The test pahse is running

Last week I was not only fully occupied, the week was also mainly in the context of the test phase of my hearing aids. Apart from some minor negative experiences, there is almost nothing else to report but positive ones.

This week it was again confirmed that with the new hearing aids I clearly hear more and even understand a little better. Sometimes I can clearly hear a sound that I have not heard before or at least not so consciously. In the meantime I have “trained” my husband so that he explains a sound to me when I ask him or look at him askingly.

Even calling or skyping with my mobile phone is a bit more fun, because I can better understand the phonecall conversations, through Bluetooth now directly in my hearing aids.
Tomorrow I will receive the additional devices for the landtelephone, PC and television and then I ‘m very curious whether the experiences are just as good.

There are also a few things that need to be adapted. So the high tones are a bit too strong for me (although I need that for speech understanding) and they come relatively quickly to my pain threshold. But that’s a matter of adaptation.
What’s stranger is the humming sounds I hear in certain situations, for example near a train station. I suppose this has to do with an electronic atmosphere, but I’ll check this with my acoustician tomorrow.

Highlight of the test phase and absolute highlight of last week, yes, if not of the past 20 years … was my music experience. Via Bluetooth I heard familiar music from my mobile phone. When I listened to it, tears shot in my eyes: I hadn’t heard any music so detailed and clear for a very, very long time. It’s especially hard to describe for good hearing people, but I still give it a try. Most people know the song “Bohemian Rapsody” by Queen. In the song there is a multi-voice part where the voices go from left to right. For the first time in a very, very long time, I heard the voices go right from the left to the right hearing aid. I also heard the details in the audience clapping (it was a live recording) instead of “just” clapping. I could also clearly hear various background noises and details of the instruments. In short, it was a real musical experience.

And that, my dear readers, gave me back the pleasure of the music. As I mentioned here once before, listening to music was a big part of my life. I have always very much enjoyed listening to music. But as my hearing loss increased, listening to music became less and less fun. Even so much that I got gradually less concerned with listening to music.
Now that listening to music has become enjoyable again, the pleasure of music returns.
And that’s a big plus for me.

The next two weeks I will be in the Netherlands again, but afterwards there will be a lot to tell and I will continue to report here about the test phase.