Implant ‘a miracle’ for music lover
“My hearing loss was a gradual thing. Then two years ago, I lost it completely in my left ear.
“With about 70% hearing loss in my other ear, I really started to feel isolated. I wouldn’t admit it to myself at first, but I was avoiding certain people because their voice was too soft. I stopped going to meetings because I couldn’t hear. Especially when people were wearing masks, it was so difficult to pick up conversations.
“The hardest thing was with my grandkids, the little ones, not being able to understand half of what they were saying. I was missing out on so much.
“I read lips a little bit. And I’ve worn regular hearing aids. But they’re nothing compared to getting this implant. It’s made a huge difference. It provides like the vibrations. So I’m able to distinguish sounds and words and so on. My God, it’s a miracle to me.
“I’ve had it for about six months. Once I get this ear to about 80%, then we’ll go ahead and do the other one. I would recommend it to anybody.
“Throughout all this, the thing that has continued to bring me joy — besides my wife, Raquel — is music. Listening to my albums, picking up the beats, and following along to the words in the songs, has really helped. I’ll put on a favorite album and crank it up. It helps me to concentrate and start recognizing more of the sounds.
“When you listen to music, you really become part of it. To me, it’s the sound, the words, the instruments, the beats, all coming together.
“I’ve loved music since I was a young kid growing up in San Antonio. It will continue to be a big part of my life, until the day I die.”
— Fred Aguilar
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