Fern and I were both born with hearing loss in our left ears. We didn't know this until we took the standard hearing tests given in grade school. I think my parents were told it might help to have our tonsils and adenoids removed but nothing was said about a hearing aid. Because we didn't show any outward signs of hearing loss, nothing was done and that was that.
While we may have hearing loss I don't find it bothersome or different than anyone else hears. I don't talk on the phone using my left ear because the person sounds far away and not as clear as when I use my right ear. If someone wants to whisper a secret, I turn my head so I can have them whisper in my "good ear". If I'm lying in bed watching tv and turn on my left side I hear the tv the same. If I turn on my right side, I don't hear it very much, if at all. When I watch tv with my family I don't need it turned up louder than them to hear it so I always just assumed I could hear just about as well as anyone else. Almost like my right ear over compensated for my left. HA
Last week Fern decided to have her hearing checked. She felt like she was saying-Excuse me-Pardon me and WHAT? a lot more often. She was telling me how they were doing the tests and it started out like the standard tone test and then the lady said there would be static in her right ear as she talked to Fern in her left ear as though she were wearing a hearing aid in that ear. As soon as she started talking Fern said she started to cry. It was overwhelming and really caught her off guard to hear clearly for the first time in her life. So she put in an order for a very small hearing aid that will fit right into her ear. I will be making an appointment soon. I want to know what I've been missing out on all these years.
