"My only regret is not having done it sooner."

It’s something we hear so often at The Well Being BY CUBEX.

Patients arrive believing they are living reasonably well with their hearing loss. They've developed coping strategies that make it possible to function, both professionally and socially. They position themselves carefully in restaurants. Ask people to face them when speaking. Fill in the gaps. Laugh when everyone else laughs. And stoically work harder than those around them - simply to stay in the conversation.

Then, after receiving the right support, they tell us the same thing.

"I only wish I'd done it sooner."

Consultant surgeon Chris Chandler's story is a classic example of this. His experience will resonate with many people living with hearing loss, particularly those who have become so accustomed to bravely adapting that they no longer recognise how their hearing has altered the way they live.

For Chris, hearing was fundamental to his work. Chris is an internationally respected Adult and Paediatric Consultant Neurosurgeon who has spent a lifetime caring for patients with complex neurological conditions.⁠ Hearing well is vital, in his profession. As an NHS consultant surgeon, every day was spent in operating theatres where communication is continuous and precise. Multiple conversations happen simultaneously. Instructions are rapid. Instruments are requested in seconds. Entire teams depend on clear communication and complete trust.

Like so many people with hearing loss, Chris found ways to compensate. Before every operation he explained his hearing loss to the theatre staff and asked colleagues to make sure they had his attention before speaking. Those strategies reduced some of the challenges, but they also required constant concentration and effort.

Beyond work, hearing loss was quietly changing other aspects of life too.

Social gatherings became increasingly exhausting. Parties were no longer enjoyable because following conversation in busy environments had become so difficult. Even everyday interactions could lead to misunderstanding, with people sometimes assuming he was being dismissive or rude when, in reality, he simply hadn't heard them.

Like many of our patients, Chris had become exceptionally good at adapting. What he hadn't realised was how much energy those adaptations demanded of him, or how significantly they had reduced his quality of life.

Ironically, it was one of Chris's own patients who first introduced him to The Well Being BY CUBEX. Hearing another professional describe the impact that holistic hearing care had made on his own life prompted Chris to arrange an assessment.

That consultation proved to be a turning point.

Rather than simply measuring his hearing and recommending hearing aids, Adam Shulberg and the team explored how hearing loss was affecting all the various aspects of Chris's life. His profession and relationships. His confidence, social interactions and daily routines.

"You treated me as a whole person, not just somebody with deafness," he says.

It is a distinction that Chris believes made all the difference. Having since spoken to many other people with hearing loss, he has come to appreciate just how unusual this approach is. Too often, hearing care focuses solely on the audiogram and the hearing device, without fully understanding the person behind the hearing loss.

For Chris, the transformation extended far beyond hearing more clearly.

Communication in theatre became easier. The constant mental effort of trying to keep up diminished. Social situations became enjoyable again. Most importantly, he no longer felt that hearing loss was dictating the way he lived or worked.

"The Cubex audiology service has taken my most serious disability and given me considerably less disability."

It is an extraordinarily generous reflection, and one that means a great deal to all of us.

Chris also speaks with conviction about encouraging people to seek help sooner. As a doctor, he understands the wider consequences of untreated hearing loss, including social isolation and its association with cognitive decline. As a patient, he understands something equally important: embarrassment and pride often prevent people from asking for help until years after hearing loss has begun affecting their lives.

His advice is simple.

Don't wait.

"My only regret is not having done it sooner."

It is a sentence we hear often, and one that reminds us why personalised hearing care matters so much. The greatest change is rarely the hearing aid itself. It is the relief patients feel when they no longer have to work so hard simply to continue in everyday life.

We are deeply grateful to Chris for sharing his story so honestly and generously, and for the trust he has placed in Adam Shulberg and the team at The Well Being BY CUBEX.

His experience is a reminder that hearing care has never been simply about hearing better.

It is about understanding the whole person, restoring confidence, and helping people reconnect with the conversations, relationships and everyday interactions that make life rich.