nervous. “serious?” 

It is Thursday. “Tuesday?” 

I am leaving. “Beaming?” 

     

When shown the prices, I looked the other way, and said bravely, “When do I pay?” (I know all I had to do was ask my sons, but I was loathed to bother them. They have been giving me more than I deserve.) Instead, I dipped into my savings, emptied my walled, and premised myself, “No expenses unless it’s a matter of life and death.”   

“Ten percent deposit and full payment when you pick it up next week.” 

Next week . . .

When the audiologist put them in my ears, the same exact miracle happened again—that first time was when I received my first hearing aids from son #2 in 2016. 

The world came to life. I could hear words—words that I had mistakenly heard.  Dr. Cely was right. I began receiving the correct sounds and my brain started to interpret them awew.  

My brain yelled, “Hey, what happened? Here I was sleeping and now I am suddenly awake?!”  

GRACE. All caps.