Like a Hole in the Head ?
Later this month, if all goes well, I shall spend a couple of hours as an outpatient at the local hospital. They will peel back a circle of skin, about the size of a 2p piece, behind 
one of my ears. A small hole will then be drilled part way into my scull and a titanium stud screwed in. The skin will then be replaced after being permanently epilated. When the stud has had time to bed in firmly, I will be able to attach a small grey box (2.5 x 1.75 x 1.0 cm) by a 
sort of press-stud arrangement.
The reason for all this is that, at the end of it all, I should be able to hear better. I get on OK’sh with my current hearing aids, so you might assume that I would think twice about what could be considered a small but significant disfigurement. Actually the decision was, what the Americans used to call, “a no brainer”. The offer was accepted as soon as it was made, without the proposed time for consideration or meetings with existing users.
I have worn a hearing aid since 1962/3 and the idea of having a small box screwed to my head at the age of 64 is nowhere near as embarrassing as it was for a 19 year old student using a body worn aid in central London. Mod gear and Carnaby Street just didn’t cater for such fashion accessories. If I was going to lead anything like a normal life, though, with a professional career, I had to be able to understand with considerable accuracy what others were saying.
In a way it was very lucky things happened when they did. I was quite determined at the time not to try to hide my deafness. I knew that it was not realistically possible in my situation. I had known several ’shy’ aid users at that point and one particular ‘up front’ user. I was determined to be one of the latter. To be honest, considering my friends at the time, trying to deny the situation was just not a valid option. There was a fair amount of semi-professional interest amongst the group, as well as personal support and understanding. In a ladish sort of way that is! If you are going to go bionic (a word not invented at the time) a group of engineers, medics, one physiologist and a psychologist is as good a place as any.
I have started this blog in the continuing spirit of the ‘up front’ hearing aid user. I intend to post every so often about this new type of hearing aid, why it has been recommended for my situation and my experiences with hearing impairment in general.
Deafness is at last starting to be widely recognised as being no different to eyesight problems. With the age of the general readership of this site being what it is, you can be assured that hearing difficulties are coming soon to a person near you. It’s not the end of the world and if people can benefit in any way from sharing my views and experience, I’m quite willing to write about it..