Welcome And The Adulting Premise

Welcome to the Only Child Diaries Podcast. I'm your host, Tracy Wallace. Have you ever felt like you didn't receive the how-to brochure on life? That you didn't get enough guidance about major life issues? So did I. You don't have to be an only child to feel this way. In my podcast, we'll explore some of the best ways to better navigate adulting while doing so with humor and light. Welcome everyone to the Only Child Diaries Podcast. Today I'm going to talk about putting your pride aside and taking care of business. Let me explain. Recently, well, I mean not in the last few weeks or anything, but in the last year or so, it seems to me, is the time frame, my husband's hearing got worse. And so much so that he wanted to do a hearing test. And I was thinking that it was not really that compromised. But he did do the hearing test at his ear doctor's office. And uh it turns out that yes, he has had some hearing loss. Not a lot, but some. And I felt like after he got that news, well, first of all, he was kind of depressing for him. And second of all, um, I felt like he he he didn't hear as well. I mean, yeah, his hearing was compromised, but I felt like once he heard the news, it it went down even worse, or was even he was not hearing as well, even more, if that makes sense. Anyway, he had told me that his dad, you know, and this was what 30, 40 years ago, had tried hearing aids and they didn't work out very well for him. And I know that I've heard a lot of people talk about hearing aids, that it's the technology hasn't always been very good. Um instead of just amplifying what's closer to you, it amplifies everything that is around. Um and it can be very, you know, it's not, it's not a natural, like you would hear out of your ears, right? It's different. Well, I'd also read studies that people with hearing loss suffer greater dementia, and there's, I think it's like a greater chance of death, early death, earlier death. So I was concerned. Now, I like to watch occasionally, I don't sit on this every day, but sometimes I like to flip over to QVC, which is one of the home shopping channels, right? And um this one particular day, I just happened on their special, their today's special value, that's what they call it, where they had uh a great price for uh a package where it was two sets of hearing aids um that were rechargeable. It's like a USB thing, um, not batteries or whatever, and also like a free Zoom call with a technician to help you use them correctly or use them to the best of their ability, but also a two-year protection plan so that if the hearing aids were damaged or God forbid lost, they would be replaced. Now, let me tell you something about my husband is that he loses things. He loses things and granted, being concerned because hearing aids are usually pretty small, right? Um, when we were getting married and we were thinking about going out and buying him a ring, wedding ring, he said, Well, I just want to tell you that I used to have, you know, a ring or rings, and I always lost them. And I was like, Oh my god, really? Um like I don't want to keep buying him wedding rings, right? So anyway, I I'm happy to report that he still has his wedding ring because his knuckle is just too big and it won't slip off easily, so that's a good thing, right? But um, and he's lost sunglasses. I got him a Garmin watch once to um track his steps and everything. He lost that after a while. So he used to lose his phone when he was at work. That was really scary. Anyway, and keys. I won't, I'll stop there. Um, so the protection plan covers them getting lost, and I thought, this is perfect. So I bought them, and it was a great price too. And I bought them, not telling him that I bought them, because we'll get to that, right? So they arrived and I told him that I had bought him something, but I knew that this transition would be a little rocky. I mean, it just would. Because even though he's talked about other people needing hearing aids and how other people should take this on, I knew that this wouldn't be an easy transition for him. And sure enough, when I mentioned that what it was that I had bought him, he was, you know, upset. He was upset. He did a lot of heavy sighing, which is what he does when he's I wouldn't say, I wouldn't say the words mad. I would say that it's it's like a fuming kind of a like a like a like a simmering kind of mad, maybe. It's not like an outright, oh I'm angry, but it's like, you know, kind of a ticked off, kind of a it's like a simmering anger, right? And and it's such that he's not gonna say anything. He knows better than to say something, but he's still not happy about it. So anyway, I finally got him to put them on. So he could instantly because he's always thinking to himself, I mean, you get used to, you get to used to how you are, right? And I think that he figured that it wasn't as bad, his hearing wasn't as bad as I thought it was. I mean, I sit here, I see him turning up the volume on the TV, or rather hearing him turn up the volume on the TV. I am the one that always has to repeat what I'm saying because he's what? Huh? You know. So he put them in and he could hear the TV at what is my level. I'm not gonna say a normal level, okay, but what is my level that I listen to the TV at. Um, and I said, we got to schedule this call, this video call, right? And he's like, uh so we did that, and he and it was really a pleasurable experience because the guy went through and he explained things a little bit better than the instruction manual did. Okay. Um, and he explained how to get used to them and all that stuff. And so he's been wearing them more. And now he says, I can't wait to wear them. I can't wait to put them in. Because obviously you can't wear them 24 hours a day. You can't wear them when you're sleeping or when you're showering, or right? And he's been around the house and he'll say, gosh, that's really noisy, or gosh, I make a lot of noise, or gosh, I never realized how loud that was. Uh-huh. So I feel like, wow, I mean, it was a little rocky there in the beginning, but it was it's so far it's pretty successful. And um I'm really happy about that. Um, and and my thing is, why would you not here's my preachy part, but hang on. If you have a deficiency, whatever it is, why would you not want to take care of that, right? Why would you not want to get yourself back up to like your factory factory new condition? Um, if you need glasses, you get glasses. If you need contacts, you get contacts. If you need dental work, you get dental work. Um, if you have a hearing issue, you take care of it. Now, I say this as a person who has cataracts, and one of my eyes is pretty bad. And why am I not doing something about it? Because I'm scared. I know I'm gonna need the surgery. I'm gonna end up getting the surgery. I'm not gonna live out my life with these cataracts. But my other eye is is pretty good. My other eye, I feel like I can see. And I will get this, I will get the surgery. If I couldn't see at all, of course I'd get the surgery. Um, right now. I know with my knees, my both of my knees were so bad and so painful, and I finally got the knee surgery. I got their partial knee replacements. And yeah, the recovery wasn't so smooth. It was some months, some weeks there of pain, but it was worth it, and now I feel much better. Um, and so, you know, I feel like life is so short. If you have a problem, a physical problem, any kind of a problem that's weighing you down in this life, then take care of it. If there's a solution, take care of it. Like try it. Because maybe your life is gonna be a lot, a lot better than it is now. It's gonna be a lot more comfortable, you know. Like when I first started getting migraines, I I thought, okay, they're just bad headaches. I just need to take more motrin. But it turned out there's a special drug to take care of the migraines. And it was my husband that said, you know, it's not normal. Go to a doctor. And I did, and I just felt so much better. So bet what is it, better living through medication? If there's something that you need to take care of, take care of it. Because if you can make your life better, no matter what the issue is, then why not do it? I know because people feel like they have the situation under hand, they don't want to try something new, they're worried about the results, or they say it's not that bad, but you know what? You could feel 20% better, or you could feel 40% better, and maybe you don't know until you try it. That's all I'm saying. So, well, that's all I've got for today. Next week, we're gonna tackle another topic together. I hope you'll join me. If you like this episode, please follow the Only Child Diaries Podcast on Apple Podcasts or other platforms you might listen on. And consider rating Only Child Diaries and writing a review. It helps others to find us. Please share it with a friend you think might like it as well. Visit my Instagram page, Only Child Diaries, or Facebook, Only Child Diaries Podcast. Thanks for listening. I'm Tracy Wallace, and these are the Only Child Diaries.