CI activated on July 29th - 3 month post-activiation mapping session:
Saw Cathy on October 23rd and it was a good session. Did a testing in the sound booth, spoke about my frustrations with sounds, and made some adjustments to my CI processor.
In the sound booth, we did the usual testing:
- audiogram testing - I am okay where I am at for now, there's more room for improvement
- sections of 4 words and CD in background saying the word, and I pick the word I think he is saying - I did good on this, 2 errors. It is noted that I have problems hearing the "s" sounds.
- simple sentences with lip-reading - fared 100% on this one.
- simple sentences without lip-reading (mouth covered) - fared 34%!!
Did you get that?? I got 34% and that is just by listening without lip-reading. That is quite the thing for me and it is awesome! Cathy was really surprised. I have taken this test several times over the past year and have always gotten 0%. With my hearing aid before the surgery and for all my previous mapping sessions with my CI... all 0%. So I consider 34% quite the achievement. I was plumb pleased with myself.
It does not mean I will improve even further, as this might be the end of it, or it may improve. Time will tell.
I told Cathy about my work noise level and on how ungodawful it is. So off she goes, made a few quick adjustments to my CI processor switches:
Switch 1 - normal, everyday usage. It is the same as switch 2 on my last mapping session.
Switch 2 - a little noise reduction.
Switch 3 - more noise reduction.
I am to try switch 2 and 3 at work to see which is best for me. Can't wait to test them out.
Will be working on speech therapy practices once I receive the exercises from the speech therapist from the same centre where Cathy works. For my listening skills, Cathy has suggested for me to try to listen to read-along books for children. Those books are hard to find. I have looked in the library and they do not have much choices for children. I will have to hit the mall one of these days, even shopping is what I hate the most :)
Date of return for another mapping session.... January 2009.
I am really frustrated with my hair, I no longer can put hair behind my right ear as the CI takes up most of the space in there. Once I do, my hair falls forward and is in the way. Argh...!!! I am seriously considering in changing my hairstyle... probably a shorter and easier style. I was supposed to do this last week, but chickened out. I have had this hairstyle for nearly 24 years, so it is really time for a change, and it ain't easy....wow!!! Someone, please hit me over the head and drag me to the hairdresser.... :)
New sounds - I actually heard the kitchen tap running while I was in the living room at a friend's house. Still hearing the other sounds I have heard for the past three months. The ticking of the clock is getting more distinct... it is so funny that I can recognize it so quickly now.
I am so thankful for the cochlear implant technology to allow me to hear things I have never heard before or have heard before but was dull. I am enjoying it all, including the frustrations. It is so worth it. Praise God.....
Until next time....
Sunday 26 October 2008
Saturday 18 October 2008
As my friend says, "My mind wanders alot...."
And my mind did wander alot this week as well........
Ever since the first time I heard the crosswalk signal sound for the visually impaired, I have been thinking.... and thought, "Wow!!" The visually impaired have it made, really!! Think about it, they have braille on the dollar bills, on the ATMs numerical keyboard, elevator buttons, etc., they even have different coin sizes, there is that crosswalk signal, audio books, etc., etc.... the list can go on. There is even a "zoom" programs for computers, which is a tool to magnify, capture, paint and write on screen. There is even a speech recognition program, etc, etc......
Folks in wheelchairs..... they have wheelchair accessible washrooms, doorways, low curbs, automatic doorbutton, there are even wheelchair accessible homes, Ability vans, etc... oh the list can go on....
I am thinking, what does the deaf have? Don't think, "Oh she is feeling sorry for herself", which I am not. I am just stating some facts. The list is pretty short compared to the ones I gave above. The population of Greater Moncton, my hometown, is 128,000 and we only have one full time interpreter, with just a few back-ups, and we have about 60 deaf people in our community.... only just one community interpreter. We don't pay for the interpreter, which is great. What else??..... we do have special alarm clocks, close captioned TV, flashing lights, Video Phone, TTY, etc., but these are used for our homes. We are lucky to have them, expensive products they are, yes, and we pay from our own pockets.....
You are probably thinking... What is Cheryl trying to say?
Compare the three paragraphs I wrote.... notice the first two paragraphs are about "things" out in town, around town, in buildings, workplace, out in public, etc.... and those things are paid by the town/city, companies, government, etc.... not a penny comes out of the visually impaired's pockets... and the person in the wheelchair's pockets as well.....
No problem to have a wheelchair accessible washroom in a workplace, and no problem to get a Zoom program for a couple of computers at work. In the past, I have asked for one simple thing at work and it was declined.... a pager or something I can have with me to warn me the fire alarm is going off. Instead I was assigned a fire buddy, for 8 years now. I don't feel comfortable with this at all, as we all work different shifts, different lunch hours, etc...
One time, the fire alarm went off and my TM was my buddy, she saw me as we "looked" at each other, so I assumed all was okay there, so I went outside with everybody. Then my TM comes to me nearly having a heart attack saying to me "where were you???" Gee......
At one of my other jobs approximately 18 years ago , I was up on the 4th floor, and the fire alarm went off and I didn't hear this one. Nobody came to get me and I was the second lone person on that floor. Luckily a person heard me working away on the computer and she came to get me..... Guess what, it was a REAL fire alarm, not a drill. I was none too pleased. Since then, I have always been nervous about fire alarms.
With my new CI, I have not heard the actual fire alarm yet, but I am sure I will hear it soon. Likely I will have a heart attack and jump off the chair!! :)) We'll see and I'll let you know when I do hear it :)
The deaf ask for a small measly thing and most of the time, they say it can't be done, where the town/city, buildings, workplaces goes to "bat" for folks with other disabilities. There might be a few handful of deaf that got lucky at their workplace, mostly they are government jobs. Um, something is wrong with this picture.....
Ever since the first time I heard the crosswalk signal sound for the visually impaired, I have been thinking.... and thought, "Wow!!" The visually impaired have it made, really!! Think about it, they have braille on the dollar bills, on the ATMs numerical keyboard, elevator buttons, etc., they even have different coin sizes, there is that crosswalk signal, audio books, etc., etc.... the list can go on. There is even a "zoom" programs for computers, which is a tool to magnify, capture, paint and write on screen. There is even a speech recognition program, etc, etc......
Folks in wheelchairs..... they have wheelchair accessible washrooms, doorways, low curbs, automatic doorbutton, there are even wheelchair accessible homes, Ability vans, etc... oh the list can go on....
I am thinking, what does the deaf have? Don't think, "Oh she is feeling sorry for herself", which I am not. I am just stating some facts. The list is pretty short compared to the ones I gave above. The population of Greater Moncton, my hometown, is 128,000 and we only have one full time interpreter, with just a few back-ups, and we have about 60 deaf people in our community.... only just one community interpreter. We don't pay for the interpreter, which is great. What else??..... we do have special alarm clocks, close captioned TV, flashing lights, Video Phone, TTY, etc., but these are used for our homes. We are lucky to have them, expensive products they are, yes, and we pay from our own pockets.....
You are probably thinking... What is Cheryl trying to say?
Compare the three paragraphs I wrote.... notice the first two paragraphs are about "things" out in town, around town, in buildings, workplace, out in public, etc.... and those things are paid by the town/city, companies, government, etc.... not a penny comes out of the visually impaired's pockets... and the person in the wheelchair's pockets as well.....
No problem to have a wheelchair accessible washroom in a workplace, and no problem to get a Zoom program for a couple of computers at work. In the past, I have asked for one simple thing at work and it was declined.... a pager or something I can have with me to warn me the fire alarm is going off. Instead I was assigned a fire buddy, for 8 years now. I don't feel comfortable with this at all, as we all work different shifts, different lunch hours, etc...
One time, the fire alarm went off and my TM was my buddy, she saw me as we "looked" at each other, so I assumed all was okay there, so I went outside with everybody. Then my TM comes to me nearly having a heart attack saying to me "where were you???" Gee......
At one of my other jobs approximately 18 years ago , I was up on the 4th floor, and the fire alarm went off and I didn't hear this one. Nobody came to get me and I was the second lone person on that floor. Luckily a person heard me working away on the computer and she came to get me..... Guess what, it was a REAL fire alarm, not a drill. I was none too pleased. Since then, I have always been nervous about fire alarms.
With my new CI, I have not heard the actual fire alarm yet, but I am sure I will hear it soon. Likely I will have a heart attack and jump off the chair!! :)) We'll see and I'll let you know when I do hear it :)
The deaf ask for a small measly thing and most of the time, they say it can't be done, where the town/city, buildings, workplaces goes to "bat" for folks with other disabilities. There might be a few handful of deaf that got lucky at their workplace, mostly they are government jobs. Um, something is wrong with this picture.....
Sunday 12 October 2008
New noise....
Hi all.... last weekend, Raymond and I went camping in Amherst, a nearby town, for the weekend. A great time had by all! Our trailers were parked by the water, so therefore it was a bit windy. Whilst inside the trailer on our first day, I could hear the wind slow down and pick up! Patty kept telling me the tree was going to fall on our trailer, ha ha.... funny lady she is.
That evening, it rained. We were all in one couple's trailer for chat and games. I could hear the rain pitter patter on the roof. It rained so hard at times and it let down at times, and then picked up again. I was able to tell my friends this, and they were amazed (they are all deaf), and they looked out the window to see the rain :) Rain is still my favourite sound of all! Just LOVE it....
On Saturday afternoon, all three couples had their quiet time, and went on our merry way. Raymond was in a dire need of a nap, so we went inside our trailer... he had a nap, I multi-tasked - watched TV, read a book and surfed on the internet. All of sudden I heard a noise which I never heard before. I listened to it so intentively (is this a word??) and trying to figure out what it was. I turned off the TV and the noise was still around. I closed the lap-top... the noise was still there!! Ugh... I went over to the fan above the stove, it was off. I looked in the bathroom, the fan was off in there too! Gee.... so I went back to sit down in the dining room to listen again.
I leaned back against the chair and crossed my arms. I looked over at Raymond's way and listened again.... it came to my realization that the noise was in sync with Raymond's breathing (his tummy rising up and down).... oh wow.... the noise was his 'snoring'!!!!! Wow, is it ever loud!!
When I hear something new, I always ask Raymond what it is, so this way, I would recognize it the next time I hear it again. With this noise on the go, I didn't have the heart to wake him up just to ask him, so discovered this one on my own. Felt good!
This afternoon, a week later, Raymond had a nap on the couch and I recognized his snoring right away. I am amazed on how loud it is!!! It is like a rough motor at times! Fourteen and half years we have been together, and I am just learning this now :)
Things are going very well. Only two things that are hellish for me are work and church. I cannot wait for the background block be placed on my on one of my CI switches. I really need this for work - big time. My appointment is on October 23rd, so I am practically counting down the sleeps......
That evening, it rained. We were all in one couple's trailer for chat and games. I could hear the rain pitter patter on the roof. It rained so hard at times and it let down at times, and then picked up again. I was able to tell my friends this, and they were amazed (they are all deaf), and they looked out the window to see the rain :) Rain is still my favourite sound of all! Just LOVE it....
On Saturday afternoon, all three couples had their quiet time, and went on our merry way. Raymond was in a dire need of a nap, so we went inside our trailer... he had a nap, I multi-tasked - watched TV, read a book and surfed on the internet. All of sudden I heard a noise which I never heard before. I listened to it so intentively (is this a word??) and trying to figure out what it was. I turned off the TV and the noise was still around. I closed the lap-top... the noise was still there!! Ugh... I went over to the fan above the stove, it was off. I looked in the bathroom, the fan was off in there too! Gee.... so I went back to sit down in the dining room to listen again.
I leaned back against the chair and crossed my arms. I looked over at Raymond's way and listened again.... it came to my realization that the noise was in sync with Raymond's breathing (his tummy rising up and down).... oh wow.... the noise was his 'snoring'!!!!! Wow, is it ever loud!!
When I hear something new, I always ask Raymond what it is, so this way, I would recognize it the next time I hear it again. With this noise on the go, I didn't have the heart to wake him up just to ask him, so discovered this one on my own. Felt good!
This afternoon, a week later, Raymond had a nap on the couch and I recognized his snoring right away. I am amazed on how loud it is!!! It is like a rough motor at times! Fourteen and half years we have been together, and I am just learning this now :)
Things are going very well. Only two things that are hellish for me are work and church. I cannot wait for the background block be placed on my on one of my CI switches. I really need this for work - big time. My appointment is on October 23rd, so I am practically counting down the sleeps......
Thursday 9 October 2008
Thanksgiving for hearing new sounds...
It is thanksgiving time, and there are many that we are thankful - and for the sounds of life around us.
We are thankful for the engineers and their leadership to invent and improve the cochlear implants we wear today.
We are thankful for the amazing doctors who put the implants in our heads and become a part of hearing world.
We are thankful that we have friends and family that supports us during our cochlear implant journey.
(copied and pasted from another website....)
We are thankful for the engineers and their leadership to invent and improve the cochlear implants we wear today.
We are thankful for the amazing doctors who put the implants in our heads and become a part of hearing world.
We are thankful that we have friends and family that supports us during our cochlear implant journey.
(copied and pasted from another website....)
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