For most of his life my husband had the understanding that his severe hearing loss was mostly caused by otosclerosis of the round window. At the time of the diagnosis the technology was lacking to fix it. With today’s technology, he found out, it is something that could be fixed. He decided this was the year he wanted to look into getting the surgery. It turned out that he did not have otosclerosis of the round window, but of the stapes bone. Years ago he could have had that fixed. Otosclerosis of the stapes bone runs in his family.
The problem was in both ears. Over the summer he had a stapedectomy to remove the stapes bone in the ear with the worst hearing loss. The stapes was replaced with a prosthesis. He just recently had the surgery for the second ear. I was concerned about my husband having the surgeries only because I know the world is such a loud place and it would be a major adjustment. It has actually been an adjustment for both of us.
I am sensitive to a lot of noises and previously my husband did not understand this. Now he has had to apologize for his insensitivity.Now he feels my pain. One of the biggest complaints I have about where we live is just how loud the train is and now he knows too. If he is outside when the train blows through, he has to cover up his ears. I also complained about how loud his truck is and now he complains about it too. It is so loud for him that he wears earplugs or headphones when he drives.
Previously, he never heard our cat’s purrs, but now he does. That makes me happy. I always felt he was robbed before when he couldn’t hear it.Her purrs are quite loud, but also soothing. In the past, if I was in the shower and forgot something, I could not count on yelling for him to help me out, but now I can. I am glad for that since lately I am so forgetful that I keep forgetting my towel.
One thing that I did not anticipate with the surgeries was that he would now be the one complaining about things being too loud. Now he thinks I am always yelling or he will complain about the television or radio being too loud. He always carries ear plugs with him. That is one thing we now have in common.
It has been interesting to go through the process with my husband. So many things are new. People sound different. He actually hears the dialogue on television. In the past he always relied on the closed captioning. Even though he is realizing just how loud the world really is, he is thankful to have the improved hearing. He loves that he does not need to wear his hearing aids anymore.
His hearing should still continue to improve on the ear that had the most recent surgery. The sounds of the homestead are different. We can both suffer the loudness of our dog’s high pitched barking. He can be more alert to sounds out in nature or possible threats around the home. Even though there are some adjustments, it is all a blessing.