Now Hear This!

Some abbreviations and their meanings: SSD - Single sided deafness BAHA - Bone anchored hearing assistance Baha Attract - A BAHA made by Cochlear America CI - Cochlear Implant CROS - A hearing system that send sound from one side to another in a person with SSD What's the good news about losing your hearing in one ear? You still have the hearing in the other one! What's the bad news about losing your hearing in one ear? You cannot tell where the sound you do hear is coming from! Ears are amazing, if a bit odd looking. They stick out, they have lots of circular nooks and crannies, they are great for hanging glasses on and they have that perfect spot on the bottom that's just iching to dangle an earring from. And most importantly, ears don't just hear, they hear sounds directionally. Just like two eyes provide depth perception, two ears provide direction perception. The tiny little split second from when your left ear hears a sound compared to when your right ear hears it tells you where that sound is coming from. Ten o'clock, two o'clock, right straight ahead or from behind, this ability is not appreciated until you lose it. It's incredibly unnerving to hear a shout or a bang or a pop or someone calling your name over and over again, louder and louder, and have nota clue where it's coming from. It's amazing I haven't stepped in front of bus. The two solutions for SSD up to this point have been a CROS system or a BAHA. I've tried bot. The CROS gave me terrible ringing, even in my good ear. The Baha Attract works amazingly well if very robotic and tinny, but that localization problem is annoying and emotionally draining. I have two ears, I want to hear from them both. Last year the FDA approved Cochlear Implants for SSD. I emailed my surgeon and expressed my interest. Kaiser contacted me. During a pandemic. To see if I want to have the Baha magnet removed and the CI surgery. Did I mention we're in a pandemic? So the answer for now is Yes, please, that would be totally awesome, but maybe wait until at least all the medical staff is vaccinated? Until then I've started wearing a hearing aid along with my Baha. The hearing aid isn't enough to understand speech with, but I hear sounds from my left ear again and I can discern where they are coming from. I'ts joyous, plus will give my nerve a chance to wake up for when I'll need it again to use the CI. Because I have tiny ear canals and my hearing is so bad, the part of the hearing aid that goes in my ear feels like the size of a Lego, but it's worth the discomfort. What's been my favorite thing to hear? Birds and cruchy leaves. So if you see someone walking around Cottage Creek smiling while looking into the trees while kicking up dry leaves underfoot, that's me. Impatiently waiting for my possible CI surgery.