I knew it was coming

It has been, not a joke, but a running discussion between me and Ray that my hearing is not fantastic. For a couple of years now. In the past few months though I did find myself turning up the TV and,according to witnesses, talk more loudly when I was on the phone.

so I finally got around to seeing my doctor about it today. She didn't even look at my ears, just took me into a room to do a hearing test. I think to placate me. As we're doing the test and I have those funky headphones on I'm sneaking peeks at the dials she's spinning and see that she is making a series of x's on a card. They are all next to each other so I think "Well, OK this can't be too bad, they're all on the same row."

We finish the test and the first thing she says is "Your hearing is atrocious. Really bad." And she kind of looked surprised to be saying it. She points to the neat little line of X's at the bottom of the card and then points to the top of the card and says "This is normal. I think you might be a candidate for a hearing aid." I wasn't surprised but I was surprised. At my age health care stuff is rarely as bad as or worse than you think it's going to be and she was so blunt but wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know. It was a really odd feeling. I have to see an audiologist now. It might not be that bad, I had finn on my lap and I may not always have been clicking as soon as I heard the sound. Oh who am I kidding? It's bad.

I was thinking about it, of course, and one funny thought I had was that I owe apologies to many people who I have been annoyed with for not, in my opinion, speaking clearly enough or projecting enough for me to understand them. HA! Turns out it really isn't you, it's me.

I also mentioned a problem with my toes and she recommended orthotics. a hearing aid and orthotics. Damn. I'm surprised she didn't send me out with a coupon for an Early Bird Dinner too. :)