Many thanks for the kind words, Kevin.

You're right, it has unfortunately become more common, and I wanted to submit an encouraging story about it because when I was researching it at that time it was all doom & gloom material online.

My earplugs were ordered by my ENT. The brand name on the case is Westone. I still use them to this day and they work great. They don't entirely cut out the high end like regular foam ones do. It's a balanced sound, just with less of an impact; almost like listening to a live band from the engineer's room.