When I was born at 27 weeks, I came into this world with a sensorineural hearing loss. In a nutshell, the tiny hairs of my cochlear are not developed enough and so most sound waves do not register. I am moderately to severely deaf in my right ear, and severely to profoundly deaf in my left.
I have a lot to thank my mom and dad for. Persevering with my stubbornness for one. I hated speech therapy and having tiny scopes put down my ear canals. I hated wearing the FM system in school because I felt it singled me out. I hated having a teacher aid for the same reason. Because they persevered though, most folk are not aware of my hearing loss until I tell them. I have a lot of people to thank for giving me the best possible start they did.
As a kid, I was sheltered from the technicalities of hearing aid technology. By this I mean that, as far as I knew, I got a new pair of hearing aids every 5-6 years and that was the end of it. As an adult though, I now realise how much my parents had to go through financially to make sure I had the best that could be afforded. In Alberta, where I’m from, the provincial govt funds the cost of hearing aids up to the age of 18 years old. I think this might be a partial funding depending on the model of hearing aids you want. You still went to an Audiology clinic and had (have) really great service, a great rapport with the audiologists treating you. I’m still at the same clinic I’ve been at all my life and there’s something inherently comforting knowing that I can go back any time and even though the clinic has been taken over by different doctors, they still have my entire life history in one large file folder.
Anyway, fast forward to adulthood. My current pair I’ve had for 7 years now. They are losing power noticeably. A few months ago, I went to the House of Sound in Edinburgh for their annual spring cleaning event where they clean your hearing aids and give you a hearing test free of charge. I spoke about hearing aids with them, and trialled a fantastic pair by reSound. I was hearing sounds I’d never heard before in my life, the clarity and vibrancy was exhilarating. The hearing aid itself was half the size of my current pair, and the receiver was in the ear, rather than behind the ear. Amazing how far technology has come. But, the price tag was £5,000. Yes, you read that right. £5,000.
At the end of the day, there was no way we could afford that, so I had to consider the other option that’s available in the UK. The NHS. Hearing aids are free on the NHS, and for this reason alone I feel badly for what may come across as complaining. When I was googling NHS care, it was very hard to find first hand accounts of what people experienced, so I hope that anyone coming across this blog entry finds my experience informative.
I went to my GP in July for my referral to the Audiology dept at the hospital where I live. That was the first difference to me, in that I’ve never been to a hospital for hearing aid care before. My appt for this came through 3 weeks later, and in mid August, I saw the Audiologist at the hospital. Now, I have to say that I went in with very high expectations of what was going to happen. What I thought was going to happen was that I’d see the Audiologist, have a hearing test, get mold impressions done, and a pair of hearing aids to trial. But this was all I knew, from my experience back home, and with the House of Sound here. Being the NHS, that’s not what happened at all. Oh, I got the hearing test, and the ear mold impressions, but I was told straight off the bat that I was going to be getting the aids I already have, as that is what they are currently fitting. I remember blinking, and inwardly shaking my head like, “what? did I hear that right?’. Yes, the second major difference….hearing aid manufacturers take their technology to private clinics first here. The NHS get the casts offs or the aids that are obsolete. My current pair are obsolete. Then I was told I’d have to come back to get the fitting done. I asked if she could make adjustments to my current aids because my hearing test was a bit worse than when I’d last had my aids adjusted, and she told me she couldn’t as it was done off site and they don’t have the equipment there.
I’m not ashamed to say that I cried when I walked out of there to work. I cried because I was disappointed that I wasn’t even getting an upgrade, and I cried because the service wasn’t there that I needed. A letter came a few days ago saying that I was going to have to wait a further 12 weeks to get the appt for my fitting. I think you can guess what my reaction was.
So, in my opinion, the service on the NHS is dire. BUT, it’s free. I don’t agree with how things are run with the NHS, but it’s free.
For anyone coming across this blog in their research on whether to go private or go on the NHS, I say without a doubt, if you can afford to go private, do it. The service, the care, the technology and after care is worth it.
I have often wondered what it would be like to go without hearing aids…but I think my tinnitus would drive me around the bend. It has gotten really bad over the last few weeks, but I think that’s due to my hearing aids losing power.
If we ever win the lottery, I know what I’m getting first. 🙂
The Geeky Canuck 