Student finds way to adapt after coronavirus side effect

A GCU student has been delving into her creative side to help bring some glitz and glamour to a specific part of her every day life.

Tanya Robertson, who’s studying BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy, caught coronavirus last year and subsequently needed two hearing aids as a result.

Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Tanya leaned on previous experience and decided to make the most of the situation. This is her story:

Background

It all started with my son. He’s been hard of hearing in one ear since birth. He got a hearing aid at the age of four and I just wanted to make them look more fun and personalised - when you get them, they tend to be beige and look awful!

It was just a way of encouraging him to wear it and it definitely helped him feel like it was his because we could decorate it with things he liked; we had his favourite colours and different characters from cartoons. He was always really proud to show it off.

In hindsight, it actually links to occupational therapy because you are encouraging someone to be proud and accept the change.

Journey to occupational therapy

I studied adult nursing for a couple of years but then had to leave it when I became a mum - my son is on the autism spectrum. As he got older, I got back into work at a call centre. The world then went into lockdown and I had this realisation that this job definitely wasn’t for me. Everything was going crazy and I was stuck in the house arguing with people about the price of a phone. I just thought, ‘no, I need to help people’, and I ended up being accepted onto occupational therapy through Clearing.

Coronavrius

When covid started, I was definitely exposed to it in the call centre. I wasn’t symptomatic and testing wasn’t a big thing, but there was a point where I had severe vertigo episodes and as it eased, I developed tinnitus in my left ear. It was basically a constant high pitch noise as a result of a high frequency loss.

Hearing aid

I was given medication by the doctor which helped the vertigo but I kept going back with the noise. I was aware of different devices that could be used and I’d asked if I could have a masking device for my ear, which is what I’ve ended up with. It’s basically a hearing aid with different programmes on it: it’s got normal amplification but if the tinnitus is flaring up then I can put on white noise sounds which helps calm it down.

Audiology basically agreed with me that I’d had covid at some point and it just so happened that it went for my ears. I then tested positive for covid at the start of the year and then got tinnitus in my right ear – and that’s how I’ve ended up with a hearing aid on both sides.

Having the hearing aids hasn’t really been a big thing for me because they were already a big part of my life with my son using them. The hardest part for me is that I’ve always been a fan of silence - especially as a parent when your children go to bed! I like silence for getting to sleep and that’s something I no longer experience. I have to put on white noise sounds at night, which took a bit of getting used to.

Adaptability

The choice of hearing aid was beige or beige, and I don’t do beige! I have my artistic moments and this was an opportunity to get decorating, just like I did with my son.

When I got home with my new hearing aid, I immediately raided the cupboard to get some of the stickers that we used to use; luckily I still had them! That then triggered me to search on Ebay and Amazon for some designs that I wanted – there are a lot of different charm makers out there.

I ordered a basic jewelry makers set, which had things like split rings in it. I then got little glass seed beads which allowed me to put different colours on. I also popped on some Tibetan charms to the end of the hearing aids – it was as simple as that.

Since then, I’ve basically been doing different variations on it. I’ve currently got pumpkins; I might be getting a bit ahead of myself but I don’t care.

I’m no longer designing my son’s hearing aids because he’s too cool for that, however he’ll be jealous at Christmas when I’ve got my candy canes in!

By Ross Clark 
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter