I went from being told that
my hearing was cosmetic
and I would have
to pay over $7,000
to have a chance to
hear like anyone else,
to paying barely
anything to have
a hearing like everyone else.
It went from my hearing
to Nuheara and then
to Nuheara Boost like this,
especially if you have hearing.
Hearing isn't cosmetic.
Hearing is a need.
Meniere's Disease is sort
of like a really severe form
of tinnitus.
If you're ever
going to an airplane
and you have your ear pop,
it's sort of like having that
but you can't unpop your ear.
Suddenly all your friends
are talking like that.
So you have this ringing,
your ear feels full,
and your friends are all
talking behind their hands
at the same time,
it's really isolating
because you can't really
communicate with anyone
or watch TV or do anything,
and you're just haunted
by this ringing the whole time.
It can be everywhere,
especially if there's
a lot of background
noise like restaurants.
I can never go on
a date because--
if there's background
noise, that sort of
triggers the ringing louder.
You will try to hear
and listen to the person
but your brain becomes really
overwhelmed by all the ringing
and the fullness in your ear.
And it's almost like your
brain crashes like a computer,
and it just turns off, and
you just sort of zone out
because it's too much.
If there's too much
background noise,
nothing's going to happen.
I can't talk.
I can't communicate.
It's overwhelming.
It's stressful.
It gives me migraines.
I can't enjoy life.
Here, I found Indiegogo stages.
I was kind of skeptical at
first, don't get me wrong.
All these products
come out and say, oh,
we're going to solve this,
we're going to do this,
we're going to do that.
And at this time,
I'd just been told
that there was a
hearing aid for me
but it was well my price range.
Insurance said it's cosmetic.
My hearing is cosmetic.
So I tried the original
Nuheara, and it was wow.
Like all the background
noise, like the wind,
people just muttering in
the background, the car,
suddenly it was just gone.
And people's voices, I could
hear them much more clearly.
And I used those.
I used them so much.
When I upgraded to boost,
the ear ID process,
it really personalized it.
Because for me, it's the lower
tones I struggle to hear.
I hear higher tones much
easier than I do lower tones.
It went from my hearing,
to Nuheara, and then
to Nuheara Boost like this.
Suddenly, I feel like
I'm a normal person
like I can hear, like I would go
to restaurants with my friends
or to the mall and
they had normal hearing
and I was the one
hearing everything.
And they they're the ones
going, what, I can't hear you.
It's too loud in here.
And I'm the one who's deaf
and I'm the one going,
I can hear all of you.
What are you--
what's the problem?
And they're suddenly
wanting to have them
and they're perfectly hearing.
And I'm the one who's
got the hearing issues
and they're like,
what, how can you hear?
It's so loud in here.
And I'll be in the car
and the car will be loud,
and I'm the one who
can hear everything.
When I game, I usually do
recording as well streaming,
like on Twitch, YouTube,
stuff like that.
I have to be able to
hear the audio clearly
because I have to
sort of narrate
an app live what's going on in
the game in a humorous comedy
sense.
Being able to hear myself
and what's going on,
and then you hear-- it allows
me to hear what's going on
in the room, hear what's
going on in the game,
and make sure I'm
pronouncing things right
because with the
hearing impairment
I do sometimes
have slight lifts.
I sometimes pronounce
things incorrectly.
And it helped improve
that tremendously.
And it's also got
a great built-in
a microphone which really
helps because all the voice--
the games where I play
our voice recognition.
So if I'm like equipping
my bow and I say that,
it's actually
equipping my bow now.
At first I was, again, skeptical
because you always hear product
saying we're going to cure this,
we're going to solved this,
we're going to do
this, and you're always
skeptical that they're
fake or they're acted.
So I was really cautious.
So I had my heart broken once,
fool me once, fool me twice.
So I was really nervous
when I first tried them.
And I remember putting
them in and I said,
I want to go in
the car and I want
to have a conversation
in the car
because the driver was
always on my deaf side
so I could never
hear the driver.
And I remember going
in that car and having
a conversation with the driver.
Not going, what would you say?
I can't hear you.
Or just sitting
there in silence.
I had a conversation
with the driver.
Their voice was clear.
And I was able to have a
conversation with someone.
I remember going to a
restaurant for a wedding.
Being able to talk to people
at the wedding and not just
sit there in silence
because I couldn't hear
anyone because of the music.
I kind of remember being happy
and angry at the same time.
So angry that I wasn't allowed
to have this, but happy
at the same time that
someone's finally
said, no, you are
allowed to have this.
I am allowed to hear.
You don't understand how much
your brain has to work extra
hard because it's one ear taking
in this side of the sound,
that side of that sound.
It's not two ears
doing all the work.
It's one ear doing all the
work, and this ear already
has problems.
It has ringing.
And it's doing so
much work to the point
where social engagements
were exhausting.
Like after social engagement,
I would be out for the next day
because of how mentally
exhausting it was.
And now I can just go out
like any other person.
A happy as in, and
it's like it's nothing.
That people get so mad
at me the grocery store,
the supermarket, because
they'll be like, excuse me,
and I wouldn't hear them.
They'd be on my desk stand,
I would not hear them,
and they'll get so angry at me.
And now, I hear them.
I am like, oh I'm
sorry, and I can move.
It's all these little things
that you don't think matter.
But when you don't
have them, when
you don't have those
things, they mean so much.
