No Fletcher Ears For Me

Fletcher ears. They're large. Sometimes very large. And they stick out. Way out.

You see my Great Grandpa Fletcher's ears? Yeah, like that. That's where the term "Fletcher ears" comes from. Whenever a kid in the family has large ears that stick out from their head, we comment that they got the Fletcher ears.

I've always been glad that I didn't get the Fletcher ears. I just didn't realize how far mine go in the opposite direction. Because really, unless they're sticking out and drawing attention, who really pays attention to ears? I certainly never have.

But today I went to see the audiologist. The reason for this appointment is that Aaron keeps commenting on how I never seem to understand anything people say to me. And I have to turn the TV up very loud and turn the captions on. And he says things like: "Go get your hearing checked! Please!"

To which I responded: "What?"

So anyway, once he repeated himself enough times I made an appointment to have my hearing checked. And while I was there, the audiologist kept commenting that I had very small ears. And switching her instruments for smaller and smaller versions. At one point, she kept trying different sizes of earpieces for a particular piece of equipment and finally got the smallest size to fit. And she told me: "I'm glad that one worked! Otherwise I was going to have to go get the child-size kit."

Then they started trying on hearing aids... and we almost had to go child-size on those, too. But at least that means they're small and discreet. :)

Turns out I have almost no function in the outer part of my inner ear. Which means that I actually have near normal hearing (it's on the low end of normal, but not considered impaired yet). But while I can hear the sounds, the sounds don't get transmitted correctly all the way through my ear. So I can hear people talking, but I can't understand what they are saying. Especially if there's any kind of background noise.And at my house, when ISN"T there background noise?

So I currently have a pair of practically child-size hearing aids on a loaner basis. I'm supposed to try them out for a week and see if they help enough to make it worth buying a pair. (Since of course our crappy insurance doesn't cover them.)

Right this minute I'm listening to Preston whine his way down the hallway. I actually could hear what he was complaining about all the way into the bedroom. Maybe this is not an improvement...