Help Storytime Jill Afford to Hear Again

I have just applied for hearing aids with technology that fights maddening tinnitus and provides greatly improved hearing to people with severe hearing loss. I have been losing my hearing since childhood. The tinnitus was so bad and my undiagnosed ADHD so bad that I didn’t realize I was gradually headed toward complete hearing loss. It runs in my family. I have tried drugstore hearing aids and they just manage to amplify sound in a more deafening manner. Causes more headaches. The hearing aids I need are upward of $2500 per ear. I have included a link below regarding this technology. I have been “encouraged” for years to get hearing aids, and most recently by my coworkers and customers and loved ones, also my employer, who need me to be able to successfully communicate, and quick like. Not only is an aggravation for those in my midst, but it creates for me a sense of being trapped inside a sensory deprivation tank. Or in a big dome. I can see people and hear sounds, but especially now, as we are all relegated to mask wearing and separated by plexiglass kiosks and social distance, I feel like I am free floating out in space. I have almost no idea what most people are saying to me. It makes me frustrated and sad and it’s only getting worse. As people have pleaded with me to get help for many years, I have mostly made it my focus to simply pay my bills and live modestly. I know the pandemic has made life really difficult for everyone, physically, emotionally, psychologically, financially. I feel like I am losing my mind. With the tinnitus and the near deafness, I am lucky to have a job I know. I certainly cannot afford to get hearing aids now that I need them more than ever. I always say “it takes a village” and some people joke it takes two villages for me. I really do need help and have lived long enough and given enough to the community that I have moved beyond the idea of shame for asking others to lend an ear. I need hearing aids to do the things I do and be the person I am. I hope that as much as people have validated my place in our community, those of you who might be able to help me be an even better me, will do just that by giving. All I can do is ask. Thanks for reading. Happy holidays and love and hope for all during this most trying of seasons. Please feel free to share. https://www.mdhearingaid.com/en/blog/signia-hearing-aids