Now you see them, now you don't...

I don't know if this is an official admission of anything, but I have now been wearing a pair of hearing aids for about a month.  I have had a hearing problem, according to my wife, for a decade or more.  So about a year ago, I finally went to the VA to see if I could get some help on getting this taken care of.  The people were very nice, and tested me.  They said I did, indeed, have a hearing issue that was medically diagnosed and not one just "wife-diagnosed."  So I asked them about getting hearing aids and they said they would have to send in the results to some VA headquarters in Cleveland. I should have known I was in trouble, because nothing good has ever come to me through Cleveland.  Basically, they said thanks for your service, but sorry about your luck.  No hearing aids.  Oh, and by the way, don't ask for anything else because you don't qualify.  Arghhhhh!!

Now you see it...

So I went about another year developing my vocabulary around the word "WHAT" or the extended version (which was usually aimed at my wife) "What did you say?".  Then, quite by accident, I came across an article in a retired military magazine that talked about a new program for retirees who were looking to get hearing aids.  It is called "The Retiree-at-cost Hearing Aid Program (RACHP)."  It got my attention right away because it had a couple of my favorite words in there "Retiree" and "at-cost."  The only one missing was "free."

Now you don't.

The program is a DOD program that allows retirees to get professional hearing testing, purchase hearing aids at cost, then have a registered audiologist fit them and watch over them for a year at a substantially reduced cost.  Basically,  the hearing aids (the brand I got is OPTICOM) retail for about $3,600-$3,700 per side and then you would have to purchase the treatment plan from the audiologist.  All in all, the cost is close to $7,500 - $8,000.
 
That is quite an expense and the reason why lots of people go without -- they just can't afford the cost.  Besides that, according to the audiologist, the devices are only supposed to last 5-7 years until they are outdated and obsolete.

The cost for this package under this program was right around $700 total plus the audiologist's fees.  I've told people that this is the first thing I've been able to say is a "good deal" that is provided by the military.  If you are a retired military person, Google this or call your county Veterans' Service Center to check into it.

With this new-found hearing experience, I've come across a lot of new or rediscovered things.  Once I put them on, if I scratch my head anywhere around my ears, I hear a crinkling sound, much like running a spoon across an old wash board.  Must be all those old, dead brain cells that are flaking off rubbing up against my gray hair making all that racket.  Also, I found out that if I have an itch in my ear, I can't just stick my finger in there to scratch it like I did in the old days.  Last week when we were going through the mountains in Pennsylvania, my ears would get that normal altitude stuffiness people always get.  However, something new this time -- not only did I feel the pressure get relieved as I yawned, but I could also "hear" my ears popping open.  Now I wonder why, if those hearing ends are so close to my brain, why can't I hear myself think????  I also found out that I can't leave the devices in when I take a nap.  So, not wanting to give up my naps, I have become quite adept at putting the things in and taking them out.

Oh, one other thing ... now that I can hear well enough, I may have to recommit to learning Morse Code so I can expand that segment of my amateur radio hobby.

But a couple of things I have enjoyed the most is hearing my one grandson, Quinn, read to me, and hearing my other grandson, Heath, make those contentment sounds as he naps or just stares at me. And I do look forward to renewing my acquaintance with the sounds of birds, the crackling of the campfire, the explosion of a fish breaking the surface of the lake while I battle him, the whir of a hummingbird's wings as it zooms here and there, and the sweet sound of a golf ball properly struck.

Some emotions don't make a lot of noise.  It's hard to hear pride.  Caring is real faint -- like a heartbeat.  And pure love -- why, some days, it's so quiet, you don't even know it's there. (Anon.)

Hooah