00:00It was, going back about 20 years ago, I found out that I had a hearing problem because I
00:14used to work at the local school and it was getting a bit awkward hearing the children,
00:21adults, so I had hearing aids fitted and that was fine.
00:29Then it did start deteriorating over time.
00:35I used to go and have a syringing at my local GP.
00:39It was a great help to have that syringing because when you are wearing hearing aids,
00:47the wax builds up more in your ear.
00:51They stopped doing that at the GP surgery.
00:56I had to go elsewhere but I had a bad experience with that and it really put me off doing any
01:04more about it.
01:06It sort of knocked me a bit and I didn't want to go anywhere.
01:10I used to help at the need project at the food bank.
01:14I had to give that up because of my hearing.
01:18I gave up my QFIT class.
01:21I gave up going out socialising.
01:26I didn't even want to go to church, which I always looked forward to.
01:31I did try all the self-management over-the-counter drops.
01:38Some seemed better than others but really nothing seemed to work.
01:43I still kept getting the infections all the time and it was so frustrating.
01:49The people around me were noticing a change and they did say to me, you have to get something done.
01:59My daughter encouraged me a lot to get something done about it.
02:04This was after three years of suffering in silence actually.
02:12Well, literally suffering in silence.
02:16So I was glad that I had my daughter to encourage me to go and sort it out, which I did at my
02:27local hospital in Bedford.
02:31The consultant there, he understood and he helped me a lot.
02:37He cleared the wax from my ears and now I'm getting back into normal life, enjoying life again.
02:48I don't have to give up.
02:52You don't have to live with it, just get the help.
02:56Get the help that you can.
02:58We all need that help and support.
03:01I encourage people to write to their local MP.
03:05You can download a template from the RNID website.
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