User: yumearashi Date: 2009-03-11 16:42 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

*laughs* Yeah, I saw a midnight screening of that without realizing it was a three hour film. Which wouldn't normally have been a problem on my scheduled, but when I got home at 3h30, I still had nearly 3 hours of working packing up a bunch of stuff because a charity was coming to take the donation at 11 am. Didn't get a lot of sleep that night.

In other news, I'm demo-ing a hearing aid this week. It's been a strange experience ^.^;

User: feliciter Date: 2009-03-12 03:51 (UTC) Subject: (no subject) Keyword: hmm?

There were some points where I was watching just to see what happens next (while checking the time - cinema advertised it as 141 min!). Got seriously psyched by the trailer and credits, so my reaction after the movie was a bit "meh".

strange experience

How so? I hope it's a significant improvement on the current situation.

User: yumearashi Date: 2009-03-13 05:36 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Yeah, same here. I was impressed by how faithful it was but....it dragged sooooooo long! Of course, I was tired and cranky and hungry and knew I wouldn't be getting any sleep, so that probably didn't help ^.^;

It took a lot of getting used to. Both the actual feel of it (my ear's still a little sore, and the tickling drove me nuts at first) and of course the way it alters sounds. I walked out of the doctor's office thinking 'is this really how the world sounds to people?' Everything seemed very loud at first - almost painfully so - and the sound has a rather tinny quality. I've mostly gotten used to that - the sound of my own keyboard doesn't make my flinch anymore. The constant noise of my hair against the mic really annoyed me, though. The audiologist said I'd get used to it, but I really wasn't. A couple of days ago I took to pinning my hair up away from it, and that resulted in a much more 'normal' experience. I'm not so conscious of it all the time. It looks some psychological adjustment too - it's a little depressing to be walking around with my two most important senses requiring artificial enhancement.

I was surprised at how tiny the thing was, and how discreet. The one they gave me had no volume control but it did have a mute, which I didn't use. Not much point in demoing a hearing aid if you're going to turn it off ^o^

A week is not long enough to demo something like this, I think - too much of that time is spent merely adjusting. I do wish it had occurred to me (before the audiologist brought it up when she gave me the demo) that I should try to wear it in as many different environments as possible. Because it didn't occur to me to make plans around this, I didn't get a chance to see a movie (this was after Watchmen) or do a day trip to Boston, and those would have been really good tests. I did go out on errands, hang out with friends, and hit a few stores and a restaurant. And I got to see what a pain it is to be taking it in and out because it's raining -.-

The big question, of course, is did it work? I'm not so sure. I heard more, but I didn't necessarily hear better. At some of the quieter places, like the doctor's office, the mostly-empty bank, and the quiet little restaurant, I did pretty well, but I usually do all right at quiet places anyhow. During the lively department meetings, the cacophony of simultaneous voices was just louder than usual - no clearer. It didn't help my boss speaking on my deaf side. I still couldn't understand what people were saying sometimes and had to ask. Watching TV didn't seem to be a difference, though I didn't try without the captions off since I expect I'd want them anyway.

The interesting part will be seeing what things are like when I give it back.

User: feliciter Date: 2009-03-15 04:22 (UTC) Subject: (no subject) Keyword: hmm?

A week is not long enough...too much of that time is spent merely adjusting

True - one would probably need at least 3-4 weeks to get used to it. One of my ENT colleagues had his Meniere's patients try a few days on, alternating with an off day to see the difference, for a month. The other patients who needed hearing aids got it all the time, but they're different: age- and noise-induced hearing loss and other conditions where there is near-total loss of volume, rather than interference with making out sounds.

User: yumearashi Date: 2009-03-15 16:44 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

*nods* This was really experimental for the practice, they told me. They hadn't done hearing aid trials with someone whose loss was so unilateral, so variant between the low and high pitches, and was more distinction than volume. That's why I was so thorough about making notes on the experience, so I can help them learn how better to help others. In the end, the conclusion we came to was that it helped, but not enough to be worth the large investment that getting a hearing aid would be.

User: feliciter Date: 2009-03-15 23:05 (UTC) Subject: (no subject) Keyword: don't worry be happy

experimental for the practice

Ah, I see.

it helped, but not enough to be worth the large investment

That's too bad D: Hopefully there will be advances in sound distinction for hearing aids soon! What are your options now?

User: yumearashi Date: 2009-03-16 03:00 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Well, it would be nice if health insurance covered them so that I could have one even though it only helps some. But oh well -.-

As for my options, it's pretty much coping as I have been. Which I don't think is really all that badly, considering. As long as I stay on top of getting tested when the good ear goes bad and staying with the prednisone to fix it when that happens, I should do all right.