Ear Monsters

I see stories in the news from time to time about people who have been profoundly deaf and are hearing the voice of a loved one for the first time. Heart warming but now that my Dad is finally hearing again after being 90% deaf in one ear and 100% in the other for about 15 years, I wonder if it as overwhelming for the profoundly deaf as it has been for my Dad. He was missing so much in conversation that we finally convinced him to get hearing aids.  He has had them now for almost a week and he's not loving it.  He can hear himself drink coffee and his hair underneath his hat.  I tell him that we can can hear these things too but we learn to tune it out.   He no longer needs the TV at top volume and we don't have to shout, but he gets anxious when there are a lot of competing noises.  When it gets too much i.e.  if someone is talking too much or being too loud, he takes the hearing aids out.

I know he will get used to it eventually.  He said the thing he has missed the most is the sound of rushing water...  So, as soon as the snow and ice melt, he will go to the local conservation area to hear the water rushing over the rocks.  

We take our hearing for granted sometimes. And while my Dad is getting used to hearing again, I know he is enjoying hearing his great grandson laugh.