As I wrote earlier, I am in the process of replacing some of the older parts used for eating, hearing, and vision.
First, some taking out and a lot of pain The extraction of three molars was not easy—it took three hours. I’ve been in pain for about ten days, but it’s getting better. I won’t be able to have the implants placed for six months, and then it will take another three months for the crowns. However, my voice will become extremely loud after that. Hearing as though a baby The experience with the hearing aids has been very interesting and beneficial. I definitely understand Italian much better and can hear well in noisy environments, which I’m studying. My inability to hear consonants clearly had been making it very difficult to learn Italian and was probably also a handicap in learning Hebrew.
I can actually wear both my hearing aids and my AirPods Pro at the same time, which is crazy as it sounds. My AirPods Pro stream much better than my hearing aids. This is important because soon Apple will provide translation capabilities using AirPods.
What’s strange is that when I’m streaming a podcast, no one knows. The AirPods Pro have a feature called Conversation Awareness: if someone starts speaking to me (or if I start speaking), the sound of the stream lowers automatically, letting me hear the environment. Similar services are not provided by hearing aids. My wife would typically be aware that I was listening to something if I wore my AirPods. I’m thinking of creating an accessory like a little “recording light.”
I can adjust the mix between outside sound and streaming. This works well inside the house, though less so in noisy environments. My Phonak hearing aids have an app that lets me set up different configurations and switch between them easily—I’ve been experimenting with this.
I’m happy to say my hearing aids are practically invisible, which for a vain person like me is important.
Advances are coming, driven by AI. Soon, hearing aids will not only separate voices from background noise but will also target the voices you want to hear while reducing those you don’t.
A new feature called Auracast is being rolled out. It’s essentially a Bluetooth LE Audio stream you can tune into, much like selecting a radio station. You can mix it with the ambient sound around you. It is a one-to-many skill: in a theater, you could listen to the actors talk, sing, or even hear a live translation. In an airport, you could hear announcements clearly, and on an airplane, instead of asking what the pilot said, others may be asking you.
The feature with which I am most excited is simultaneous translation. Apple will soon bring this out for the AirPods Pro. While this won’t work the same way with hearing aids, the good news is that you can use AirPods Pro at the same time as your hearing aids. I’ve already tested this.
After shaving in the morning, I put on my hearing aids and take them off just before going to bed. They charge during the night, giving me about 18 hours of use per day.
New Eyes
After much consideration, I decided to get cataract surgery. I had my first eye done three days ago. The process was amazing. Many eye surgeons use the same operating facility—mine was in Beverly Hills, close to where I’m staying. It’s like a factory with seven operating rooms. Each day, they perform about 60 operations. From check-in to check-out, the entire process takes about two hours. The first hour is paperwork and preparation. Then comes the operation, done in two parts. First, a laser performs the incision and separates your lens. Then the laser breaks up the cataract. (This can also be done by hand, but the laser is more precise and results in fewer complications.) You’re fully awake during this part. Your eye is dilated and numbed—you feel nothing. A device holds your eyelid open. You communicate with the surgeon while watching a big “light show.” It isn’t unpleasant.
Next comes the implant of the new lens. You’re given a very light sedative (I just felt relaxed). Once my natural lens was removed but before the new one was placed, I could see—though not focused. As soon as the new lens was in, I started to see again, though very blurry at first. Because of dilation, the light was intense, so I was given dark glasses.
Recovery took about 30 minutes, and then I was free to go. By the end of the day, I was already seeing better with that eye than I ever remember. Colors and contrast were amazing—everything vivid. However, I could only see well at a distance. Intermediate and near vision were poor. The kind of lens I received, an Extended Depth of Focus (EDOF) intraocular lens, is designed for distance and intermediate vision. But it can take weeks for the brain to adapt, so for now I’m using drugstore reading glasses.
The hardest part so far is having one corrected eye and one bad eye. I tried wearing glasses for the corrected eye with a clear lens and my old prescription for the uncorrected eye, but it made me feel dizzy. So for now I’m using no glasses at all. I can see and get around, but my depth perception is a bit off. I will have the second eye done in five days. I can’t tell you how happy I am with my new vision.
But old habits remain: I keep reaching for my glasses when I wake up—only to realize I hadn’t worn them to bed, so they aren’t on the nightstand.