Hearing aids

Tee he, every animal we have either comes fixed or gets fixed. I'll have none of that going on over here!

Spoil Sport,,,,lol

Daisy, do you have to have an extra phone line for the CapTel?

Arizona has them, but I thought a friend of mine had to do something with the phone company to have one.

Our Hearing program actually calls it "loaning" you a hearing impaired phone...you can exchange them every 5 years for new ones with new technology. They also allow you another choice of attachments...like I am deaf in my right ear....and sleep on my left ear...so I can't hear the telephone right at my head at night, but I will awaken instantly if a light is turned on. They have an attachment you can choose that if the phone rings, my table lamp comes on!! So that was my extra choice.

They also make a thing you can carry in your pocket so that if the phone rings, the "pager" vibrates letting you know the phone is ringing. That is another choice availbel in the two choices.

YOu are supposed to turn it back into the system if you move out of AZ.

Jo

No, I don't have an extra line.
I just have it on the regular telephone line. I do have an answering machine tho and that works great to dial up the relay system (called the host) and I can read/listen to my messages. That is great since I can't always understand the messages people leave on the answering machine anyways.

Yes, you are right, RR. It is more or less being "loaned" out, the phone. I didn't know about the other options tho. Maybe will have to look into them.

I do have from Radio Shack, the strobe light, that tells me when the phone is ringing tho. I do love that. I have heard and seen the lamp one. I like the strobe light because it is so bright!

I would like to get the deal that tells me when someone is at the door tho. The strobe light works for the phone but need the door deal. They have them but are quite expensive tho. Haven't broken down for those items yet.
Carol

When I originally read about the CapTel phone above, I thought it was really great but saw no benefits to having one myself. Then I just read above that you can read your messages. I'm sold. I have gotten rid of more answering machines because they are all digital. I have friends out on the prowl at garage sales trying to locate the old tape style answering machines so that I can replay my messages over and over again to figure out what people want to tell me. Very frustrating. Sometimes I can't figure out the garble that was taped and have to wait for my husband or a kid to come home to listen to the message. I checked the link and Illinois is up and functional for CapTel phones.

Yep, hear you totally, Equil. about the garbled message. I used to love the old fashion tape answering machine too. The digital ones are too electronic for me.
So try a CapTel phone if you can get it from the state for free (on loan). You never know until you try it!

I'm sorry! I guess I assumed you understood you get a 30 day warranty with an aid. Perhaps they just suggested a more expensive aid than what you really need.

Krista's aid also has a setting, so that say she's in a restaurant and she wants to hear the people at her table and not all the people at all the tables. She switches over to it and it brings in the noise from in front and a little to the sides and totally deletes out the sounds behind her. It deletes out all that background noise.

Even if you have a hearing aid and it's time for a new one, you still want to go to your audiologist for the same reasons you went to him or her the first time. Warranty, programing, earmolds, tubes, checks, everything. All of that is included for as long as she owns the hearing aid. Free Equil, it's all free. Except the molds. Those are included with the purchase, but after that, you have to pay for them. And I can't drive home enough, that if something is wrong with her hearing aid, Bernie gives her a loner to use for as long as needed till her hearing aid is fixed. Free.

When we moved to TN, Krista needed new tubes. I didn't buy the hearing aid there, so I had to just find a good audiologist. I actually called Bernie and he told me what initials to look for after their name. I chose one and off we went. She changed the tube, and used super glue to hold it! Never in my life........and then she charged me $25. For 2 simple little tubes. And she had the personality of a gnat. Shortly thereafter, Krista needed a new one, so her and I came home, to Bernie. I trust him (23 yrs) and I didn't trust any of them down there. He couldn't believe it when he saw the super glue holding the tube in.

I just know what works and why it works, but I don't retain any of the technical stuff. There's too much with her.

Yes, the 30 day trial puts a smile on my face. The "Warranty, programing, earmolds, tubes, checks, everything" plus loaners puts a smile on my face too given it will all be included. It's the 30 day trial that is making the purchase somewhat more palatable. I'm sold on purchasing from an audiologist the first time around but I don't know if I'm sold on purchasing from one the second time around. I guess I'll have to cross that bridge in the future.

What are the intials to look for after an audiologist's name?

The nice thing about the answering machine that I have is that I can rewind and replay at the exact spot where I can't figure out what was being said. The digital machines make you listen to the whole message and they don't have a feature where you can slow it down. One problem, I'm having difficulty getting my hands on them these days. I re-contacted my phone company and asked them why everyone in other States is getting free phones yet I am sent to an affiliate to buy my own phone at a reduced rate. Guess what, it's the State that has the program not the Phone Company. They are sending paperwork to me that I can bring to the doctor to sign. That CapTel phone is very expensive. Thank you!

Great. Am glad you are getting the paperwork to start the ball rolling.
Yes, those phones are very expensive!
Let us know if and when you get it plus how you like it. It does take a bit of time between getting the doc. to sign off, send in the paperwork, and the state to send you the phone. So have patience. As you know, the government is very slow at work! lol

My appointment isn't until the end of September. I am probably going to cancel that appointment and reschedule with an audiologist over the border in Wisconsin with the correct "initials" after his or her name... right after Terry tells me what to look for. Sorry but I think our cost of living is a little intense here in the Chicago land area and additionally, Illinois most certainly has some issues with malpractice which I now believe is playing into the pricing equation. I'm running for the border. I am not going to pay thousands of dollars more for the luxury of being able to roll out of bed and be to my audiologist in 5 minutes when I can drive 15 minutes over the border to get to another audiologist. It isn't going to happen. I may be a slow study because all of this is new to me but I am fast learning that not all pricing is competitive and you do have to shop around.

Yes, I will have them fill out the paperwork for the CapTel phone. I'm sick of sitting here screwing around with my answering machine because I can't hear the thing. Let me tell you something else, I just went on line and checked out this dB deal. This is what I found-

The first hearing aid I had was a STARKEY...and it lasted for years. I did have to send it back to the company once aftr years of use....cost me about $100.00 for them to fix it.

Since that time I have had other audiologist tell me that Starkey is a very good instrument. I think the V.A. Hospital uses them for the vets that need them. Jo

http://www.starkey.com/index.html

I don't ever remember anything Equil and I know Bernie is going to be at church, so I hate to try and call him at home. I can call him tomorrow and find out, because I can't find it in the phone book. The one doctor that was there for years, brought in another doctor, now the first doctor is gone and the second one is the doc there. But, they don't have that big ad like they used to in there and I can't find Bernie's name in there anywhere. I'll get it for you, you just have to wait a day.

You want to buy replacement hearing aids from an audiologist for the same reason you're buying them now. You get the warranty, the ear mold, the tubes, the follow-ups, the person you go to if something isn't right, the loner, etc etc.

Starkey's are good. Krista had 3 or 4 of them. Oh and I don't remember the dB for Krista, I remember them saying she had moderate loss. I remember the guy from the school who did the testing for years said moderate to severe. What I know for positive is that she has a 50% hearing loss in both ears, one being slightly worse.

Reading this, I sound pathetic as a mom :(

I think the ones I have now are Canta 470 D. Much better than the analog ones I started out with. Buying hearing aids without the help of a qualified Audiologist is not the best way to go. Having competent staffing to tune and adjust the little gems is critical. Word comprehension is another facet to consider. One comment made was that they only amplify, very true, and having a "switch" to reduce the background noise is a really big help. Ear molds don't last forever, thats true, but you do get a lot of years use out of them. My new ones area soft flexible material and fit better than the previous hard plastic ones. The Audiologist I go to furnishes batteries free, and always has a 'loaner' if one has to be sent out for repair. Without the little gems I miss several frequencies so having a unit that is adjustable to the missing frequencies of your loss would seem to be mandatory, otherwise its like listening to what you can pick up now, only louder. As to the telephone, I rarely ever answer it, and don't talk on it unless there's no option. Headphones for TV and music help a lot, and the neighbors down the street don't complain about the noise.lol Being retired helps, since there is seldom anyone I want to listen to anyway. It's a big step, don't rush.

Wow balvenie! Your earmolds last years? My daughter is lucky if they last more than 6 months. They're soft and pliable, but with all the oils from the skin, they turn hard and discolored. I'd love batteries for free. She goes thru at least 1 a week if not more, that's spending 75-90% of the time listening to music thru headphones, hearing aid off.

Ordered mine today! With T-Coil...It is not "top of the line" but all I could afford...besides...I've learned to say "huh?" a lot. LOL

While I was waiting for my appointment I spent the time with the receptionist...tellling her all about DG...and how everyone on here knows I LOVE chocolate...When I came out she had a nice chocolate bar wrapped in Lilac (my favorite color) gift paper. What a nice group they are.

My loaner hearing aid wasn't doing weill...my audologist checked my ears and cleanined out a lot of wax...the hearing aid got BETTER! LOL Jo

This makes a lot of sense to me,

It depends on the loss of the frequency Equil. Krista's can't be "picked up" by the frequency. No matter what. Damage is damage. What's gone is gone. The frequencies though, will adjust for the ones you can hear, but only make them louder. Like I told you, wearing a hearing aid is not like getting new glasses that correct your vision. Hearing aids don't correct anything. They only amplify. The audiologist down in Peoria with the school, had me listen to a tape. The tape was to show me how Krista heard without amplification. Next they played how it sounded with amplification. Those low sounds were still not discernable. But with the amplification, the words made sense. Even though you didn't hear something like a P or a T.

High Frequency hearing which would be S, F, H, TH, SH, etc... and vowels what ever frequency they are. No wonder why I thought everyone these days was talking like they had mouths full of you know what.

Do ya'll hear music better than vocalizing? I have to turn mine down when listening to the radio.

Today I tested in the moderate to servere loss range...very little change from 2 years ago.

Thin mints??

Sorry, I was typing over you roadrunner. My daughter always listens to music like I to/did. On high. With headphones, she doesn't wear the hearing aid. My daughter's hearing hasn't changed in 23 years. Yep, she was born with defective hearing.

I listen to music in the car and sometimes at home. I don't ever have it up high but just enough to know there's music playing in the background. I don't watch tv at all any longer. It's pretty quiet around here.

Yes, thin mints. Mouths full of thin mints. Depressing to talk to people when you are visualizing their mouths being rammed with thin mints and you don't have any. Rather distracting wouldn't you say?

UH! Who was eating thin mints the other day on the phone while who had none?? Talk about insensitive!

The music is probably louder than you think it is. Rock doesn't sound good if not on high. I have to get the C.D. that has the song Pink on it by Aerosmith. I love that song. Loud. I mean blasting loud. I have always loved my music loud.

No, not loud. I listen to 97.1, The Drive. I never was into anything loud or bangy. That kind of music was very agitating to me. I do like classical music though. I know, I am boring.

Eq....be bored with me...I like light classical...and NO ROCK!!

No, I don't have it loud...I can be listening with others and I think it is too loud, but they ae fine with it. Jo

I guess we are a bunch of wild and crazy guys and gals. Seriously, I can't stand bangy anything. It drives me nuts. I like everything calm around here. I once trashed and tossed out a brand new boom box because I told him 3x to turn it down or it was going to get pitched. Three strikes and you're out. I took that boom box and smashed it with something or other that was readily available then tossed it in the garbage can. I can tell you that makes a statement. Voila, I've never had to deal with bangy anything since and when I tell them to turn down the volume on anything, they stumble over each other getting to the volume control.

This message was edited Aug 29, 2006 12:25 AM

I'll see your Light Classical and raise you an Opera ! Unfortunately it doesn't sound the same anymore, with or without aids or phones.

My favorite is Carmen....Jo

Isn't everyone's favorite Carmen?

Oh, Equil, I totally get your side. I can see you doing that to the boom box!
I like it quiet too.

Robert, you are so funny!

She's a pure delight, thats true, but Fidelio ain't no slouch.

Oops, really sorry to Robert who ever you are. I will go and edit my post above to wild and crazy guys and gals.

Yes daisy, I frequently take a cavalier approach to parenting. I'm not trying to win any popularity contests over here but I do tend to like things some semblance of neat and orderly AND peaceful.