To Hear or Not to Hear??????

[tenai98]

Well I saw my GP yesterday and she is going to refer me to a neurosurgeon in Toronto.  I have another hearing test in 12 days...Now hear (spelling and pun intended..lol) is the situarion....I am at last hearing test 60% hearing from my AN ear....I'm sure that has lowered since..My ENT recommended hearing aid for may AN ear!!!  Has anyone done this...hearing aid and then surgery/radiaton??  I worked last night (usually off for summer) and I noticed difficulty in hearing my student in car. I teach driver education....I cant be looking at my student while driving or I may miss a situation and crash....I guess I really have no choice..Another question that I have, does AN cause hearing loss??

JO

[sgerrard]

Hi Jo,

Yes, ANs cause hearing loss, it is one of the most common symptoms. I waited to get a hearing aid until after treatment, in case there were more changes. With modern hearing aids, they have enough range that you could get one before treatment, and have it adjusted if needed after treatment, as long as there was still some useful hearing left. Stopping the decline in hearing was the main reason I got treatment rather than watch and wait. In my book, the best chance for keeping the hearing you have, with a small AN, is to zap it with radiation.

Steve

[leapyrtwins]

Jo -

I'm with Steve on this.  Hearing aids are expensive, so I'd wait until after treatment to see what will work best for you.

I also think that CK would be a wonderful treatment option for you - just my opinion - and as we all know, I'm not a doctor, so take it for what it's worth.

Jan

[tenai98]

unfortunately CK is not available in Canada but the closest center to me is Syracuse NY....I would just have to check with CHAMPVA to see if they would cover it and get the codes for it....

[leapyrtwins]

Sounds like a good plan.  I've never had CK, but I have been to Syracuse 

Hope this works out for you,

Jan

[AMD]

Hi Jo,

I had an expensive completely-in-the-canal Miracle-Ear hearing aid that I got about 5 or 6 years ago.  It made a great difference for me initially, but as the years progressed, and my hearing and word recognition deteriorated, it wasn't as useful.  I don't even use it now because I work in a noisy environment, and even with the "great" technology my particular aid has, it still just magnifies the noise.....and no hearing aid like that is gonna help me with the word recognition.  If you can get by without one, I'd try to wait.  OR, you could invest in one of those really low cost , one-size fits all aids that you see in TV or in magazines(20-100 bucks).  My guess is that if my $5,000 aid didn't help, not much would.  I am awaiting surgery, they depending on that outcome, perhaps investigating BAHA implant.

-Amy

[wendysig]

Hi Jo,
Unless you absoltulely need a hearing aid to do your job, I'd wait.  ANs can cause hearing loss as everyone before me has saiid, and is very often a chief complaint. 

Amy - Sorry to hear that you were misdiagnosed for 8 years!  Did your doctor think it was just sensorineural hearing loss?

Wendy

[thornapple]

An interesting thing I have found:  A hat with an adjustable brim that goes all the way around can be tipped to direct sound into your ears, and you may understand speech better. Don't know if this will help you in the car or not; but I actually take my hearing aids out when I wear a hat because then voices are too loud.

Anyway, a hat is a lot cheaper than a hearing aid. $29.95 vs. thousands....

[Omaschwannoma]

Just thought I'd mention this in case you were concerned with your ability to hear your students while driving. 

For what it's worth after your treatment and the possibility of more hearing loss regarding having to look at your student drivers to "hear" them.  My lip reading teacher uses an extra mirror that hangs off of and below his rear-view mirror which is adjusted so he can "see" the lips of his partner seated in the passenger seat.  He came up with this nifty tool so he didn't have to take his eyes off the road and works great! 

Thought I'd offer this up in case you were thinking about getting one of those "horns" one sticks in their ears to hear!       

[Nancy Drew]

Steve,

About your hearing aid.  Do you have hearing aids in both ears or just the AN one?  If just in the AN ear, can you get a matching hearing aid for your nonAN ear down the road if you need it?  I have mild hearing loss in my nonAN ear.  Are you wearing your hearing aid(s) in your picture?  Just kidding!

Nancy

[AMD]

Hi Jo,
Unless you absoltulely need a hearing aid to do your job, I'd wait.  ANs can cause hearing loss as everyone before me has saiid, and is very often a chief complaint. 

Amy - Sorry to hear that you were misdiagnosed for 8 years!  Did your doctor think it was just sensorineural hearing loss?

Wendy

Yes, Wendy.  They thought it was just SNHL of unknown nature.  Due to my previous lack of symptoms, and my history of SO MANY ear infections when I was little, I don't even think they were remotely concerned about an AN.  It wasn't until the hearing was progressively worse did they want an MRI (that is why I made the appt.  I wanted one).  In fact, it's partially my fault for not going in more often for audiograms, but nobody really said we needed to watch it or anything....  Just glad we know what it is now...

[sgerrard]

Nancy,

For now I just have a hearing aid in my AN ear. My other ear also has some hearing loss at high frequency, so I am considering getting another one on the right. I hear high frequency really well with the hearing aid, but only on the left, so it is often hard to tell where the sound is coming from. When I am outside I am always looking every which way, trying to spot the bird or other source of high pitched sound I just heard.

Here is what it looks like. The second shot shows the gray "behind-the-ear" part of the hearing aid.



Steve

[leapyrtwins]

Steve -

thanks for posting your pictures.
 
For some reason, maybe your obvious BAHA-envy  - I thought your hearing aid would be much more noticeable.

It's actually very discreet, which impresses me a lot - and that's hard to do 

My mother really needs to get a hearing aid or two and has been hesitant to do so because she's imagining large, bulky aids.  I'll have to show her your pictures.

Thanks again,

Jan

[Nancy Drew]

Thanks for the pictures, Steve.  I agree with Jan.  They are very discreet.  It is nice to know that a regular hearing aid is an option if one retains at least 50% of hearing in the AN ear--right, or at least that is what my AN doc said.  Are you able to wear your hearing aid in most situations, Steve?  I know water sports would be out, but how about hiking (sometimes I lose my balance), biking (have had some "wipe outs), snowshoeing (I slide down hills a lot), etc.  In other words, when do you have to take the things out besides when you go to bed?  I know hearing aids are expensive, and I would think one would want to take precautions to see that they don't go popping out!  Nancy

[sgerrard]

It is a pretty small device, neatly tucked into and around the ear. It sits next to my glasses just fine, and is light enough not to cause any pressure.

I think Carrie (CMD) had a type that is water resistant, which can be worn around a pool and will survive a splash, but not a dunking. Water is a problem, even sweat can be. I take it off to mow the lawn, I don't really need to hear the mower louder anyway.

It does not have any tendency to fly off with sudden head movement, it is light enough and the wire is wrapped around the ear enough to hold it in place. It also seems to take being dropped on the floor without a problem. The bigger issue is any event that would actually crush it, like landing on the side of your head, or having it fall off and then stepping on it. It did come with a two year service policy that includes full replacement in the event of total loss.

I have been on a few hikes, and slipping around doesn't send it flying, so that seems okay. I would probably not wear it if I was snowshoeing or anything really active like that. I have also noticed that putting up the hood on a sweatshirt, or wearing any sort of hat or helmet that covers the ears, will tend to produce feedback, so I would take it off in those situations as well.

Glad you all like it. 

Steve