Helen Ware, who is hearing-impaired, and her faithful service dog Meg. Photo / Supplied
Katikati's Helen Ware signs her emails off as "Helen and Meg".
Meg is her hearing dog — and she cannot do without her.
A Katikati resident of more than five years, in October last year she went from hearing-impaired to deaf.
After cochlear implant surgery in August, she's learning how to hear again.
"I am exceptionally lucky to have the companionship of my hearing dog — a qualified service dog — Meg," she says.
A hearing dog's job is to alert their recipient to the sounds in the home they do not hear.
After a lifetime of stoically dealing with hearing impairment, she did not believe she was "deaf enough" to qualify for a hearing dog, but received her first in 2013.
"I had no idea of the joy and enrichment she would bring into my life."
Helen is sharing her story hoping others who are deaf or hearing-impaired might join a monthly coffee morning in Katikati if they need support.
She has spoken at many events to all kinds of businesses and community groups to advocate for the work of hearing dogs and raise awareness of realities for deaf people.
Linda Giltrap, of Hearing Support Tauranga, said the new Katikati meetings, established with the support of Hearing Support BOP/ Hearing NZ, would feature occasional guest speakers.
Helen says as a hearing-impaired single mother she never slept through the night, and relied on the kids telling her if someone was at the door or the telephone was ringing.
"When my kids were small I could not hear the baby monitor if I was sleeping. We got one that had a light display that I could see if they made a noise during the day.
"If they were unwell or sick, I used to sleep on the floor beside their cot as I would not have heard them during the night."
With a cochlear implant, severe headaches and migraines can happen if she overdoes things, and concentration fatigue often becomes physical fatigue.
She still doesn't know how much hearing she'll gain once the implant is settled, but she's positive about the benefits.
"And Meg is always by my side."
Helen is relearning words and sounds, hoping that in two years she should be able to hold a conversation without relying on lip reading.
"I cannot distinguish words — they are buzzing sounds and can at best be broken up to one buzz equals a single syllable word, while two buzzes very close together equals a two syllable word — but I have absolutely no clue what word you just said.
"Now put those buzzes into a sentence and then a conversation.
"The upshot is I have absolutely no clue what you just said or even what language you said it in."
However, over time, the buzz sounds will hopefully start sounding like words that Helen can identify.
"There'll always be the limit that I am only hearing in one ear — so at my absolute best I will have less than 50 per cent of 'normal' hearing.
"This doesn't bother me as any hearing is better than none."
Helen lives a full life, sewing, knitting, scrapbooking, gardening and walking Meg, and she's involved with the Lions club locally.
The Details
What: Hearing Support Group.
When: Tuesday, October 11, 10.30am-12.30pm.
Where: The Centre — Patuki Manawa, 21 Main Rd, Katikati — The Boyd Room.
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