Melissa Kay Rodriguez - Hear Your Life: Inspiring Stories and Honest Advice for Overcoming Hearing Loss

The purpose of this book is to educate and inform; it is not a medical manual or replacement for the consultation by a trained health professional. The information given here is not intended to be a substitute for any treatment that may have been prescribed by your doctor or medical advice that you receive or may need for your specific health condition. If you suspect that you have a medical problem or condition, you should seek competent medical help.

The names and identifying characteristics of persons referenced in this book, as well as identifying events and places, have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals and their families.

Published by Greenleaf Book Group Press
Austin, Texas
www.gbgpress.com

Copyright 2012 Melissa K. Rodriguez

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder.

Distributed by Greenleaf Book Group LLC
For ordering information or special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Greenleaf Book
Group LLC at PO Box 91869, Austin, TX 78709, 512.891.6100.

Design and composition by Greenleaf Book Group LLC
Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group LLC

LCCN: 2011943269
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-60832-298-5

Ebook Edition

To my father, Ray,
Thank you for introducing me to the world
of helping people hear better.

To my mother, Jan,
It was from your amazing nurturing and gift of mercy
that I learned how to treat others.

To all of my patients,
It is because of you that I am here.
Your courage to embrace better hearing inspires me every single day.

I love what I do! As you read the following stories, I think youll see why. As a young girl, my hero was Florence Nightingale, The Lady with the Lamp. I dreamed of walking up and down rows of dirty cots, in the middle of the Crimean War, bringing hope to the hopeless. At age twelve I entered a dramatic-speaking competition, and I dressed up like Florence Nightingale (holding a lamp and everything) and gave a speech about helping others. I won a blue ribbon.

Because of my fascination with Florence Nightingale, I decided to become a nurse. I dreamed of being a candy striper and planned to work in a hospital as soon as I was old enough. Life somehow got in the way, as it does, and by the time I was old enough, my family had moved and the hospitals in our new area did not use candy stripers. Devastated that I couldnt follow my dream, I found a beautiful pink-and-white-striped dress with white cuffs and a white collar at the Salvation Army thrift store and began assisting my dad in his hearing-aid business.

And thats when I realized that what inspired me about Florence Nightingale wasnt taking a temperature or dressing a wound, but her ability to bring hope to others. The ability to listen to a fading voice and administer the touch and the hope that would bring comfort and instill courage. As I watched my father change his patients silent world into one full of conversation, music, and laughter, I saw him give that gift of hope and healing and courage.

The day I turned eighteen I applied for my license to fit and dispense hearing aids. I trained hard and have had the privilege of helping people hear better for more than twenty years now.

Every day in my office I get to help people get back to hearing. I see the change that it makes in their lives. I have learned so much from them because they have summoned the courage to face their hearing loss. I sleep well at night knowing that each day I am able to touch someone with the gift of better hearing and that I am able to make someones life better.

But as much as I love helping people hear better, I am constantly saddened by the people who never seek help. I often have people come to me concerned about parents who cant hear. Families that are ripped apart by hearing loss sometimes seek help but are confused by an industry that (unfortunately) sometimes cares more about making the sale than about caring for the patient.

Because of the shortcomings of our industry, people are disillusioned about hearing aids. The culture of wearing hearing aids also carries a stigma, which I dont understand. Maybe this is because I have seen so many hearing successes.

I am often frustrated because I cant help more people. My office has grown, and I have wonderful specialists helping me and bringing people to better hearing, but lately I have felt like I could do more. Opening new offices is one option, but I have resisted the temptation to do that because I do not feel that I would be able to maintain the highest levels of integrity and care if I am not personally involved with each and every patient.

It bothers me to know that less than 25 percent of the people who could benefit from hearing aids have gotten help. In the last ten years our products have become nearly undetectable, comfortable, and capable of amazing natural sound processing. Hearing aids sound so much better than ten years ago, yet we are not helping more people. Why? I was asking myself this question for the hundredth time when it hit me that if people knew how life-changing better hearing could be, maybe they would let us help them.

For years I have led seminars in my local community to teach people about their ears and hearing and to answer the questions they have about hearing aids. I have always been impressed with the caliber of people who attend these seminars and how many brilliant and heartfelt questions they ask.

I decided to write a book to help me reach beyond my practice and enable me to touch the lives of the millions of people who could enrich their lives if only they understood the real benefits of hearing aids.

In this first part of the book, I have compiled true stories of individuals who have been transformed by bringing the sound of voices, laughter, and music back into their lives. As you read these stories, you will learn that if you are hearing less, you are not alone. If you love someone who cannot hear you, you are not alone. If you want help but are nervous about moving toward a solution, you are not alone. I hope that these stories will give you courage.

At the end of the book, I have included a resource section to explain the science of hearing loss and provide information that will help you determine the state of your own hearing and the options you have for improving your hearing loss. I hope that the resources this book offers will drive you to action.

Florence Nightingale was called The Lady with the Lamp because she brought light and hope into peoples lives when they were in a very dark place. I hope that through the words of this book, I can bring the gift of sound and joy of being connected back into your life.

My desire is that Hear Your Life will give you hope and inspire you on your journey. I believe with every ounce of my being that if you are missing even some of the sounds around you, you may be missing out on the one thing that could change the course of your day or even the course of your life. I truly believe in my professional message: Hear Better Live Better.

So welcome, and thank you for picking up this book and taking the time to learn more about your awesome sense of hearing. I hope the following pages will give you insight into the beautiful, dynamic world of hearing. I hope that it will inspire you to really listen to the sounds around you.