Can You Hear Me Now? CF & Hearing Loss

This month, we discuss something often overlooked in cystic fibrosis (CF) care: hearing loss.

If you catch a faint, high-pitched beeping during the episode, don’t adjust your headphones—it’s Andrea’s diabetes pump. Ironically, she couldn’t hear it, because of her high-frequency hearing loss. Consider it a real-world remix of chronic illness, notification fatigue, and assistive tech that sometimes...isn’t.

Andrea, Ahmet, and Lauren are joined by Dr. Angie Garinis: an audiologist, researcher, and expert in hearing and balance disorders—especially when caused by medications like aminoglycoside antibiotics (specifically tobramycin) commonly used to treat lung infections in CF. She breaks down the science of ototoxicity and shares what people with CF need to know about protecting their hearing and vestibular health. Annual hearing checks, she argues, should be as routine as eye exams—and yes, there are apps for that.

We talk tech advances like over-the-counter hearing aids, app-based screenings, and why not all devices are created equal. Andrea also shares her post-transplant experience with sound sensitivity, balance challenges, and advocating to avoid receiving aminoglycoside antibiotics.

From partner dynamics to portable audiograms, this episode blends humor, insight, and lived experience. Ghost stories, snack confessions, and singing audiologists are, of course, included. It’s the episode you didn’t know you needed to hear.