Hearing aid advice

Yikes. A subject I know a lot about. My history...

40 years in trucking, a fairly noisy occupation.

Way back when, I thought I was losing my hearing on the left, from driving around with that window open.

I go see the ear doctor, who is a fresh-scrubbed graduate. She doesn't realize what a danger sign it is, to be losing hearing in just one ear. She says don't worry about it.

Fast forward many years, and I find out I have tumor (acoustic neuroma) growing on my left side. If not removed, it will cause MAJOR issues. I do the surgery, which lucky for me turns out OK for removing the tumor, but leaves me stone deaf on the left side. When I heal up, I go see about hearing aids as in I for sure need them - zero left hearing, and maybe 45% right hearing. I got a set of Phonaks, of which the left is simply a microphone which sends any signal from that side to the right. They are well worth the money, which was about $5K for the pair.

Having said all that, I have heard many times Costco had very good pricing and very good quality.

Best of luck to all the hard-of-hearing folks out there.