In his mid-50s now, Mike McCranie claims the only thing that would make life a perfect 10 would be to have natural hearing again. But his quality of life rating of 9.5 with his new Phonak Cros II with Venture hearing instruments is pretty awesome. He’s worn hearing aids for over 20 years and says if hearing aid quality gets better than this, he won’t believe it.
When he was in his early 30s, Mike was struck with a sudden onset of single-sided deafness, resulting from a separate medical condition. Doctors told him he’d likely lose hearing in both ears; luckily, only one was affected. At the time, he was a career chef in a busy restaurant. And if you’ve ever been to the backend of a busy restaurant on a Saturday night in Las Vegas, you know how tense and loud restaurant kitchens can get. Making the transition to deafness in one ear was really hard for Mike.
Mike says that when he first started wearing hearing aids, there was sort of a tinny sound. Although he admits he could hear somewhat better, the sounds “weren’t even close to natural.” He would still frequently need to turn his head to his better hear or watch people’s mouths to truly discern what was being said. Mike recalls, “That got especially dangerous and frightening for passengers in my car when I would have to turn my head to them for extended periods while driving.” As time passed and technology created better quality hearing instruments, life improved for Mike, and talking to passengers while driving got safer too.
Mike felt he was ready for a hearing aid upgrade. When he came into my office he wanted to see if there was anything that we could do to help him hear better, frustrated with how his current hearing aids were not cutting it anymore. I knew of a new product that was coming out in a few weeks that would be perfect for him and his listening lifestyle. I recommended that if he could just hang on for a couple of weeks, the new Phonak Cros II would be the perfect device for his single-sided hearing loss and high energy job. Being a patient of mine for many years he trusted me that I always have his best interest in mind.
At first, Mike was concerned about the price and investing in another set of hearing instruments. Today, he thinks he got a bargain for the Phonak Cros II for Single-Sided Deafness devices. With his quality of life coming in just shy of a perfect 10, he is thrilled with how easy hearing is today.
First-timers don’t even notice the teeny devices until he tells them he’s wearing them. The fitting process was simple and easy, and he got to choose from a variety of colors. The time with me is never rushed and always thorough says Mike. I took the time to adjust the instruments to sound just right for his frantic kitchen work (and conversations with passengers in his car). When he’s in noisy environments like the kitchen, the StereoZoom feature automatically zooms in on the speaker and amplifies their voice. Still working today as a professional Chef, Mike is delighted that he can now hear workers from all 4 corners of the kitchen.
“It is absolutely amazing! says Mike.” The hearing instrument pairs seamlessly with other Bluetooth devices, providing top stereo streaming sound quality. These hearing instruments do so much more than any hearing aid he has tried in the past. Mike McCranie is happier than ever, even his batteries are lasting longer than before.
He loves the hearing instruments so much that he says he is “constantly recommending them to people.” He’s not shy to tell people who he believes are hard of hearing to go see me and get treatment sooner than later. He knows the value of good hearing and wants others to hear as well as they can, even if that means getting hearing instruments.
Of Hearing Associates of Las Vegas, Mike says he will be a lifelong patient. What does Mike have to say about me? “Robyn has great passion for what she’s doing and has a heart of gold. The way she treats patients is out of this world.” Thank you Mike, your words are precious and I’m excited we got you to a 9.5!
Leave a Reply