I’ve been helping a family member who has Dementia. She’s able to be at home but needs extra help.

Between her doctor appointments, check-ins, getting groceries, and other errands, it takes quite a bit of time and energy.

In the process, I haven’t been taking care of myself the way I know I should. My MCS has gotten worse and I’ve been neglecting my own needs and doctor appointments.

There’s no one to blame but myself.

I know better but I do it anyway.

It is what it is and I regret nothing!

However, it’s time to re-invest in myself, reset my thinking, and re-adopt a “take care of yourself first” mentality.

Finding In-Home Help…

Last week, I found in-home help for my family member through Comfort Keepers.

They will help a couple days a week. With the extra help, things should go more smoothly for both my family member and myself.

The extra help is a relief yet, at the same time, I feel like I’m shirking my self-appointed responsibility.

I guess I still have some work to do in overcoming my Super Woman Syndrome!

Did You Know I’m Hard Of Hearing?…

Due to a virus that settled in my ears back in early 2018, I have severe hearing loss in my right ear and mild-to-moderate hearing loss in my left ear.

When I first found out about my hearing loss, the Audiologist suggested I use 2 hearing aids but stubborn me only wanted one – for the ear with severe hearing loss.

My Hearing Aid And I Were BFF’s Until Late 2020…

I wore my hearing aid every day until life went wonky…

• In early 2020, Dad and Cookie (aka The Boyz) passed away. This was significant because Cookie and I had been living with Dad since March 2018 when I took a hiatus from van life to take care of Dad. For those 2 years, my life revolved around The Boyz.
• Shortly after losing The Boyz, the Covid Chronicle’s began.
• In the midst of Covid, my family and I cleaned out and sold Dad’s house.
• In October 2020, I found myself back on the road trying to figure out van life again in the middle of a global pandemic.

Once I got back into van life, I was alone and responsible for only myself – and that’s when everything came crashing down.

Until that point in time, I had never dealt with losing The Boyz. I had kept myself busy getting the house cleaned out and finding other distractions.

Once I was alone with no distractions I had no choice but to deal with it.

Life had become a blur and, somewhere along the way, wearing my hearing aid was no longer a priority.

It’s Time To Get Past The “Huh?”…

This past winter…

I’ve been getting tired of saying “Huh?” all the time… or wondering what someone said because I didn’t feel like saying “Huh?”… or I already said “Huh?” 5 times and didn’t want to say it a sixth.

I decided to start wearing my hearing aid again but it no longer worked.

Hearing aids typically last 3 – 7 years and mine was 7 years old.

The only way to get past the “Huh?” was to go back to the Audiologist.

Getting New Hearing Aids…

A few weeks ago, the Audiologist gave me a new hearing test.

Thankfully, my hearing has not changed from 7 years ago.

A week later, I had new hearing aids – this time I got one for each ear!

Hearing Aids Have Changed In The Past 7 Years…

The brand of hearing aids I was given is Oticon.

Hearing aides are now rechargeable. There’s no tiny battery to mess with and I don’t have to try and keep enough batteries on hand or remember where I put them.

With my old hearing aid the only option I had was to turn the volume up or down via a little button on the hearing aid itself.

With my new hearing aids there are more controls available through an app on my phone. I can adjust the volume, use different programs, mute both hearing aids, and a couple things I’m still clueless about.

Reducing Background Noise…

There are a couple of programs that allow me to reduce background noise.

For example, if I’m listening to someone speak, I can select the “Lecture” program and it zones in on the person speaking rather than the background noise.

It’s not always perfect but it helps!

Listening To Music Or Streaming…

I haven’t listened to music too much over the years because it usually sounds like a bunch of off-key, caterwauling, cartoon characters that’s pretty comparable to nails on a chalkboard.

Do you remember the Brady Bunch episode where Peter’s voice changed and started cracking when they were trying to record Greg’s song? Imagine listening to THAT every time you turn the tunes on!

The hearing aid app has a program called “My Music” and I was anxious to check it out.

My first dilemma was finding some music I could listen to on my phone.

Then, I listened to a few songs and HOLY MOLY!… is that what music is supposed to sound like!?

One of my favorite features is… the music and any streaming comes directly through my hearing aids (same as if I were wearing ear buds or headphones).

Adjusting To The Hearing World Again…

It’s weird to say but being able to hear again is taking some adjusting.

While driving, I hear rattles inside the van and outside from the road.

At first I thought something was wrong … then I figured out it’s just normal sounds.

I’m shocked at what I’ve missed out on.

I’m hearing things I haven’t heard in ages. I often find myself startled and looking around to figure out what I’m hearing. I need to do this more inconspicuously though… so people don’t think I’m crazy!

The other morning I put my hearing aids in and I could hear the birds!!!

Without hearing aids I can only hear certain tones/pitches and those tones/pitches are often muffled. I could hear some tweeting and chirping without hearing aids but with my hearing aids it’s a whole new experience!

I’ve also scared myself a few times!

In my daily activities, simple noises occur that had previously gone unheard.

At times, I find myself frantically looking around to see if a critter or something got into the van only to realize it was a noise from something I was doing myself. I’d forgotten about all those intricate sounds associated with doing dishes, making supper, and other routine tasks.

Those sounds are scary when you don’t know where it’s coming from!

And then there was the time I possibly levitated a good 2-3 inches off my chair when the neighbor accidentally hit the panic button on their key-fob and their car started honking.

The honking was so loud it scared the bejeebers outta me!

Parting Thoughts…

I’m glad to finally have my hearing issue under control again. It’s just one step (of many) towards taking care of my own needs and re-investing in myself.

I’ll still be involved in helping my family member. With the extra help, though, it should become more manageable.

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About The Photos…

The rose images were created by me using AI technology (Leonardo.ai). I wanted a colorful rose in the water with ripples and I love the results!

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