Thursday, December 12, 2013

My Man Can Hear


My husband has worn hearing aids for 7 years, they stopped working 2 years ago. He refused to go for a hearing test until this week... His hearing is only a few decibels above legally deaf.


Tuesday morning, we came home with new hearing aids, computerized digital customized to his problems. Yes, they cost a LOT OF MONEY...

But.... The Man Can HEAR! Hallelujah!!! he is walking around saying "this house is noisy"   he can hear paper crinkle, brooms swish, refrigerator humming and Hallelujah again, the TV is set on 18 not 52...


I came home from a doctor visit and he met me at the door...

"I heard a plane, I heard a helicopter and a weed whacker... when I went to pour my coffee, I thought I was being attacked and turned around and it was my eggs frying"

there is one problem. Now he is back to making fun of my accent again. Think spider using 3 syllables...  he is back to mimicking every word I say.. and I say Thank you Lord...


Doc said he will have to retrain his brain to hear the words,that the left side of his brain is not talking to that ear and the way to train it is doing his homework, 3 pages of words, that each day I have to read 2 rows of them and he has to repeat them back... we laugh so much we can't breathe. each day he gets a little better.


the good thing is I am getting better at reading. When a person gets older, we stumble looking for the right word. the doc said we should read out loud to ourselves every day... and the more we do it the better trained our words will be.
it is working. when I am reading my kindle, I read a page out loud... at first I stumbled, now I don't.
Of course when I was reading out loud to myself in the examining room while waiting an hour, the people in the hall might have been thinking the person in there must be MAD....and I am MadSnapper



Studies of adult brain plasticity prove absolutely that repetitive auditory stimuli can change the way the brain operates... quote from Auditory Training manual

38 comments:

Paula said...

Oh, Sandra~ this was a great post to wake up to~ hilarious!!! The eggs frying... TOO FUNNY.
And all those dogs are such sweethearts! Was it a Christmas Parade? ((HUGS))

EG CameraGirl said...

Very interesting about your husband's hearing, Sandra. I will start reading something aloud every day now. I had no idea that it's good for your brain.

Love all the holiday dogs!

From the Kitchen said...

I'm laughing but at your humor--not at Bob. Well, I wouldn't even laugh at your pronunciation! I've been reading Mary Oliver's "Dog Songs" out loud to Oliver.

Best,
Bonnie

My Mind's Eye said...

Can you hear me now? LOLOLOLOLOL
My Dad had some of that Cadillac
hearing aids.
I love love love your pictures but I especially like your sppp-iii-der accent. So where is Bob from?
Hugs C

Kathy said...

What great news! I have an uncle that has not been able to be helped by any type of hearing aid. And BTW, I think those doggie suitcase/beds are soooo cute!

Jackie See said...

Hilarious photos, I love our furry friends! I understand how hearing loss can be misunderstood, at my house anyway. My husband got his hearing aids about a month ago, I can sure tell when he isn't wearing them, he hears my sound, then gives me a completely different and odd reply! Thanks to modern technology and high priced medical care, now he can hear!

RoeH said...

Wow! To think what we all take for granted and never even question the ability to hear and/or see. Amazing at what they can do today.

Suburban Girl said...

Wow, I can't imagine. I am glad he is hearing again, my father used to blast the tv and drove me nuts. He would refuse to put his hearing aid in. Sometimes when we were frustrated with him we would whisper to each other and act like we were having a hilarious time. He would go get the hearing aid.

Love your word tip. I'll keep that in mind. I find myself searching for substitute words often when I cannot find the word I really want.

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

That's a very bust post visually and intellectually. I shall begin my oral reading lessons today-Buddy too!
Glad Bob can ow hear what flies by!

Willow said...

Glad to "hear" the good news :)
Loved seeing all the pups too !

Muffy's Marks said...

Great news!! Your whole life will change. (Now stop muttering under your breath, he'll hear you!!!)

Rose said...

Yeah for Bob being able to hear....how did you ever handle the TV being that loud!!!! You must be Saint Madsnapper! I did not know that reading out loud helped us...maybe I will take to doing that after Roger goes to bed...or when I am down sewing.

TexWisGirl said...

how awesome for bob - and you, too! an adjustment, i'm sure! but a good one!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness Bob has got one.

he hears. Well blow me over.

Well that is one of your do list for Bob. Done.

In summer he may wear shoes on the roof and not his flip Fops.
His machine he uses may be too loud. All the miracles can transform for Bob yet.

Amazing what prayer can do for your Man.

Oh I am jumping with you inside.

My problem is I talk too much.

So reading every day will inhanse your reading. Oh dear. Will be worde in my house hold if I had to read out loud.

My husband will have to cover his ears.

I am always told. Slow down Nelly.

Love you photos.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Congrats to your hubby... Bet he thinks he has an entire new world to listen to now!!!!!! That's awesome....

Speaking of reading aloud, George and I read our Bible outloud each morning when doing our devotions... IF you want practice reading, try the Bible... It's inspirational and you can keep your skills up!!!!! Works for us!

Cute bunch of doggies.
Hugs,
Betsy

Ginny Hartzler said...

I am so happy for you BOTH!! It is almost as hard on the mate as it is on the deaf person. My favorite picture today is definitely the second picture and the look on that dog's face while he is getting scratched. I could make one of those dog beds!!! IF we had any suitcases. No traveling means no suitcases.

Mersad said...

Great shots, and I'm so happy for your husband!

Mersad
Mersad Donko Photography

Cheryl @ TFD said...

You know you are going to have us all reading aloud now! :) Great news for Bob! Love the doggie photos, too.

Marie said...

So happy for you both! I love all the puppy dogs! I bet you wanted to hug each one. :)
Now all I can think about is you saying spider. :)

Cranberry Morning said...

I am SO happy for Bob - and for you, even if he teases you. :-) What a wonderful thing, to be able to hear again (and to find that the eggs weren't literally attacking him.) Absolutely loved the collages. Perfect!

Susannah said...

Well, you know my Jim wears two hearing aids. They have helped so much. There are still days that he struggles ..like at the grand kid's basketball games when there is a ton of noise....but I thank God every day that someone invented hearing aids.

George said...

I'm glad Bob's new hearing aids are helping so much. Thanks, too, for the tip about the benefits of reading aloud. We read our Morning Prayers aloud each morning. I like the pictures in your collages.

DawnTreader said...

Good to hear (haha) that you can laugh together! ... That's a good tip about reading aloud. Maybe I should do that sometimes so that I don't get out of practice! (some days only 'talking' to people in text via the internet!)

Deb said...

that is exciting news...my Mom has hearing aids but they really don't work well for her type of hearing loss...she relies on reading lips...my Hubbies ears are bad too...I have a voice that is hard to hear for most hearing impaired folks...for some reason my Mom can usually understand me...I have very sensitive hearing...every little noise gets my attention...I love all the doggy photos...I'm sure we will find out what they are all about soon...I hope...I like reading Dr. Suess to Hotrod...those tongue twisters are good for the brain...

Michaele said...

Oh I just LOVED this post and all the photos too!! I am so happy for your hubby. I wish something like this would happen for these aging eyes o mine. Thanks for the reading aloud tips also.

barbara l. hale said...

Yay for your husband! It would be weird to be able to hear after not being able to, I think. Sounds like you are working together and it's good to have a sense of humor about the whole thing. I read to Olive the pug at night right before we fall asleep. Well, she falls asleep before I finish reading but she seems to like it. I didn't realize I was doing something good for myself as well. Cool!

Ann said...

That is totally awesome, hooray for both of you. Around here it's me that can't hear too well. Wade will say did you hear that? and then he finishes it with of course you didn't
Love all the dog pictures. Those pet beds are really cool

Anonymous said...

So happy he can hear with these aids. I used to read to mother daily and it took a while to learn to read silently again!
These are the cutest photos today.
Harriet's short legs would have trouble jumping into the suitcase!!!

Dee said...

What wonderful news....your husband must be thrilled!!!!!!!WoW. I agree with reading out loud and i also heard that if you read something you want to memorize standing up helps. I just noticed I have a lamp like yours with a white shade. I can relate to the dust...what a pain....you sure can't let it build up.

Grandma C said...

I guess it is time for me to do a little more writing along with my photos to give you more practice reading out loud. wink wink
I had a grandpa that would turn off his hearing aids so he couldn't hear my grandma fuss at him about tracking dirt into the house. lol

Ruth Hiebert said...

Good for your hubby to get the hearing aids. My hubby had decided that they would not help him and therefore refused to get checked.Oh well,it doesn't matter now.He has the best hearing now :)

SquirrelQueen said...

That is wonderful news, Bob can hear again. With the TV turned down now it's good for your hearing too. It is going to be an adjustment for both of you. I'm still imagining you saying spider with three syllables.

I love all the little dogs in their Christmas outfits. And I love the suitcase pet beds. I'm going to start looking for one of those old style suitcases to make a bed for the cats.

Anonymous said...

Nice to hear about your husband's hearing. Surely he will be very excited about the sounds that he can hear clearly...

Unknown said...

Wow, I bet that was a big change for him to be able to hear all those 'normal' sounds so clearly. IT's very good though :) Happy he finally got them.
Have a great weekend!
Eva

Anonymous said...

It is great that Bob can hear again. You make me laugh so hard...your sense of humor is over the top...love it! I can relate to the TV sound being in the 50's it is that way here. I would love for hubby to go get hearing aids, surgery or whatever needs to be done to help him hear...he says he CAN hear...sure he can. lol Hope you enjoyed the eggs you heard frying. lol Thanks for passing on the information about reading out loud I will have to remember to do that sometimes. Great post sweet Sandra, funny yet very informative. Enjoyed all the pictures too. Hugs

Linda P said...

So pleased for Bob and for you. Love all the dogs parading around. The recycled suitcase dog beds are a great idea.

LC said...

My mother got those digital hearing aids. Yes, very expensive and she, too, was startled by all the "noise."

.'

Betty Manousos said...

wow, i loved seeing those handsome fellas! i just want to hug them all!


great news! i am so happy for your hubby. how awesome for bob- and you, too!


great shots btw.