I really wanted to start this column with "Just get over yourself" ... but it sounded too aggressive. Let me explain.

Over the last three weeks, at the age of 57, I have been the proud owner of a brand-new pair of hearing aids. Whaaaat? The additional aaa in what are not what because I didn't hear what I said - it is the what of disbelief - as in "you hear me correctly?"!

After I retired, I noticed tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing in my ears. I was able to navigate it, but did so mostly because some doctors say you can do nothing about it. Then recently, I realized that I was asking, "What did you say?" many times a day. I never wanted to be THAT kind of senior, so I started to research things.

I'm cheap, okay, FRUGAL as my friend Karen Breault would say. I tried some over the counter hearing aids, found my mom's old hearing aids, which she wore only twice and gave up. Then, I decided to get the hearing test, and it showed loss in the higher pitch range. I liked the question on the new patient form that said, "If you need hearing aids, will you buy them?" It offered a yes, no, and maybe option, and I was a maybe.

My "What did you say?" continued and I knew I was annoyed with myself for not doing it. Then just to bolster my decision to move forward, my husband and I were volunteering at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter socializing puppies. The process involves sitting in their kennel and building trust, especially for those that have no experience with humans. I said, "How's it going over there?" I thought I heard him say, "We're sleeping over here." A few minutes passed and I heard him leave the room. What he had said was, "We're having a seizure over here." He left because he carried the puppy to the veterinarian down the hall. Don't worry she was ok.

So, even though I had already decided to get the hearing aids, it was firmly cemented by what I did not hear that day. As a teacher of balance classes for seniors, I know that you must do something like get hearing aids or try a walking device BEFORE your brain is too resistant to accept it. If you wait too long, your brain decides for you that it isn't going to accept it.

I saw my new friends at Hear USA in the Oppenheimer Flats, and I am a believer. The process was easy, the follow-up too, and there was a range of prices. Dr. Mitchell Montoya and friends will explain everything. It was like meeting with people I have known for a long time. I don't feel different except now I hear normally, no echo, buzz or feedback and it may even be working on my tinnitus.