Sue Phillips started to lose her hearing at the age of 40, but between a busy family and work life, she hadn’t realized the severity of the loss.
Once she received her audiogram and advice to be fitted with a hearing aid she realized she needed a way to cope with hearing loss upon her diagnosis.
At the time when she started losing her hearing, she was a busy mom of five, with her youngest just twelve months old and the oldest a teenager. Her work was also equally demanding as a pediatric physiotherapist for the National Health Service (NHS).
“I had a basic hearing test at the GP and shortly afterward there was a visit to audiology then [the] ENT,” says Sue. “The consultant scribbled out a prescription for a hearing aid. I left the hospital that day feeling fairly dazed and upset. I have a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. My hearing has deteriorated over the years to a profound loss on the left side and severe on the right.”
Hearing loss can be a game-changer, causing many people to pull back or wind down a little as they adjusting to their new lifestyle and hearing technology. However, Sue coped with hearing loss in a different way, which was to take up a new activity.
Starting to run
“I have always been quite an active person and enjoy an outdoor lifestyle,” says Sue. “My life was busy and filled with lots of activities with the children (three boys and two girls). Weekends were spent at football training, standing on the sidelines supporting the boys’ teams, swimming lessons, family walks, cycle rides, and spectating at cross country running events in the winter or athletic meetings in the summer.”
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