Well, We Know Which Hearing Aids Little Guy Will Have...

...and I'm feeling sentimental about it. In a good way. When we met with our audiologist, Dr. Michele Gillentine, a couple weeks ago, we all wanted to make sure we were getting Little Guy the best possible aids based on what we know of of the Beast's history and where Little Guy is now. So we actually left last week a little up in the air because Michele wanted to do a little bit of research to be sure we were making a great choice.

I contacted her office today to find out what pair of aids had been chosen, and what we could plan on paying for his aids. We knew it'd be somewhere between $4,000-$6,000, but wanted an idea. Her receptionist, Deana, told me to hang on because Michele had been wanting to talk to me. Okay. Sounds great. Nothing could have prepared me for what Michele would say. I'm still in a little bit of shock hours and hours later.

Michele told me she'd wanted to consult with Dr. Peters, who is the Beast's ENT (and now Little Guy's). He and she consulted at length and agreed that the pair Little Guy is wearing is good enough for his current level of hearing loss. When he loses more hearing (and it's greatly anticipated that he will), he'll need different aids identical to the one the Beast currently has behind his left ear. He could just get a pair to match the Beast's, but his ears are so tiny right now that he'll be really uncomfortable wearing them. If he is uncomfortable in his aids, he'll keep pulling them out. If he pulls them out, they can't possibly help him.

So the plan she and Dr. Peters came up with is to leave him in the pair he's wearing now. For those who don't know, this is the same exact pair that the Beast first wore. When his hearing began declining, Dr. Michele let us trade them in to help decrease the cost of the new set. She never sold them, though, and gave them to Little Guy when she realized he'd be in need of some magic ears of his own. (That's where the sentimental part comes in.) I was fine with that plan, and asked what we'd owe her.

Just $500. JUST $500!!! That's what she charges for fitting and programming, and the aids are just for him to use until he can't use them anymore. Eventually, we'll trade them in and buy the stronger aids when he needs them. But for now, he gets to have the benefit of his big brother's magic ears in his ears. This buys us time to save up more for better aids instead of purchasing them on credit. A huge blessing. Never let anyone tell you there is no such thing as angels among us.

If the weather holds out (we're due for a big ice storm tonight), I'll be taking Little Guy tomorrow morning to get his new earmolds. Rumor has it they're about the size of Dr. Michele's finger nail. (Yeah. I'll be taking pictures for you all). I am a little apprehensive about really seeing him in his aids and earmolds just because of all the emotion involved in that, but I'm so glad it's the Beast's magic ears helping Little Guy find sound.