Etoile
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2005
- Messages
- 1,185
- Reaction score
- 0
*deep breath*
I have an appointment with the hearing aid people on Wednesday. The place I am buying it from says I have to go see their people instead of the Gallaudet clinic...fine, I can handle that, it's a pretty convenient location and I have all my records already.
I said that I wanted a pair of the Oticon Epoq W aids, with the Streamer (bluetooth function). Epoq W is $2500 per HA, Epoq XW is $2700 per HA. Streamer is $250.
The primary difference between the two - as far as I can tell, based on what they told me over the phone - is directionality. With the XW, if you have two aids, they work as a unit and provide better "spatial sound" so you can identify better where something is coming from. I don't think the W has this feature at all, so I am considering getting only one Epoq W rather than two...I am paying out of pocket so money has to be balanced with need. If I can get enough benefit from just one HA, then I will just get one. If it turns out I really need two, I will get two. And if I do that, I probably will get the XW after all, so they can work together. Minimum cost: $2500 (one W only). Maximum cost: $5650 (two XW's and the Streamer).
Now I have to decide if I want ITC or BTE. I have been thinking BTE all along, because I really don't care if people see if I have HA's. I always felt like ITC was for people who are embarrassed about their hearing loss, but I was looking at the brochure on the ITC's and it might not be a bad thing. I think the cost is the same. I don't want ITE at all because I have ear piercings that would interfere...plus I don't like the way they look! I either want it there (BTE) or not there (ITC) rather than in the middle (ITE).
If I get the BTE, I think I am going to get the RITE (Receiver-in-the-Ear) version rather than the standard one. Not because it is less visible, but because it is an open-fit style and I have heard that it will allow more natural sound through. So at the frequencies where my hearing loss is mild, I can get natural sound, and at the frequencies where it is severe, I can get it through the HA.
I cried pretty much all afternoon and evening today because of VR not being able to help pay for them. My mom and my partner are both willing to pay for them, but I don't want to have to rely on them...I don't really have a choice though. I also encountered a really nasty person, who I thought was my friend, who didn't understand why I was upset, and decided to kick me while I was down. Oh well, I forgive him, though I think he's still annoyed with me. Even my partner was a little suspicious of whether I really need them or not...it seems that the only people who understand why I need HA's are other interpreters. Is it so hard to understand that the coping strategies I use on a daily basis are not allowed when I'm interpreting? I can't ask people to repeat themselves every five seconds when I'm working! I need to hear it right the first time. Anyway, whatever.
So I'm going for the Epoq's. I'm excited and scared at the same time. I don't know what sound will sound like through HA's. I get a 45-day trial period, and I am supposed to wear them everywhere - to the movies, at happy hour, watching TV, chatting with friends, everything. He said "put them through a crash test" during the trial. So we'll see if they help...the promo literature from Oticon sure makes them sound awesome. "You don't have to work so hard to listen, so you'll be less tired!" I hope it works.
Okay, I'm really scared. Really excited, and really scared.
I have an appointment with the hearing aid people on Wednesday. The place I am buying it from says I have to go see their people instead of the Gallaudet clinic...fine, I can handle that, it's a pretty convenient location and I have all my records already.
I said that I wanted a pair of the Oticon Epoq W aids, with the Streamer (bluetooth function). Epoq W is $2500 per HA, Epoq XW is $2700 per HA. Streamer is $250.
The primary difference between the two - as far as I can tell, based on what they told me over the phone - is directionality. With the XW, if you have two aids, they work as a unit and provide better "spatial sound" so you can identify better where something is coming from. I don't think the W has this feature at all, so I am considering getting only one Epoq W rather than two...I am paying out of pocket so money has to be balanced with need. If I can get enough benefit from just one HA, then I will just get one. If it turns out I really need two, I will get two. And if I do that, I probably will get the XW after all, so they can work together. Minimum cost: $2500 (one W only). Maximum cost: $5650 (two XW's and the Streamer).
Now I have to decide if I want ITC or BTE. I have been thinking BTE all along, because I really don't care if people see if I have HA's. I always felt like ITC was for people who are embarrassed about their hearing loss, but I was looking at the brochure on the ITC's and it might not be a bad thing. I think the cost is the same. I don't want ITE at all because I have ear piercings that would interfere...plus I don't like the way they look! I either want it there (BTE) or not there (ITC) rather than in the middle (ITE).
If I get the BTE, I think I am going to get the RITE (Receiver-in-the-Ear) version rather than the standard one. Not because it is less visible, but because it is an open-fit style and I have heard that it will allow more natural sound through. So at the frequencies where my hearing loss is mild, I can get natural sound, and at the frequencies where it is severe, I can get it through the HA.
I cried pretty much all afternoon and evening today because of VR not being able to help pay for them. My mom and my partner are both willing to pay for them, but I don't want to have to rely on them...I don't really have a choice though. I also encountered a really nasty person, who I thought was my friend, who didn't understand why I was upset, and decided to kick me while I was down. Oh well, I forgive him, though I think he's still annoyed with me. Even my partner was a little suspicious of whether I really need them or not...it seems that the only people who understand why I need HA's are other interpreters. Is it so hard to understand that the coping strategies I use on a daily basis are not allowed when I'm interpreting? I can't ask people to repeat themselves every five seconds when I'm working! I need to hear it right the first time. Anyway, whatever.
So I'm going for the Epoq's. I'm excited and scared at the same time. I don't know what sound will sound like through HA's. I get a 45-day trial period, and I am supposed to wear them everywhere - to the movies, at happy hour, watching TV, chatting with friends, everything. He said "put them through a crash test" during the trial. So we'll see if they help...the promo literature from Oticon sure makes them sound awesome. "You don't have to work so hard to listen, so you'll be less tired!" I hope it works.
Okay, I'm really scared. Really excited, and really scared.