Hearing Loss and Safety

One of the most annoying things about where is work is that there is no onsite parking for employee. We all must park on the street and walk 6-7 blocks on some days just to get to the office building. What I have learned is that it is all about timing but unfortunately the actual time a place becomes available is different everyday. So, not much help there. 


I do not mind the walking part as I feel that walking 15 minutes to and from my car at the beginning and end of the day is a great stress reliever for me and helps me decompress my day. What I do not like is walking to my car when I work late at night, which is more often than not. Before I had my Esteem implant, I was so terrified that someone would sneak up behind me and I wouldn't be able to hear them coming in enough time to start running for the hills. 


Many people do not realize that having a hearing disability can be very dangerous. What if someone broke into my house in the middle of the night? There is no way I would have been able to hear something like this before my implant. My husband used to be employed as a hotel manager, so before he lost his job, there would be times when he would be called into work in the middle of the night, or be forced to work through the night shift if an employee called in sick. There were many nights my husband was not around which is why my inability to hear at night with out my hearing aids was one of his biggest fears and part of the reason we adopted a puppy this past summer (before I had planned to get the Esteem implant). 


My husband and I had the same concern about smoke detectors. What if a fire started in the middle of the night? The alarm is so high pitched that my hearing aid barely picks up on this tone when I am standing right below it. How in the world would I be able to hear this from the next room without my hearing aids when I am half asleep?


Another safety issue is driving and my inability to hear sirens. There have been countless occasions where I would run through a stoplight and not see an ambulance headed towards me until I was already through the intersection. What if I was 10 seconds behind schedule that day? I probably would not be alive right now. Also, since I am so dependent on reading lips, when I am driving and talking to the passenger, I have to turn my head to be able to understand what the passenger is saying. Anything could happen in those 5 seconds I look away. This, to me, is equivalent to texting while driving. All it takes is 5 seconds and you are roadkill.


These are just a few of the many situations that can be dangerous for hearing impaired individuals. Now that I have been implanted with the Esteem, I feel much comfort in knowing that I no longer have to be scared of these situations anymore.