what?

This year, I made the decision to visit the ENT dr because of my frequent sinus infections. I was thinking that my ear ringing and fullness in my ears had to do with my sinuses. So, after my surgery, I waited for my ears to stop ringing and the fullness to go away. It didn't. At my last ENT appt with my dr, whom I love, he asked if I would be okay with having my hearing tested and I didn't object. The audiologist had already left for the day, so I was rescheduled to go back on Friday, Sept. 24th. I went in for the hearing test and the audiologist, Wendy, took me to a booth and put headphones on my head and then handed me a buzzer. She told me she was going to play a series of beeps and I was to push the buzzer when I heard a beep. I pushed the buzzer when I heard the beeps and started to panic when I couldn't tell if I was actually hearing beeps or if they were echoing in my head. I wasn't sure if I should push the buzzer or not. I was starting to get a little worried at that point. Once that was done, I remained in the booth and Wendy was giving me random words to repeat back to her. These were words like airplane, umbrella, etc.. I worried again when I couldn't tell what she was saying and all I could do was shrug and say "I don't know". I just thought back to the times when I would be in a conversation and I couldn't understand what people were saying. I felt stupid and embarassed. Wendy came back to the booth and put another headphone on me that went behind my ear and up near my forehead. I was to push the buzzer again when I heard the beeps. They were a little easier to hear this time, but I was still somewhat unsure. Once that was done, we went to discuss my results. She asked if I had any family history of hearing loss. But there is none that I'm aware of. She showed me the chart of my hearing test and filled in the top half with the pink highlighter. That was the area that I was 'supposed' to be in. My x's were below the pink area and this was not normal for a 30 year old. I fall into the mild-moderate hearing loss range. She said that it won't get better and will probably continue to worsen. The good thing about my hearing loss is that my brain is making up for sounds that I am not hearing and allows me to understand what people are saying due to the words that I already know. When I was repeating words back to Wendy, she said I was leaving off consonants of words that I had been saying since I have been able to talk. Since my brain is hearing parts of words, it is compensating for sounds I am not hearing. Good thing! Both of my ears are the same and Wendy recommended hearing aids. She showed me one that I should get if I decided to go that route. The one she thinks would be better for me is the behind the ear aid that will be hidden by my ear and a little tube would amplify the sounds I'm not hearing. This hearing aid allows me to hear my natural hearing, but will get the help that I need to fully hear using the aid. Right now I am waiting to hear what insurance will cover, if any, and then we will move forward with the hearing aids.... So, that's my deal right now.. Scary and new - but I will get through it. I have the loving support of family and friends that will help me through it.. Thanks to all for giving me love and support! ((HUGS))