Today I’m sharing Maria’s story. At 76 years old, she still works, as does her husband, who is 84 years old. She tends a farm and he cuts open coconuts on a roadside farm stand. Maria was also diagnosed with cancer and travels several hours to the city to receive treatment. She tells me how she is now anticipating hearing her husband speak to her, and paying better attention to all the farm animals she tends to, especially the chicks “because of their soft chirps.” “I haven’t heard that sound in years” she says, wistfully. As Maria tells her story, I marvel at her strength to push through cancer, work, travel for treatment, and her hearing loss all at once, all at age 84.
We program Maria’s hearing aids and run our test measures. Her eyes light up once her hearing aids are activated. Maria smiles so big. Moments later she is overcome with emotion and tears up. We hug.
Maria asks me if she can pray for us, and I nod yes. I am crying. We are all crying. She says many prayers and I don’t understand what she is saying but it is quite possibly the greatest gift of the day, because it is true and from her heart. She hugs each of us long and hard. It is difficult to recover from that moment. The next patient is brought back to our office and our eyes are not yet dry.
The first few moments after hearing aids are activated on a person that has never had access to hearing are pure magic. At first, they are confused, and then once they realize they are hearing the words you are speaking, a smile and sometimes a giggle ensues. You can’t help but smile and laugh at yourself. This is the drug that keeps us audiologists coming back for more. We call it a “hearing smile” and it is everything.
