No, it’s not a 90s-era MP3 player.

For those of you who never saw it, this is the Xomed Audiant, the hearing aid that I have had since 1987, when it was a prototype of an experimental device. It worked pretty well, but as you can see from the photos, it was huge, and I had a wire trailing out of my hair, which always resulted in questions and more questions and generally drawing attention to myself.

The magnet on the end of the wire attached to a screw in the skull by means of a magnet. The screw for the BAHA (which I will get today) actually sticks through the skin. The screw for the Xomed was below the skin, so the magnet had to be strong enough to hold through the skin.

Anyways, today I get my BAHA implant (just the screw part). It will be another 3 months before I have the hearing aid itself, as the surgery site needs to heal first. We’re leaving for the hospital in just a few minutes. Updates later today, I imagine. we just wanted to get some before and after photos. So here’s the before. See you later today.