For many years my Mum had suffered from gradual loss of hearing in one ear. She complained of pain at first and at that she could hear echoing and sounds like a train running along its tracks. At that time the doctor could not do very much to help her as she was told that her ear drum was damaged, nor did he give her any direction to seek more specialist help, so nothing much was done about the ear, except to take some tablets, in which my Mum insists did nothing to help. In addition, the thought of specialist fees being expensive, deterred my Mum from asking any more questions as she thought that she could not afford it. As time passed, Mum's hearing progressively got worse.

Recently, I came across an advertisement about hearing aids in the local newspaper and was surprised. I usually associate hearing aids with the elderly; devices which are honey-brown in colour, relatively chunky and very obvious. This was a big misconception and I was very ignorant!

These hearing aids in the advertisement ranged in different sizes, styles, colours and shapes. So many differences; behind the ear, completely in the canal, analogue, digital, cochlear implants, bone anchored implants, middle ear implant devices and much more. I could feel myself getting excited as I began to read and digest the information of the advertisement.

After discussing it with Mum, I proceeded to book a consultation with the company, in the advertisement, to discuss the options of whether it would be advisable to purchase a hearing aid for Mum. In addition, the consultation would help us determine whether we could afford it, as the questions that Mum kept asking were all money related, "What is the best hearing aid for the money we have? Do cheap hearing aids exist? Are there any reduced cost hearing aids? Is there any assistance with hearing aids cost?"

During the meantime, whilst waiting for our scheduled appointment date - I intend to update myself on this area. Just in case of any questions I may want to ask!