A common question I get about playing sports with hearing aids is “what happens when the ball hits you in the ears?” Well, it obviously hurts! Thankfully I can only recall a few times in my 30+ years that I either got l hit in the ear, or I got hit hard enough to affect my hearing aids directly. . . One such time was in 2013, when we were playing against France. I went up for a block and took the ball directly off my forehead. Normally when this happens, the ball ricochets out of play, I adjust my hearing aids, and then move on to the next play. This time, however, my hearing aid somehow got disconnected from my earmold and went flying onto the court. I quickly ran over to grab it before anyone had a chance to step on it. Only then did I realize the ball was still in play! With the hearing aid still in my fist, I got back to the net to get ready to block again. The setter set the ball back to the opposite and I went up to block with one hand open and the other in a tight fist, not nece...