I've levelled up!

I have brand new hearing aids free on the NHS! And they have volume controls! Yay!

As a truly bionic person I have now offically levelled up!*

Apparently not everyone is in love with their hearing aids. I can't understand it - I haven't got good hearing in one ear now, even with them, but it's a bloody sight better than it would be without them. So yay for being a cyborg!

You can see my previous aids here.

*Thanks to Lily-Razz for that phrase.

tl;dr version: I can drive!

You may remember my ear problems before my holiday. Because my GP thought it might be Menieres disease she wasn't happy with me driving so I haven't. But today I saw a consultant who said:

• It's not Menieres disease
• It's probably a one-off
• Could be caused by a virus or a faulty blood vessel
• Need to exclude a very unlikely benign overgrowth of nerve in the ear - will need MRI scan
• Get hearing aid adjusted toot sweet - if more hearing returns they can turn it down
• Can drive
• Can swim
• Check balance before cycling
• Look all round when crossing roads

So, I'm back in the action!

It's such a relief to be able to drive. The deafness is a nuisance, especially as there's no guarantee that turning up my hearing aid will help. But I will find a way to cope!

Bionic hearing

I now have two hearing aids from our wonderful National Health Service and I can hear again! (Watch it when you're in the kitchen, kids*, Mum can hear you!) Before I only had one and it needed updating, plus my other ear had joined in the strike.

It's not that I'm deaf, not really. Without my aids I can hear cars and aeroplanes and the chink of ice in a glass; I can hear that people are talking and whether they are happy or angry. All I can't hear is what they're actually saying.

But no longer! Watch out world, here I come!

My other superpowers include eyes in the back of the head, reading, and being solar-powered. What about you?


*My kids are 24 and 26. They're still my kids.