Diana Hull shares her story

The one thing I dreaded the most as I am entering my senior years is to be deaf. This fear came from my Mother who had continual battles with her upmarket hearing aids which she could not manage the result being that we could not communicate in her final years of life.

My journey however started after many years of sinus surgery and ongoing infections which in the end damaged my Eustachian tubes resulting in having many grommets inserted in both ears over the years. Over time I found that I was staring to isolate myself from various communities because I found it difficult to hear I mentioned this to my specialist who immediately sent me to the Lions Hearing Centre in Subiaco.

The test results were not very encouraging I had lost considerable hearing in one ear and moderate loss in the other. Then my relationship with hearing aids started. I had many friends who had paid a fortune for aids that they did not wear so there was no way I was going down that path and opted out for the free aids supplied through my Veteran Affairs Gold Card. I immediately started to wear them all day and by the evening I was exhausted. Overtime and with many more ear infections and sinus operations things deteriorated even more. I could not hear what my grandsons were saying and had to have everything translated by their parents. I became an expert on lip reading and body language even ended up using the captions on the TV. My sons became frustrated with me as I could hardly understand what they were saying on the phone even with the aids.

I retired in Dunsborough and transferred to Advanced Hearing to manage my hearing aids issues. We tired many variations to the ear pieces but the background noise and feedback improved a little and then as my hearing deteriorate further the benefits were lost. By this stage I could no longer use the phone so texting became the norm or the loud speaker on the mobile helped.

Kathy then suggested that I should try some better hearing aids, I thought this over and had a trial run with one aid on my better ear this proved to be better but I was not altogether convinced. However I decided that I should invest in me and improve my quality of hearing so I went to the other extreme and bought the top of the range. I now had microphones in the ear canal not behind the ear. After a month of adjusting the aids and coping with yet another infection things started to improve I could hear the grandchildren and hold a conversation with them on the phone. Having lunch with girls improved I could cut out the background noise and hold a conversation. I am glad I invested in myself and improved my hearing even though my partner often says its no better sometimes. I rang my insurer and insured my aids as Kathy suggested as I could not afford to replace them. I feel so much improved thanks to Kathy at Advanced Hearing that I would happily recommend them to you.