Sometimes we take our hearing aids for granted and forget what it’s like without them.  Here are some actual stories we’ve heard lately to get you thinking about what would happen if you were in a situation without your hearing aids.  How can you let people know how much you need them (other than tattooing  “please face me, I lipread” on your forehead.)

–Before an MRI, your hearing aids are taken away.  Then the attendant talks to you through a microphone when you are inside the machine and you have no idea what he’s saying.

–You are about to have minor surgery.  You wait in the pre-op room for over an hour and don’t get taken.  You discover they have called your name and you didn’t hear them, so they thought you went home.

–You collapse at home (without your hearing aids on) and the rescue squad comes to get you.  They decide that you have Alzheimer’s because you don’t respond to their questioning while their backs are turned.   Luckily your family arrives and asks where your hearing aids are.

You will have to do some advanced planning to avoid these situations, but what to do?