Speaking with Kathy is a true pleasure. In her Voices of Audicus interview, this Bay Area medical social worker exudes heart and a deep appreciation for life in California and abroad. Although no one knows she’s wearing them, her hearing aids have allowed her to connect with coworkers and savor sounds she’d missed like birds singing.
Kathy is a medical social worker living in California who creates art in her free time
I work in a hospital, in a rehab center as a medical social worker. I work with brain injury, stroke and spinal cord injury patients.
I work in a hospital, in a rehab center as a medical social worker. I work with brain injury, stroke and spinal cord injury patients.
In my free time, I’m into jewelry making. I have used semi-precious stones to make necklaces. I’ve wrapped different stones and also use seed beads to do necklaces and I use a lot of crystals too. I do abstract painting, and furniture refurbishing.
I use this product for painting called Unicorn Spit gel stain that smells like jasmine, it’s really neat stuff.
I also like to paint furniture. I use this product for painting called Unicorn Spit gel stain that smells like jasmine, it’s really neat stuff. You just wet down the canvas with water drop this on then blow across the canvas and it gives all different types of shapes and it’s awesome to work with. It goes on fabric, furniture, glass, anything. It’s absolutely awesome stuff.
She fell in love with Ghana, and soon be moving to retire there
I love walking on the beach. I live in California down by the bay area but I will be relocating out of the country when I retire in September. I’m moving to Ghana West Africa, it’s a beautiful, peaceful country and is very safe. They have awesome beaches. I’ve been there 4 times in fact, I just came back last Friday and was there for almost 3 weeks. I hope to go down there and build a bed and breakfast.
My first trip to Ghana was pivotal. It opened my eyes and gave me a new perspective on the world. I think anyone that is struggling here in the states needs to go to a third world country because when they get back and look around them, they will be so thankful for what they have. It really gave me a whole different perspective on life, survival, love, and cooperation.
I think anyone that is struggling here in the states needs to go to a third world country because when they get back and look around them, they will be so thankful for what they have. It really gave me a whole different perspective on life, survival, love, and cooperation.
I felt so at home when I went to Ghana, that they almost had to push me in the car to come back to California. I didn’t want to leave.
Kathy finds peace at the ocean, and inspiration in her daughter
I have a family but they’re all grown and have children of their own. I like to spend time with family but do spend time for self-reflection by myself. Going to the beach and ocean centers me and makes me more grounded. That’s my peaceful place, so I go there a lot by myself. Sitting along the shore, I’ll have my eyes closed and just absorb everything.
My middle daughter inspires me so much.
My middle daughter inspires me so much, she’s gone through some rough times over the past few years. She just keeps putting one foot in front of the other and just makes her life better than she’s had it, so I must say she’s the one who inspires me the most.
Hearing aids allowed her to hear her coworkers and the birds sing again
2 years ago, I could tell that I was having some loss because I sit in conferences with the rest of the staff. There are some people who talk at a low volume and their volume to me was getting lower and lower. So I went to have my hearing test and it was so bad on that left side so the doctor did something that helped. About a year later, I started to get a squeal in my ear like cricket sound so I went back in for another hearing test and that's when they said I’d need hearing aids to help alleviate that. I did my research online and thought that Audicus was the best value and the best equipment as far as small, cuz I don't want it to be huge thing poking out of my head.
It has enhanced my life because I can hear what people are saying to me. It was amazing the first time I put them in. The birds singing outside my window were even clear.
It has enhanced my life because I can hear what people are saying to me. It was amazing the first time I put them in. The birds singing outside my window were even clear. The only thing I didn't like was hearing traffic again haha. It really was amazing to hear those soft-spoken people and it was clearer. It was pretty amazing. And, nobody even knows I wear them.
Voices of Audicus shares the empowering stories of our customers in their own words to create a more positive conversation around hearing loss. To hear more inspiring stories like Kathy's, subscribe to our newsletter below. Explore our blog to learn more about hearing loss and hearing health.
Photo by Kei Ann Oliva.
