hearing aids

Hearing Aids

Around ten years ago my husband developed pain in his left ear. He was still in CMC at the time and had access to the best treatment the ENT department had to offer. He required surgery and it was successful.

A year later he started going deaf in that ear. No one could understand why. I wanted to say his grandmother and mother were also deaf in the left t ear, but since he did not volunteer the information to his surgeon I remained silent.

He finally got fitted with a tiny pair of hearing aids. They were colour coded for the two ears and had small nano batteries which had to be inserted with a toothpick. They also had a fancy box for storage and a year’s guarantee.

My husband hated to use the box. He left the hearing aids lying around on any flat surface he could find. One day he left in under the bed, forgot about it and stamped on it when he got up the next morning. He took the flatted device to the shop. It was still under guarantee. They replaced it with a few mutterings about “bomb attacks.”

The hearing aid never recovered form its adventure. It made sounds like birds chirping whenever it was near other electronic devices or near cell phones. It was quite unsatisfactory.

There was an advertisement in the paper for hearing aids. They were offering a fantastic new year discount. My husband went and purchased a pair. For good measure he purchased one for his mother also.

She soon returned them to the shop.

“I don’t like it “ she said “I can hear if I wear it.”

“Don’t you want to hear?” asked the puzzled sales girl. (Perhaps hat was the whole point of hearing aids)?

“It is so small, it can’t be seen. Others don’t know I can hear now so they say things I don’t want to hear.”

Husband was very happy  with his purchase. After watching TV and eating peanuts, he left the open packet and hearing aids on a teepoy. The next morning he was due to fly to Hyderabad.

“Where are my hearing aids?” he asked the next morning.  His voice was progressively getting more agitated.

I was already at work so I did not have a clue.

Nor did anyone else. My husband   kept insisting it was on the teepoy.

My domestic help ransacked the room. Then he turned the sofas upside down,. There was a hole in one of the sofas. A squirrel ran out and  escaped. He left behind some peanuts and chewed up red little plastic hearing aids!

“Not to worry “ said my husband “they are still under guarantee---“

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