Mould colour chart.... 😲

I went for my audiology appointment last week and because I hadn't been wearing my hearing aid in my right ear I had already decided that the temperature check would be done in that ear. I walked into the hospital and offered the nurse that ear and went through with no problems. It did help that it was a blustery November day. I was then asked to go to the 'green zone' which was the reception area. I showed them my appointment letter and she obviously said something that I didn't hear, so she rummaged through some paperwork she had in front of her and then lifted up a laminated sign that said 'Please go to outpatients 1'. I was thrilled, it was like getting live subtitles so I thanked her and made my way to the audiology department.

I was very disappointed to see that EVERYONE was wearing cloth masks. I wonder how many of those type of laminated signs are on peoples desks? The receptionist motioned at me to sit down and I watched the screen for my name to come up - at least those screens still work. The audiologist I saw was a friendly, experienced man and I explained what my issue was, that there was a loud crackling sound every time I put my hearing aid on. I put it in my ear to demonstrate and said to him, that because he's sitting right in front of me, it would probably work perfectly and to my disappointment it did!! He said he would check it anyway and heard the crackling sound for himself and said that I indeed would need a new hearing aid. I asked why he wasn't wearing a clear mask and he said there still weren't any NHS approved ones. Really? We went into lockdown in March and there are still no NHS approved ones, at all? Anywhere?

Anyway, I felt like I was on a roll here and decided to air my grievances in regards my current hearing aids - I've had them almost two years and both of them had needed replacing. In my very long history of wearing hearing aids, I've hardly ever needed replacements. Also, I was still very unhappy about not having the t switch function (see earlier blog) alongside the volume control function. I was told I could only have one or the other. He disagreed, he said I could go back to wearing the larger behind the ear ones and both functions would be restored. He explained that people in general like hearing aids to be invisible and therefore were happy to have a smaller one with less functions. I argued that this was not the case, I don't care about the sizing, I just need it to work for me. So he agreed that I could get brand new larger hearing aids with the functions I wanted. He created two new moulds for me (this is done by squirting a plasticine like substance into your ear to get the shape of the ear mould - a very ticklish sensation!) and when I pick up the moulds in 4 weeks time, they will fit me with my new hearing aids. I also got a new hearing aid book and more batteries and I also had a a hearing test done. I was very relieved to hear that my hearing has not got worse. It's been more or less the same since my first hearing test at the age of 4.

I'm very excited about getting my new hearing aid, also because I asked if I could choose the colour of my mould. The audiologist looked through some paperwork and eventually found a colour chart for moulds! It's going to be like getting a Christmas present when I go back to the audiology clinic to pick up my brand new PINK GLITTER moulds!! The anticipation!!!!