I have now been wearing my hearing aid along with my CI and have been surprised to find that I like it!  I was worried that it would feel like a step backwards and be distorted, but that was not the case.  I didn’t really notice much (if any) distortion when I added it.  What I did notice was that for the first time in several years, I was hearing in stereo!  Even before the worst of my hearing loss, I was only using one ear (the other was considered unaidable) and so I didn’t even notice that aspect of it when I began with my CI and again was only using one ear.  It was obvious immediately that I had input from both sides.   Things sounded a little bit echoey and slightly deeper than the CI alone.  If you remember, one of the things I noted early on with the CI was that things were higher pitched (in higher tones?  I’m not sure which applies here).  The hearing aid is giving me a little bit of input at a more normal pitch or tone.  I also noticed that things sounded much louder!  It really didn’t take much adjusting at all.  After a day or two, the volume seemed fine, I was no longer conscious of the “stereo” input and no longer noticed any echoing.  I knew it was going well when I left my hearing aid off for a while (to allow my ear canal to dry out thoroughly after swimming) and it was noticeable to me that I was only hearing on one side.  I didn’t like it and when my husband started talking to me, I had him wait until I got the hearing aid back on again!  I can hardly believe that I felt like that after only 4 days.  I can tell that wearing both is helping me hear more of the songs we sing in church.  It sounds close enough to normal for me that I nearly cried the first time.  I know it is still distorted because I am unable to figure out or follow a tune when the song is one I don’t know, but if it is one I am familiar with, it sounds pretty good!  I am so thankful for this, and I can sing, too!  I honestly didn’t know if I would ever be able to sing along again.  It is so wonderful!  I am still hopeful that I will qualify for the second implant when they test me in June.  I can only imagine how great it would be to have as much input in the left ear as I do in the right with the CI.  I imagine it would be pretty close to having my hearing back.  Compared to where I was, I already feel like I am almost there.  Not quite, but almost.  

I attended a meeting today with the Cochlear Implant Social Group.  The aural therapist I saw recommended that I give it a try, and I am glad I did.  There was a 2 hour meeting today and I went alone.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but there were about 15-20 people there (a guess) and we sat in a circle.  We went around the circle and had each person give their name and briefly tell their story about their hearing loss and implant.  Then we were supposed to tell what our “Aha” moment was when we were certain we wanted to have the CI surgery.  I really didn’t have an “Aha” moment, but it was really interesting to me to hear everyone’s story.  There were some who had been deaf since birth or a young age, and some who had sudden hearing loss similar to mine.  It was interesting to hear about specific experiences with using CIs and many people had tips about various aspects of them.  I was surprised to find that I recognized 4 or 5 faces there.  I had seen them or met them before at the HLAA meetings I attended in the past.  One of the women there had been a speaker at an HLAA meeting I went to and I had emailed her and she responded last year!  I enjoyed the time quite a bit and will try to attend again.  It was fun and interesting.  It was a group of people who really “get it.”  They’ve been down the road of losing or not having your hearing and all of the challenges you face and the obstacles to be overcome.  They’ve been through wearing hearing aids and the things that go along with that and they’ve been through the emotions and research that go into making the decision to have a cochlear implant, and then what it is actually like to adjust to it.  I found it interesting to hear about their experiences and people were also interested in hearing about mine.  It was a very friendly group and even though I went alone, I was comfortable with everyone fairly quickly.  One woman there had a story similar to mine with her hearing loss and was in the process of deciding whether to have the surgery.  I think she had pretty much made up her mind to do it already but I think hearing multiple people say that it was one of the best things they had ever done or that they wish they had done it earlier gave her a little more peace of mind about her decision.  The truth is that when you reach the level of hearing loss required to qualify for CIs you don’t have all that much (if anything) to lose.  

It was a good day and I am once again happy and thankful for the progress I am making with the new changes this week.  I also am happy to report that I am once again able to teach a Sunday morning Bible class!  That has really been a joy as well!

  Today I had an appointment at the audiology clinic.  We did my 3 month testing to see how much my ability to hear and understand has improved since surgery.  I am happy to report that I did very well on all of it!  The first test was one where I indicated when I heard beeps and static noises.  I scored in the “normal” range of hearing on that test.  My audiologist said the goal is to try to get CI users in the “mild hearing loss” range or better.  I did better!  Next test was a word test.  I repeated a list of words that were read to me on a recording.  Prior to surgery, I scored an 8% on that test.  Today, I scored 76%.  That is way above average for CI users (I believe she said on this test average is 50%).  She was very happy with that result.  The last test we did was a sentence test.  When you have more context, it is easier to “fill in the gaps” and figure out what is being said.  Again, this test is one where I am to repeat sentences that have been read to me on a recording.  Before surgery, my score on this test was 9% with the same ear.  Today it was 98%!!!  Wow!!!!  So exciting!  Pre-surgery, when I was tested with both ears together with hearing aids (the best possible situation for my hearing/understanding at that point) I scored a 32% on the sentence test.  Talk about a dramatic improvement!!!!  I am so thankful and happy with the results!  This surgery has made such a huge difference in my daily life!  

I spoke with the audiologist about how I almost forget that I have hearing problems sometimes, but I still do have difficulties in some specific situations.  She told me that is quite normal.  Even though I am doing extremely well and way above average in my progress, I still am a person who is hard of hearing and I will likely always have difficulty hearing and understanding in certain situations.  It is sooooooo much better than it was, though.  

I knew that today would be the day that she told me I needed to start wearing my hearing aid on the other side again and that is what she said.  I dread it, even though it isn’t really that big of a deal.  It just feels like a step backwards because it will require some adjusting again – if you recall, the time I tried to use it a few weeks ago the sound was very distorted.  I trust my audiologist, however, and I know that she is the one with the expertise. She assured me that most people find that after an initial time of adjustment, the hearing aid adds to a CI user’s ability to hear rather than taking away from it.  She told me that it is important for me to wear it now along with the CI as much as possible (I am allowed to “ease” into wearing it full-time, bu the goal is to wear it full-time).  My next appointment is in June, and at that time we will be doing testing on both ears with and without the hearing aid on the left and it is important that I wear it now to give the most accurate results possible.  Seeing how I do with it will give us more information to make the decision about whether to have the second implant surgery this summer or not.  Right now, I can’t imagine a scenario where I would choose not to have it if I still qualify, but I guess it is possible.  I am doing so well with input only in one ear right now, that I think it will surprise me how much having any use of my other ear will add to my perceptions of sound and ability to function as close to normally as possible.  

In the end, if I never have any more improvement from where I am right now, I am incredibly thankful for God’s guidance and His hand in my success.  My prayer now is that He will guide me again as I consider the second procedure.  I believe that if I still qualify in June, then that will be a “yes” and if I don’t, it will be a “no.”  The testing will make it obvious what the best course of action will be.  

Thanks for checking in on me and taking an interest in my progress!  I am still encouraged every time I think about all of the prayers and support you all have given me!  

I can hardly believe it has been a month since I have posted!  I expected things to be so much different than how they turned out.  My CI journey has been much different than the typical CI recipient and for that I give God the credit!  There is nothing that I did that made things go so well – how quickly my brain adjusted was completely out of my control.  It had to be a God thing! I have been trying to do my part, too.   I have been wearing my CI every day as I was told to do, and have been doing the homework – these things help, but ultimately I have not needed nearly as much practice and therapy as would be expected.  I am so grateful!  

I sometimes find that there isn’t much for me to say in this blog.  I am functioning very well and life seems to be moving along in a more “normal” way for me.  It feels like most of the “news” is pretty mundane at this point.  That is a good thing, but not all that interesting to read about, I would imagine.  It has made me think about the fact that it seems like we are more focused on the things that really matter when we are dealing with a trial in our lives.  It is so easy to be “busy” and going about our daily “normal” lives and not really thinking about those deeper more important things at all.  I guess that is why it is so important to spend some time in God’s word and meditating on it every day.  It helps strengthen us for when those trials do come our way and helps us have the right perspective then, but it also helps us focus daily on what really matters and helps us renew our efforts every day to try to serve others and bring glory to the Father by how we live our lives.  I am truly thankful for my hearing loss journey.  I have learned so very much and have had my eyes opened to things that I never was aware of before.  I feel very grateful and really excited that God has given me the ability to hearing once again.  I know that He didn’t have to do that, and I would have been fine if that had happened, but it thrills me that God did this special thing for me.  It is a gift, and a blessing that I don’t take forgranted.  

I had my second therapy session today and did quite well.  We worked with conversations with the radio on for background noise and no lip-reading and I understood most of it.  I had to have a couple of things repeated but that was about it.  I have been using the regular telephone for the last couple of weeks (that was my homework assignment last session) and it is going great.  I have had several conversations ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours and could understand about 95%-98% of all of it!  This is a huge deal for me!  There were a few calls that I had more difficulty with – I really don’t know why.  I am wondering if the connection may not have been as good, or maybe the other person was using a cell phone , maybe it was the person’s tone…I don’t know.  I am happy with the progress though!  I need to test out my cell phone next.  That is a little more tricky for me, only because we don’t have good cell reception in our home and I am usually busy when I am out and about.  I use wifi calling at home for most texting but even with that the calls on the cell are still a little sketchy. Right now our internet is down, so that doesn’t even matter.  I have been able to Skype my daughter at school, so that has been wonderful!

I feel like right now I am at a point where I am doing well enough that it is easy for people to forget that I do still have hearing problems.  I find that when I am focused on the speaker, I understand almost everything said.  I think I still have to concentrate more than I realize, because I am not able to multi-task the way someone with normal hearing can.  An example would be a typical Sunday morning bible class.  If I am up front and paying attention, I am hearing well enough to follow everything.  If the teacher prays, I can close my eyes and still understand everything (unless it is someone who is particularly quiet or mumbles!).  If I decide to get some chapstick or something out of my purse, I can usually still follow while I do that, but if it is difficult to find in my purse and I have to put a little more attention toward that, I will lose what is being said.  Not a biggie, but I am trying to explain what I mean by typical multi-tasking.  Another example – I was driving with two passengers recently.  I thought that since my right ear is the one with the implant and as the driver that put my “good” ear toward both passengers that I would be able to understand everything.  Not so.  I was driving at night in an area I am not that familiar with, and the amount of attention needed to drive safely and be watching for speed zones and stops in this unfamiliar territory made it difficult to follow a lot of the conversation.  The people with me didn’t realize that, I’m sure.  There were times I explained I needed to focus and times I heard most of the conversation but there were gaps as I was checking traffic or whatever.  

I have been so excited that I am able to sing in church and to hear much more of the songs in our assembly!  I truly didn’t know if I would ever be able to  do that again.  I find it interesting that acappella music sounds much closer to normal for me than any instrumental music I have heard.  I love that!  Maybe it is because I am most familiar with it.  I am finding that voices that I have known for years sound pretty close to normal for me now, but I hear more distortion in strangers voices or on the radio or tv.  Whatever it is, I am so happy to be able to participate and I don’t even have to lip read anymore to know which song or where we are in the song!  

I spoke with my audiologist last week about the hearing aid distortion I experienced before.  I was hoping she would tell me that I don’t have to wear it.  No such luck.  She said that I am doing so well now that if I want to start wearing it occasionally I can (but don’t have to), but I see her again in March and at that time she will want me to wear it all the time along with the CI.  This is the first “yucky” homework I have had, but I will do it.  They are the experts and know what’s best.  My next appointment after that will be in June.  We will do testing on both ears at that time to see if my left ear still qualifies for a CI.  I also have an appointment that day with the surgeon to discuss the results.  If i qualify for another implant, we will discuss surgery #2 and hopefully I will be able to get that going.  Right now I want that second CI pretty badly, but again I know that I have to trust God and ask for His wisdom in this and that what is best for me is what will take place.

That is pretty much what has been happening in my hearing journey!  Thank you for taking the time to read my posts and for your continued prayers and encouragement!

A couple of nights ago, I took off my CI and put the battery on the charger. I also put the sound processor in the drying box (an 8 hour process) so basically, it was off for the night. After that, I needed to speak with someone, so I put my hearing aid on for the first time since activation. I could hardly understand anything with it! It was somewhat freaky! Apparently my brain has made the shift from analog to digital. That is why I am doing so well with the CI (I think). I wasn’t expecting to have a change in how I hear with the hearing aid. Last time it was discussed, the plan was for me to start using the hearing aid along with the CI around the 3 month point. Now, with the distortion, it feels like that would be a step backwards for me. I might prefer to only use one CI. I will need to talk to my audiologist about it. Maybe it doesn’t take long for the brain to merge the two together and ultimately it might be better. I just don’t know. I don’t want to lose any of the progress I’ve made with the CI. I’m not worried about this, just wondering how it works. It will be an interesting conversation next appointment. I wonder if you do great with the first CI like I have, if that is an indication that you will also do great and have an easy adjustment with a second one. Is it possible that there would be problems with the second one and the adjustment? What kind of adjustment period would be expected? These are things I will be asking next time. For now, I am just adjusting to the idea that my brain has made this shift! I don’t think I realized it would be more of a “one or the other” type thing. I guess I thought it would be more of an “in addition to” type thing. This is not upsetting to me at all – just surprising! Interesting…..

I had several appointments today.  First, I saw my doctor for a follow-up on the recurring (and stubborn) ear infection I had on the left side (not the implanted ear) and the good news is that my ear looks healthy – no more infection!  On my trip, I had a spot at the bottom of the incision behind my right ear (from the CI surgery) that has had some swelling and bleeding a couple of times.  Apparently, I had a reaction to the material used in the stitches (on the inside) and it isn’t serious, just a skin issue.  She said that the type of material they used for the stitches is by far best to use for this job, but some people do react to it.  It hasn’t been a major issue, but I was happy to find out that it probably wasn’t an infection, as I had feared. This type of stitch usually dissolves in about 4 months. The other thing I talked to her about was some symptoms that I had over the weekend and also had about a month ago.  Both times, I woke up one morning and had the definite feeling that things were just slightly off-balance, but much worse than normal.  It wasn’t true dizziness, or vertigo, just a slightly “fluid” or “off kilter” feeling.  I had to touch something like a wall or piece of furniture to keep from feeling off-balance when walking.  I also had a headache, and nausea and vomiting with that.  The first time I just thought it was a stomach bug, but this time it obviously wasn’t acting like a typical stomach bug.  The doctor thinks there is a good chance that I am having migraines.  That wasn’t even on my radar as a possibility.  I always thought that the headaches were severe with migraines and mine have not been.  I was surprised that these symptoms sound pretty classic for migraines.  On the positive side, if it does turn out to be that, at least I’m not contagious!  There is a good chance it has been triggered by hormones (more joys of getting older!!!).  I have some literature and we will see how it goes in the future.  She said that it really doesn’t sound like typical inner ear/surgery related issues, although that is a slight possibility.  If this continues to be a problem and the things you do to help alleviate migraine symptoms don’t help, there are a few tests that we may do down the road.  Overall, it was a good check up and also pretty informative.

My audiology appointment also went well.  We discussed a few details about some items I need to return from some of my equipment and one battery that isn’t working properly, and then I filled her in on how great the Neptune worked on my trip!  We did some additional volume adjustments and a brief sound test.  I have been surprised that the mapping process has been more automatic and simple than I expected.  A lot of the literature I was given to read appears to be outdated.  The mapping process is still intricate, but there are programs in place that can do a lot of it now, so the appointments don’t take as long as I expected and haven’t been as intense either.  Maybe in part that is because I am doing so well.  I’m not really sure.  It went great, though.  

My last appointment today was with an aural rehab therapist.  It is a very specialized field (there are only a few people licensed to do this in the state) and it is basically listening rehab/therapy to help CI users teach their brains how to understand digital input.  She did some basic testing to evaluate where I am and I got 100% on the first 2 tests, only missed one on the 3rd and got a 75% on the last.  The last was all one syllable words, so it was harder for me – more room for mistakes because the words are shorter and have fewer “clues.”  All of these tests were lists that the therapist read to me with her face covered so that I couldn’t lip read. I was really pleased!  Chet and I both can hardly believe how much more I can understand now without lip-reading than I could with my hearing aid.  I still need it to some extent, but there is potential here to improve a great deal even from where I am.  She feels that a couple of sessions with her will be enough.  I have some listening “homework” to do.  I don’t have to listen to children’s books on CD anymore (yay! That was too easy to feel useful plus the library CDs in the kid’s section were very scratched!).  She feels I am ready to tackle books for adults, so I will be heading to my local library soon to find an interesting book to listen to (and read along if needed).  I am actually looking forward to that – I love to read, so actually “having” to do it sounds kind of fun!  In addition to that, I have some info about ways to get practice hearing and understanding better on the telephone.  There is a number I can call through one of the cochlear implant companies (you can use the helps from all of them regardless of which company you purchased your device from) and they have a daily listening activity for practice on the phone.  Apparently there is a recording you listen to, then answer questions.  You can go online later to see your score!   Practicing talking to friends on the phone is good for me, too!  When I tried to listen to the phone through my CI right after activation I couldn’t understand any speech at all.  Now I can have conversations sometimes and do pretty well with it.  Sometimes it doesn’t go well, so I still don’t feel like I can make business calls without using my captioning phone.  It will be wonderful if I reach a point where I can use my cell phone for calls again.  That is what I am hoping to achieve!  There are some other activities that Chet and I can do together that involve him speaking with his face/mouth covered and me listening and repeating things to him.  I purchased an embroidery hoop today and will need to get some stereo fabric to put in the hoop to make our own cover for Chet’s face (lol) so that I can’t lip read while we are doing this listening practice.  She told us that we should not use paper for that because sound bounces off of it and that the material you use actually does matter. Apparently different objects and fabrics affect sound in different ways.     We were told you can buy stereo fabric at most fabric stores.  That will be an errand for tomorrow. The hoop/stereo fabric homemade device is what the specialists in the clinic all use so I believe them when they say it is best for this. I had no idea that what you use to cover your mouth and face made any difference at all. Interesting. By the way – sometimes it is important to cover more of the face than just the mouth. Sometimes facial expressions or eyes can give clues, too. I never thought of that either!

Overall I couldn’t be happier with how things are going. They give you so much information ahead of time warning you about what realistic expectations should be and about how long this process actually takes, etc. My experience has been so much better than what I was told to expect. I feel like I have barely missed a beat here! I am so thankful. The moment of activation wasn’t a super dramatic moment for me, but I have moments now when I feel almost giddy with excitement because I will suddenly realize that I just heard and understood something that I would not have been able to do before. It happens pretty often. I will “catch” myself responding and listening “normally” and then it will just dawn on me that the situation hasn’t been normal for me in a long long time! It is an exciting time. I will always be a functionally deaf person when I take my device off, so I feel like I have my foot in that door, but I also am functioning as a hard of hearing person with the CI, and really I am not far from functioning well enough that I might not need a whole lot of special consideration (as in the things you do to help someone who is hard of hearing like facing them when you speak, etc). I guess I have “dual” citizenship in some ways. I know my experiences with deafness do not fully qualify me to completely understand where people who have been deaf most of their lives are coming from, but I have had a glimpse of that world and it has forever changed me – for the better in my opinion. The technology I have is truly amazing! I thank God for the advances He has allowed us to have in this field and for the doctors and specialists who have worked with me, as well as the incredible support I have had and continue to have. Thank you and know that I continually thank God for you, too! I have been incredibly blessed! 

I am back from my family holiday cruise!  I spent the week with my mom, my brother and his family, my sister and her family, and my son & daughter-in-law and my daughter.  We had a wonderful time!  We aren’t able to be together often, so we especially enjoy it when it works out.

I wasn’t sure how my listening experiences would be on the trip.  Group situations are always more difficult than quieter settings, and there are a lot of different sounds and settings on a ship than I normally encounter.  It turned out that I was able to function quite well in almost all situations!  It’s not that I don’t still need to lip read or have things repeated sometimes, but I am able to follow most conversation with a minimal need for people to repeat – at least compared to what my norm was with hearing aids.  I have learned how to use the zoom mic program in noisier settings and it makes a tremendous difference!  When we sat together in the noisy dining room I was still able to understand people at my table if I made sure to focus.  I still have to work at it in those settings, but it was better than what I am used to!  If the waitress came up behind me or to the side and I wasn’t aware of it, I wouldn’t hear her at all, but those kinds of things are to be expected.  I could understand some parts of the announcements made on the ship but not all.  I was thrilled when we went to a show in the theater and heard a comedian.  I could understand the majority of what he said!  I would say my comprehension/hearing in that situation was better with the CI than with my hearing aid plus an assistive listening device!  Keep in mind that I am still only 3 weeks into using this and am WAY ahead of where I am expected to be!  It is mind-blowing and so exciting to experience!

There were still a few things that were difficult for me on the ship.  I had no way to wake up in the morning at a certain time if I needed to.  I can’t hear an alarm clock or wake up call or even a knock on the door.  In an emergency during the night (when I don’t have my CI on) I would not be aware of any announcements or alarms.  It was also tricky when others in our group wanted to touch base with me.  Normally you would call or knock on the door, but again, if it was a time I didn’t have my device on, I would not be aware of those things even if I was in the room!

I  had the opportunity to use my Neptune (waterproof sound processor).  I chose the Neptune as my second processor for this exact reason.  We travel and we love to be near the water.  I wore it for the first time in the ocean in Costa Maya, Mexico.  As expected, once I submerged my head and the mic got wet, the sound was muffled but I could still hear!  It stayed muffled for several hours after that, even though I tried shaking it out a bit (as per the instructions).  Suddenly it just cleared up and that was that.  It was really nice to have it for times we were just getting sun by the pool area, too.  I didn’t have to worry about it getting wet and could get in a hot tub or the pool as I wanted to without having to do a thing with my CI.  That was awesome.  The next big day to wear it was on a catamaran, beach, snorkeling excursion in Cozumel.  I knew that the strap to my dive mask was going to be a problem.  It goes right across the area where my headpiece lies (and on the waterproof version, the mic is in the headpiece).  I checked with Dianna (my audiologist) before the trip and she told me that it would be okay to wear the strap over it – it would not damage the equipment, but might be uncomfortable.  I worked on getting it all positioned just right – it was a little tricky.  I finally got it set up and when I jumped into the water from the boat (scuba style where you hold your mask and snorkel with one hand and step off in your fins) much to my shock and dismay the strap to my mask came up and my headpiece was gone!  Scary moment!  Thankfully, the processor was still securely clipped to my bathing suit strap and the cable and headpiece were still connected to that!  It was tricky getting it all situated again in the water with waves hitting me during the process, but I finally got it done and this time did not notice an issue with things being more muffled – not as much as before.  Once I got out of the water, it sounded perfectly normal again!  So cool!  It was so great to be able to communicate and understand speech in that situation!  I rinsed my CI equipment with fresh water when I rinsed my mask, snorkel, and fins on the boat and it worked out well.  A woman on the boat heard my family mention to me that I should let one of the crew know about my hearing loss in case they needed to call people in for some reason since I might not be able to hear them.  She asked if I needed someone to sign for me.  It turned out that she teaches deaf and hard of hearing high school students and works with kids with CIs all of the time.  We had fun chatting and she was interested in my Neptune.  She had heard of it but never seen one.  Another man also asked me what it was and was interested in hearing about it.  Quite the conversation piece!  It is the only waterproof processor out there right now, and is fairly new on the market, so I guess that is to  be expected.  I have now worked with it enough to be comfortable doing all of the things necessary to maintain it.  After it has been in the water, you have to remove all of the plastic covers and put the unit in a drying box.  It isn’t hard to do, but some pieces you have to pull pretty hard on to get off and there is a little bit of a knack to it.  It is kind of scary when you aren’t sure what you are doing to be pulling on things like that on such an expensive piece of equipment.  Now I have a feel for it and have successfully done it a few times, so that feels good.  

Another small perk of being a CI user – when we were driving for 20 plus hours each way, I always had the option to take the unit off and could enjoy as much quiet as I wanted for sleep or driving or whatever and the rest of the occupants in the car could listen to whatever music they wanted to at any volume!

That reminds me, one night I attended a karaoke night and although music still doesn’t sound like I know it should, I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that it is starting to sound more like I would expect.  I know it still is not what it actually sounds like, but it is getting closer to something I might be able to enjoy from time to time again.  Prior to this, for years now, music has been more of an annoying noise than something enjoyable.  It was just sound that didn’t really sound like anything understandable or pleasant. The exception is a capella church singing, but that hasn’t sounded “normal” for quite some time either.  I am hoping it will get better and better as I continue to adjust to my CI.

Overall, I am doing great and this technology has far exceeded my expectations!  I thank God daily for granting my request for a successful outcome!    

A funny thing happened last night. I was doing laundry. I leaned over to pick up a pile of dirty clothes from the floor next to my dryer, and suddenly everything went completely quiet. I looked up, and my entire cochlear implant was hanging by the magnetic headpiece on the side of the dryer! I didn’t see that coming! Obviously, it was the external parts, but it was quite the sight! I hadn’t really thought about anything like that happening, but I guess I will need to watch how close I get to metal things! Crazy! It was good for a laugh!

I have made my decisions about which accessories to keep. I will keep the smaller battery as my third option. I like wearing the smaller ones better than the larger one enough to be willing to change it at the end of the day if needed. If I know I have a particularly long day, I will opt for the large one, but those days don’t happen too often. I am also going to keep my T-Comm Mic. It will give me the most flexibility with my Neptune and would be more expensive to add later than the cost of replacing a universal headpiece if I need it one day. I honestly was thinking that I am careful enough with my things that it is not too likely that I will need to replace it until it just wears out, but I have to say that after the dryer incident, there could be circumstances that would break it that I have not yet learned to anticipate!

My next audiology appointment is tomorrow. I am not sure exactly what we will do. I’m sure there will be more fine tuning. There may be more testing with sounds or word recognition. I will make sure that I fully understand how to use my Neptune processor since I will likely wear it on my trip next week. I wore it around the house one day and the waterproof headpiece is a bit heavier (it has a microphone in it, unlike the universal headpiece and has waterproof material protecting it). It fell off at one point. I think I will need to add an additional magnet to make sure it holds. I am a little bit concerned about the idea of using it for the first time in the water in the ocean. If the processor falls off for some reason, it could be lost for good. It will be clipped to my bathing suit strap pretty firmly, so that shouldn’t happen, but I may ask what my audiologist thinks about that. I won’t have time to try it out in a pool. Also, I think my dive mask strap goes over the spot where the headpiece goes. I will need to find out if I can put the strap over that part or not. I may have to take the processor off for snorkeling, but be able to wear it on the boat.

I feel like thinks have been so busy lately that I haven’t really spent much time contemplating all of these recent changes in my life and what it all means. I was prepared for a difficult period of time as I transition into this new way of hearing, but it really hasn’t been all that difficult. It felt like I barely missed a beat with my lifestyle. I am hearing and understanding just as well with the implant as I was with my hearing aid before. I am very thankful for that!

I began doing some of my listening practice this weekend and it is going well. I can see that it will be tiring, but productive. It is a new thing for me to rely on hearing again rather than primarily on visual clues along with fairly unclear sound. How exciting! At this point, I am using visual cues along with what I hear to help my brain connect the two, but I am understanding the majority of what I have done so far by sound. I am at beginning levels at this point and I suspect it will get much harder as I progress. It is exciting, though!

Thanks for continued prayers! God is good. I am thankful for my many blessings and the prayers, encouragement, kindness and patience from all of you!

This isn’t the biggest deal in the world, but I can close my eyes to pray now, and can understand almost every word spoken by Chet and Cory, anyway, when they are leading the prayer!  Obviously, one can pray with their eyes open, but it is a luxury to me to be able to close my eyes and listen to what is being said and not have to lip read to follow along. When you have to lip read to follow along,  your mind is slightly distracted because it is working while trying to listen!  Anyhow, I appreciate small things like that more than ever before!

 I have not been able to attend church since my implant was activated.  Church was cancelled the first day after due to weather, then I was sick on Sunday, and then I had a car accident on Wed. around 4:30.  It took a long time for the police to arrive and take care of the paperwork and then the tow truck to come, then reporting it to my insurance company…I literally hung up from talking to the insurance company about the time we had to leave.  I needed to regroup a bit – especially after having spent the entire day finishing up my grocery and holiday shopping, and then the stress of having an accident. I needed to pull a few notes from my bag of encouragement (given to me by some sweet ladies at my church for days I needed extra encouragement!) and it honestly did help.   I am so thankful there were no injuries.  My car wasn’t so fortunate, but it can be fixed.  The school bus that hit me wasn’t so fortunate, either, but the damage was less extensive to the bus than to my car, obviously.  Let’s just say it has been an eventful week in many ways! I am looking forward to seeing how my hearing will be in a church setting with the sound system, etc.  I hope it will be great!

Last night we had a family Christmas with our children and our grandson.  It was wonderful!  It is very difficult for us to manage a time when we can all get together, so we love it when we are able to do so.  It felt like Christmas!  We did all of the things we traditionally do (including making the “kids, the youngest of which -besides Owen- is 19” all go downstairs at 6pm to pretend to sleep and “wake up” to the stockings that Santa brings!), it was a lovely time. I still have difficulties as you would expect with my hearing in these situations, but it is so much better than we would have imagined! It was a wonderful evening and I will cherish that time with my loved ones.

I look at the events that have happened in my life over the past year and a half and I really can hardly believe how much has taken place.  I feel like I have had a couple of close calls this year, and thank God that I am still here.  I am very aware of how blessed I am – there have been many ups and downs during that time period, but God has always been faithful and I am so grateful for his work in my life.  

I think I will actually finally have a little time today to try my first book on cd.  I am actually looking forward to practicing and seeing how it goes.  I will let you know!

Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers!  I appreciate it!

It is hard for me to believe that it has only been one week since I started using my cochlear implant.  I am amazed at how much I can understand!  I believe I am following more conversation than I was with my hearing aid and this is only the first week!  Today I met with my audiologist and we decided to eliminate Program 1 (the one I like the sound of better, but isn’t as clear for me) and Program 2 (more distorted sound – a little helium and a little mechanical- but more clarity of words) and I now am exclusively working with the program I get the most clarity from.  It has now been moved to Program 1 spot and she added something called “Clear Voice” to it.  It enables my device to make more automatic adjustments.  It will be able to “recognize” repetitive sounds like road noise in a car and soften them.  It will help soften background noise in noisy places like restaurants and hopefully enable me to hear more of what I want to hear.  She also added a new program to the #2 spot.  It is called a zoom mic.  Since it is a separate program, if I am in a situation where it is noisy and I just can’t hear a specific person (even the Clear Voice can’t always make a big difference – hearing devices just can’t distinguish well between speech you want to hear and speech you want to tune out) I can switch to that program and it will eliminate all noise except for what is directly in front of me.  If I am facing someone and using that program, I should be able to hear them.   It will be something to play with a little bit and find out what situations work best with which programs.  The zoom mic does not work on my Neptune (waterproof) device, but the Clear Voice does, so I will test it out as well.  Today, Dianna also did a short test of sounds for me.  She covered her mouth with a paper so I couldn’t lip read and handed me a chart with some sounds like “shhhh,” “ahhh,” “sssssssss,” “baaaa,” “maaaa,” etc.  I got them all right!  WITHOUT LIP READING!  AFTER ONE WEEK!  I am still blown away when I think about this and so thankful!  I still need to lip read quite a bit, but possibly less than with my hearing aid. Overall, the appointment went great.

The only downside was the driving part.  I drove by myself today and traffic was much slower than I expected.  There are a lot of roads that are still pretty sloppy, but the interstate was in good shape and there really was no reason for traffic to be moving at 30-35 mph there!  My GPS took me a different route than normal to avoid heavy traffic and I honestly don’t know if it was faster or not.  I was pretty much at its mercy because I had no clue where I was!  I finally made it to the clinic about 10 minutes late but that wasn’t the end of it!  There is a parking garage nearby where we generally park.  I have been there before when it was difficult to find a space and you can spend 15 minutes or more driving around looking for one, then there is still a short walk to the building where my clinic is.  Since I was running late, I was concerned that I might be walking faster (and less carefully than normal) and there was a risk of me slipping on ice.  Because I take blood thinners, any bump on the head can be serious (or life threatening) and even minor injuries like sprains can be a much bigger deal than normal since the swelling is actually bleeding.  Anyhow, I just try to be more careful but it was a consideration here.  The other option is free valet parking.  Sometimes it is very busy there, too, but you get out right in front of the door to the building.  There is usually a fairly long wait to get your car after.  I decided to go for the valet parking, thinking in spite of those things it would likely be faster and minimize my walking on icy sidewalks.  I got one car length past the turn in to the parking garage and hit gridlock.  Literally, 5 or 6 or more cycles of green lights and no movement whatsoever!  Ugh!  So frustrating when you are already late!!!!!  I finally made it to the valet and go to my appointment 30 minutes late.  Dianna was gracious and still saw me.  She knows I am not generally late for appointments!  Afterwards, I waited for an hour and 10 minutes to get my car!  Unreal!  Let’s just say it was a tiring morning.  I honestly handled it pretty well and didn’t get too aggravated!  

We are having our family Christmas with the kids and Owen on Thursday, so I have tons to do between now and then!!!  I may not blog for a couple of days.  I think it will be nice to be basically done with all of my gift gathering and wrapping, etc. by then!  We have a box or two to ship, but should be basically done.  Then I have a trip to pack for!  I was expecting to have major difficulties with communication on the trip so I am absolutely thrilled to be doing so well.  I don’t  get to spend much time with my side of the family (Chet’s either for that matter) so it will be wonderful to be able to talk to them all!

Today went so great!  We had a ladies’ Christmas Tea this morning with women from my church and it was the first time I’ve been in a group setting with my new CI.  Groups are still difficult.  I’d say that right now, the “group” background noise was amplified more than the specific person I was speaking to was.  With my hearing aid, background noise is amplified along with the speaker, but I can usually “zoom” in mentally and follow quite a bit.  Today that was very difficult to do.  The speaker seemed quieter than the rest.  I think there is a program that will be added soon that will help in those situations.  I am still basking in the joy of being able to understand so much!  After refreshments, we sat down and sang together.  Singing is always tricky with hearing problems.  I really had no idea how it would go.  I’m happy to say that it went great!  I did need for the person next to me to give me some feedback and let me know if I was basically singing in tune (like any hearing person!) and how my volume was.  In the past, if someone will give me some honest feedback about that, I can usually make the adjustments I need to be able to sing with everyone else without drawing attention to myself.  I teared up a little at one point, because I could hear the others singing fairly well.  I feel I was hearing more of the group singing with my CI than I generally do with my hearing aid plus my Domino Pro (the personal assistive listening device I use in church to amplify things even more).  That was so exciting!  Maybe it was similar as far as understanding, but having the extra sounds really filled it out more.  I also was able to sing just fine myself!   I needed a little help with volume, but apparently was ok with singing in tune!  I can’t tell you what  a thrill that was!  It was really not sure if I would ever be able to sing with the church again.  It blows my mind that this is all happening with my nearly deaf ear!  

I have noticed that the distortion seems to be less than before (yay!) and although I do still need to lip read, I have been able to hear much softer speaking than before.  Several times I have had conversations with people who were in an environment where they were speaking very softly and with lip reading I could hear enough to understand the majority.  That is a definite improvement over my hearing aid.  

I continue to be amazed at how God has worked in my life.  I once again thought today about how well He has prepared me for this situation ahead of time.  Everything I’ve had to learn over the years regarding hearing and understanding is helping me to have the best result possible now with the least amount of frustration.  It does still take effort, but I know how great it is going and I couldn’t be more thankful!  I give God the credit and the thanks for this outcome!

Today I also made a trip to the library and checked out 4 children’s books on CD.  I found someone who had a CD player they offered to lend me, so I should have that tomorrow and I will begin working on my “homework.”  

Thank you all so much for checking up on me.  Thank you for praying for me.  It blows me away when I think about how many people have told me they are praying for me and how many times they have done so.  I feel your love and support.  I’ve been reaching into my bag of encouragement from my sweet sisters in Christ and it seems like the notes are always so uplifting and always well timed!  

I can’t wait to see how things go in Bible class and the assembly tomorrow.