From Dr. Cathleen Simeo of Hearing Solution Centers
As an Audiologist, I am always surprised that some patients I see with fairly bad hearing loss choose to wait to get hearing aids. I often hear patients say, “it’s not bad enough yet. I can wait.” This is a concept that always bewildered me. How can it not be bad enough?!
It wasn’t until later that I realized that I too was a person who decided to wait. Not with hearing, but with sight. I have worn glasses consistently since I was in high school. About a year and a half ago, my only pair broke. I thought, “Yup, that’s something to put on the list. But my eyesight isn’t that bad. I can wait.” So I did.
One year later, I still had not gotten my glasses replaced. I thought I was coping very well and had decided that maybe I didn’t really need them that badly after all.
Then one late night, I was driving home from a weekend trip. I was on the highway with my 4-year old son sleeping soundly in the back seat. As I made an exit to get onto the turnpike, I somehow managed to lose my bearings and I ended up driving down the wrong side of the road. I didn’t even realize it until I came face-to-face with another car. He swerved to the side of the road and loudly honked his horn at me. The blood rushed to my head and I began to feel very hot and anxious as I realized what I had done and where I was. I instantly pulled over, but still could not see the road well enough to know where I was supposed to be. Finally, another car heading toward Tulsa passed me and I was able to gather my bearings enough to follow his taillights.
When I finally pulled into my driveway, I turned off the car, took a deep breath, and cried. I grabbed my son from his car seat and held him tightly in my arms as I rocked him back and forth. I kept thinking how silly I had been to put off something so much to the point that I was willing to endanger myself and my family. I was determined that I would not let my procrastination be a burden anymore. The next day, I found an optometrist.
Now many people say that glasses aren’t the same as hearing aids. But I simply reply to them that my family is the most important thing in the world to me and I would do anything to be with them. My experience has made me realize how precious life is, and I don’t want to miss a moment of it. So my question to you is … What are you missing? And when is enough, enough?