Just 2 more days and I can bug my audiologist about the Naida hearing aid. I really cannot wait. It's funny how I get excited about getting a new hearing aid, but then again, who wouldn't? Right now I'm thinking, new hearing aid, and the iPilot remote control to go with the hearing aid, as I do change programmings on the hearing aid to fit the situation I'm in (noisy, quiet, telecoil, FM). I'm still unsure of the iCom thing, but I'll discuss this with the audiologist. Perhaps I can just get a new boot so I can use the FM receiver with the hearing aid, and continue to use the darned T-mic transmitter that likes to give me grief every so often. Or maybe I'll just stick with the Hatis Epic device. Who knows, maybe I'll end up ordering the iCom unit, I have no clue.
And it sounds like my dad and grandparents will help pay for the Naida too. My grandparents sure have been of a lot of help when it comes to purchasing new hearing aids and FM systems. Growing up, my parents didn't have much money to purchase hearing aids for me, so my grandparents would help out (they still had to pay off my medical bills from when I had meningitis). I don't know, I think they even helped pay for the purple hearing aids I got when I was in the 3rd grade. And they are the ones who purchased my very own personal Comtek FM system (where they got the system from, I have no idea). With the Claro, they pitched in too. Hearing aids can be expensive, and insurance doesn't cover hearing aids. But then, I have no insurance at all. I currently have maybe almost $600 in my savings, which was originally my "new computer" fund. But now, I'll use that to pay for what I can pay on the hearing aid, and my family will also help me with the purchase of the Naida too. On a couple of different websites, the approximate cost was around $2100, $2200. Now, to find out how much it'll cost through Alpine Hearing Care...
I've been wearing digital hearing aids since January of 2001. Did I get that right? Or was it 2002? Yeah, 2001. My parents and my grandparents paid for the new Claro hearing aid, along with Phonk's FM system, and the remote control. Then in May of 2004 (a bit before I graduated high school), I got the Supero 314AZ, with a new FM receiver so I could continue to use my T-Mic transmitter. Vocational Rehab paid for the Supero. I continued to use the same old remote control from the Claro with the Supero (audie just added the remote identification number into the Supero programmings on the computer, and it still works for the old Claro as well!). Out of everything that I have gotten since 2001, that remote control is the only thing that has never been replaced. Yes, it's been dropped and misplaced and hidden away on several occasions, the battery door doesn't stay on well, and the battery has been replaced I think only once the entire time I've had the remote (7 years!). Everything else (hearing aids, FM transmitter and receiver, cords for the FM, even the AC adapter charger for the transmitter) has been replaced once or twice or more, or repaired.
I'm still trying to decide on what color to get. Red, or zebra print? Right now, I'm leaning more towards the Zebra print (I've already done the colored hearing aids in the past, but never have I had a jazzy looking hearing aid like the Zebra or Cheetah styles that Phonak offers for Naida). I put up a poll on a messageboard that I frequent, and so far Red is winning. And these people are not even deaf or deal with hearing aids! It's cool though, I always like to see what their opinions are.
3 comments:
Great news on getting new aids. I hope you have amazing results with them. I will check up often and see how you do.
I just lost my hearing after 49 years of good healthy hearing to bacterial meningitis's like you.
I am now profoundly deaf in both ears.
Warmly,
david
Nice blog post. I am similarly hard of hearing (do not know whether from birth or through an acute infection gotten when very young). Have you tried the Naida? I have heard good things about it but I am wary of frequency transposition since the older versions were so-so. And also what message board do you frequent (the one you mentioned in your blog)?
Hi. Are you wearing your new Naida hearing aids? Do you like them? Please compare them to the Oticon hearing aids in terms of how they sound. My young son currently has Oticon and loves them. He does not like the Naida so far, especially when listening to music. The Naida has the feature that moves high frequency sounds to lower frequencies. Does this feature change the sound of music? He is too young to use the remote, etc. you were speaking of so I think you probably have a lot more freedom to change the programming of the hearing aids then he does. We would appreciate any comments you have. Thank you.
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