I am not sure if I mentioned it in earlier entries, but I am hearing impaired. I guess that is the PC way of saying that I am partially deaf in both ears. I wasn’t born this way, it just happened. Out of no where in July of ?06. My primary doctor thought it was due to allergies since I have just acquired them too. After prescribing me a few things and seeing that it wasn’t getting any better, he referred me to the Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. After seeing the specialist and getting the hearing test done, it was revealed that I had lost half my hearing in both ears. What caused this to happen? No one seems to know. All they seem to know is that it is rare but does happen. After finding all this out, I had to be fitted for hearing aids and with the insurance I had, it didn’t cover the cost of getting them. The ENT office then enrolled me in the Hear Now program sponsored by the Starkey Foundation. But even with enrolling with them, there was a $200 co-pay which I still couldn’t afford.

After doing some investigating, I ended up calling the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and speaking to someone. I don’t recall his name at the moment but he told me there was nothing he could do because I was not trying to go back to work. Of course that left me feeling very frustrated. My last hope was to call my case manager at my ASO. I told her what happened. She said she would see what she could do and get back with me in a few days. True to her word, she called in a few days to let me know that OVR had covered the cost of the co- pay for the hearing aids. I was happy that I would be able to hear again.

Now fast forward to today.....While talking on the phone to Rico, I realize that I couldn’t hear him very well. Instead of having him repeat himself, I just told him to call me back. Usually when this happens, it is the battery going dead or major wax build-up in my ears. I never had this problem before wearing hearing aids. After doing the usual troubleshooting, I find out that my left hearing aid is dead, as in ?gave up the ghost?. I frantically start looking around for my warranty card for my hearing aids. Found it, but it said the warranty had expired in September. Just fucking great! So I call the 800 number; which of course like all numbers is automated. It tells me to leave a message and that someone would get back with me in two days.

I am concerned now because my warranty expired and I wonder if that means I will have to pay another co-pay to get it fixed. The card did mention something about an extended warranty but knowing my luck, I probably would’ve had to apply for that while the warranty was still good. And if that is the case, no one explained it to me.

I can see it now. Tomorrow is going to be a day filled with frustration. I will be straining trying to keep up with the phone calls I will have to make. And I will be getting frustrated often trying to keep up with conversations. Maybe I should just act like I am totally deaf and start carrying around a notebook to communicate. Maybe this is a sign that my hearing may be leaving me soon. Who knows but like with every other hardship I’ve had to endure, I will adapt and try to move on......