Sorry I can't hear you... yet!

Had an appointment to discuss hearing aids today.  By luck or good planning my audiologist has single sided hearing loss (like me) and has tried the new fangled hearing aid that was recommended by the folks at UCSF.  She liked it, but at the moment anyway she wears a different type of hearing aid.  After talking to her about the different options, I've decided to try the type of device she uses.  It's called a CROS device (contralateral routing of signals).  Basically there will be a receiver in my deaf ear that will transmit sound to a device in my good ear.  The benefit of this option is that I get a 60 day trial period; if I hate it, I can return it for a refund.  The other benefit is that it will be completely covered by insurance.

The other option is called a SoundBite.  It consists of a receiver in the deaf ear that will transmit sound to a device that fits around your back teeth.  The sound is then carried in the bones of your skull and is detected by the good ear.  The downsides of this option is that is so new it may or may not be covered by insurance, the cost of this option is about $8000, the battery only holds a charge for 5-6 hrs and it takes a lot longer to get one.

My decision seemed pretty easy- I'll try out the CROS, see if I like it.  If I hate it, I can return it and maybe then I'll try the SoundBite.  I'm just excited to be making some progress.  Next Thursday I have an appointment to get fitted for my hearing aid.  Here's hoping it works!

Next up... my scan on Thursday.  I'm really hoping I'll get the results on Friday, but that might be pushing it.