1639 The Power Of Hearing!
Mathew followed Silvia to another room at the back of her office.
It was a small examination room, with cream-white walls, and a patient bed in the center. He also spotted a sink, and a series of cabinets and drawers attached to the walls.
~Bubuum. Bubuum.
Mathew's heart drummed wildly, as he watched Silvia take out a small box from one of the drawers.
It had his name on it.
Silvia smiled lightly while cleaning Mathew's ear with cotton swabs and several cleaning fluids. "Mr. Mathew, as agreed, you'll be receiving your hearing aid, which is a behind the ear (BTE) type. Before I let you go on your way, I still have to ensure that you're comfortable with this type."
Emily frowned. "Doctor, how many types are there?"
"Four... The first type is called ITE (in the ear), which sits comfortably inside the ear."
"So they are similar to the earphones used for iPods?"
"Well, yes... But these are wireless. They don't have long wires."
What? Without long wires? Impossible!
Emily felt it was too magical.
Even though she didn't fully understand technology, she knew that those long wires, just like phone cords, help transmit sound from the music pod to her ears.
So if the long wires are not present, how can sound still be transmitted?
Emily looked at Mathew enviously, momentarily wishing she too had lost her hearing.
Wipe! Such a device is enough to bring the world to a halt.
Tsk.
'As expected of Baymard. They never disappoint me.'
Silvia was amused by Emily's expression.
Regardless of the type, hearing aids have 3 main components: a microphone, a speaker, and an amplifier.
So what makes them different would be how these 3 parts were positioned, how they worked and what other special features they had.
Behind-the-ear (BTE), was the one Mathew had chosen. But there were 3 others, namely:
• In-The-Ear (ITE)
• In-The-Canal (ITC)
• And Lastly, Receiver-In-Canal (RIC)
The RIC one is just as its name suggests. Its receiver was a very tiny head placed inside one's ear. This head was attached to a short wire that connected it to the rest of the hearing aid positioned behind the ear.
From Silvia's many patients, most elderly people preferred this type.
"Brother, are you sure you want to proceed with the BTE type?"
"Yes." Mathew nodded viciously.
While he was taking his tests, he had already been informed of the various types and he was shown their dummies to test out.
He didn't want anything that would be placed inside his ears. It was better to have it hanging behind his ears, so his hair could cover it up.
Though everyone should probably know he has hearing problems, Mathew just felt it would be somewhat rude for him to have those things in his ears when someone was talking to him. And now, it was time for the moment of truth.
The hearing aid was clamped behind his ears like a fish's gill. And with a book covering her mouth, Doctor Silvia spoke softly. "Mathew, can you hear me?"
Mathew's face was frozen in shock, as his eyes widened in disbelief.
Though everything was unpleasant and strange, he didn't feel repulsed. The newfound sounds echoed through his ears, leaving him with a tingling sensation.
He can hear. He can hear!
"Doctor Silvia, you have a beautiful voice... I... I can hear not just you, but my sister too!"
"Little brother, that's great!" Emily choked on her emotions. No matter the cost of these hearing aids, they were definitely worth it!
"Sister! So this is what my heartbeat sounds like?"
Mathew was like a newborn baby, not knowing how to properly process sound. If they didn't tell him the background noise he heard was rain, he wouldn't have known.
Mathew swore he wouldn't cry, but his eyes seemed determined to betray him.
He could hear his heartbeat... and it was beautiful.
As Silvia watched the duo hug each other, she was once more satisfied with her profession. Even if she died today, she would go down peacefully, knowing she made many regain their smiles.
"Congratulations, Mr. Mathew. With this, your life will be even more colorful. But I must advise you to return every week for the next month."
Hearing aids often require multiple adjustments during the initial period of use.
One shouldn't expect Mathew to start hearing perfectly so fast. Everyone has a frequency on which they can hear.
Dogs have theirs, and humans have theirs too. But for deaf people, their frequencies were quite different, resulting in many adjustments needed.
Again, the more prolonged one's hearing loss, the more distorted the sounds may be.
So even if they used hearing aids to clarify what sound was what, their brains also needed time to readjust to the changing inputs.
Some patients have screamed and woken up at night, very scared because they couldn't understand certain sounds of thunder.
Over time, it shouldn't be a problem anymore. But Silvia advised Emily to help Mathew identify unfamiliar sounds, especially vehicle noises.
Sniff. Sniff~
Mathew quickly wiped his teary eyes, too embarrassed to look Doctor Silvia in the eye again. But his gratitude was real.
With a deep bow, he faced Silvia solemnly. "Thank you, Doctor Silvia. I will never forget what you did for me in this life!"
"No need to be so serious. It's all your money's worth. From now on, live a life filled with happiness. You don't need to feel inferior to anyone."
The duo felt like crying even more.
"Yes, yes! Doctor Silvia is right. My brother is so good. So why should you keep feeling inferior?" Emily hoped her brother would get rid of his inferiority complex and live his love to the fullest.
Leaving the hospital, Mathew felt newfound confidence stirring within him... One he had never felt before!
He looked at the buzzing Baymardian streets, as though he was seeing them for the first time.
'Thank you, your Majesty Landon... Thank you for making this lowly one hear in this life.'
