What It's Really Like

Anybody know anybody in Savannah or Hilton Head with a cochlear implant????

As I got out of the car at the Hartford Airport, my implant, which is magnetized to keep it on my head, caught on the car door -- the magnet on the door was stronger than the magnet in my head and the whole gizmo flew off, crashed to the cement pavement and scattered. Yes, this is a true story.

I retrieved most but not all the pieces -- literally crawling under the car in the nice skirt I'd worn for a talk and signing earlier in the day in some suburb of Worcester Mass, where I sold all of two books. (Nice audience though) Luckily the parts I retrieved included the $9,000 processor. But not the part that holds it (always tentatively) on my head.

I need to be able to hear for an important meeting with Mom's caregivers. It's Saturday. Advanced Bionics is closed till Monday. Can anybody connect me to someone in Savannah/Hilton Head who might lend me an earpiece?

Just in case you have been wondering what it's like to deal with hearing loss -- this is it! $9000 processors that would rather attach to a car door than my head.

UPDATE: I went to Belks, bought a $25 scarf and now have processor and battery tied to my head. It works! I could also have swathed my head in bandages -- a more dramatic look perhaps.