Hi All!!!
Hope all is well with you and trusting your progress with your CI is going well.
Raymond has had some difficulty in using the t-coil on his CI processor. When he uses the church loop system, all he hears is a static background, and very little voice. The audiologist says that it is "normal" to hear some humming or static in the background.
Now, with our hearing aids using the t-coil in the past, it worked awesomely, no background noise at all... we are puzzled that with a very advanced and expensive CI, the t-coil should work perfectly.
Raymond decided to call the Advanced Bionics line, and they say there should be no background noise at all, no static, or anything like that..... and they think the processor itself is a defect.
So here we sit, who is right? I thought I would ask all of you CI users, how are your experiences going with using the T-Coil on your CI processor?
Also, has any of you ever tried using the FM transmitter too?
Myself, Cheryl, does not have the t-coil turned on my processor yet as I am still just new with this, so I was not able to test out the church loop system to see if mine worked or not to compare with Raymond.
Any feedback from all of you would be great!! And Thank You :0)
Friday, 20 February 2009
Funny Joke said by Raymond
Just recently, we went to the Irving Gas Station here in Dieppe, and we know the guy who mans the cashier.
Man said, "What's that on your head?'
Raymond - pointing to his head - "You mean this?"
Man - shaking his head up and down - "Yes"
Raymond saying seriously - "Oh that is booster cables to keep my ears running."
Man - shaking his head up and down - "Really??"
Raymond let the moment slide for a minute.....and started to laugh.
Raymond - "No, I am just kidding, it is a cochlear implant......"
You just had to be there to see the guy's expression when Raymond told him it was booster cables, I think he actually believed for a second.
I had to hang on to that one and rip roared laughing in the truck... :)
Man said, "What's that on your head?'
Raymond - pointing to his head - "You mean this?"
Man - shaking his head up and down - "Yes"
Raymond saying seriously - "Oh that is booster cables to keep my ears running."
Man - shaking his head up and down - "Really??"
Raymond let the moment slide for a minute.....and started to laugh.
Raymond - "No, I am just kidding, it is a cochlear implant......"
You just had to be there to see the guy's expression when Raymond told him it was booster cables, I think he actually believed for a second.
I had to hang on to that one and rip roared laughing in the truck... :)
Sunday, 21 December 2008
Long overdue update....
A long overdue update!! Sorry folks, I have been all over the place, like a chicken running around with its head cut off. That’s what happens when the Christmas prepping season hits upon us.
Things are coming along really smoothly with both of us. Raymond has pretty well settled into his hearing routine. He is hearing very well, and only requires periodical visits to the audiologist in Halifax, as his CI processor adjustments are pretty updated and pretty steady too. He is hearing soft and normal sounds, they are not as loud as they are for me now. He is now able to turn up the TV and radio which is painful for me, ugh.
Myself, I am still finding things pretty loud, but things are gradually getting softer, surely but slowly. Takes time, I guess. Lately, I seem to have the tendency to take the CI off as soon as I come home from work to take a “break” from the white noise and staff chatting away in the background. I always forget to put the CI back on in the evenings. I must get myself back on track in wearing the CI consistently. When Raymond’s CI is off, he talks loud; it goes from low to booming high for me. He thinks I am silly, but it’s the truth.
A lot of people have been great with us, and respecting our wishes to talk a bit lower than they usually do. Only a couple of people won’t, saying, “Too bad, get used to it.” Sighhhhhhhhh…. I wish they could actually hear what we are hearing and if it was the other way around, they would be asking us to whisper! When I am around them, I have no choice but turn down my CI volume control just a tad bit. They say "it is the way it is", "you have to get used to it", etc.... people don't realize that they had since childhood to get used to all these sounds and adjust to them. We are adults and have not heard very well majority of our lives and then we are given the gift of hearing things, so it is like cranking up the volume, pow!!! We do have a hard time in the first few months...we need time to get adjusted to it at our own time/pace. People need to have that picture in their minds on how things would be for us for the first time as adults after a quiet few years... it can be hard at times. Some people adjust to it very quickly, others just take a bit longer.
A funny thing happened the other night over at my parents. We all were watching the program, “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” and while the contestant was thinking of the answer, I could hear a ticking in the background so I asked my sister if they were on a timer as I wasn’t aware of this. She said no. Listened again and it came to my realization that it was the clock on the wall, ticking-tocking. Phew, it’s a tad loud. How can hearing people tune these things out?
This part was written by Kimberly Carter, the CEO of the Nova Scotia Hearing and Speech Foundation:
"Raymond was visiting his friend's cottage in Caissie Cape, NB. As you can imagine in the first several months after a cochlear implant, recipients are hearing “new” sounds all the time. Raymond talks about getting off his motorcycle at the cottage and hearing this sound in the background. He didn’t know what it was but immediately knew he loved it. In the rush of greeting his friend and getting settled, Raymond forgot to ask for help in identifying the sound. But as the evening wore on, he knew he had to find out what was tugging at not only his ears but his heart. Raymond walked outside and noticed the waves breaking on the beach and as realization dawned he felt the peace and power of nature that comes with the sound of the ocean’s waves."
I have not heard the ocean's waves yet, and look forward to experiencing this next summer!
Another thing that fools me quite often, is when Raymond’s battery is depleted, he leaves the CI on his head. Many times I have called his name or talking to him, he never replies, making me think…”Oh it is not working as it should!” or sometimes I would say, “hmph – selective hearing”. Hee tee. Just recently, Raymond was looking for his CI processor and headpiece all over the house. He must have passed me a few times, going from room to room looking for them. I asked him what he was looking for and he said, “My implant” and I laughed!!!! It was still on his head!!!!! Of all places he was looking for it, it was on his head the whole time. Too funny!!! This proves we don’t feel it on our heads at all.
Winter has arrived, and I am hearing new sounds. The warming up of the truck motor, the crackling of the ice/hard snow under our feet, and the blowing snow when it is stormy, etc. Wow!
We have two new dogs in our household. First is a 11 month old Boston Terrier (Noel) we adopted on November 15, 2008 and second one is a crossbreed of a Boston Terrier/Miniature Schnauzer (still un-named) – 6 ½ weeks old, got it yesterday, December 20th. What’s cool is hearing the clicking of Noel’s toe nails on the uniclic laminates flooring, drinking from his water bowl, and licking us on our hands/arms. Man, they can be loud when drinking their water, I couldn’t believe it! I have never heard these with our previous dog, Lucky. As well, up to now, I have never heard Noel bark yet so it appears he is a non-barker, which I am not complaining about. :)
Our neighbor has a miniature schnauzer and she comes to our house frequently to socialize and play with Noel. Her name is Sophie and she can “bark”, and it’s ever loud! So she is my first “hearing a real bark for the first time”, so she has the honor of having that title.
Our new “un-named” puppy… whew, is a different whole story. A puppy is like a baby, crying, whining and yipping… poor soul was taken from his parents and 7 brothers, so it’s quite the adjustment for him without them. Such cute sounds tho’ but pitiful at times. He is content lying on the floor between my feet or lying on my chest or curled up in my arms. So cuddly and adorable! I will try to remember to post a couple of pictures for you dog lovers to see. He is so tiny, that I stepped on his foot twice already, ouch! And I almost tripped over him once and nearly lost my balance. We have dark wood on our sunroom and our living room floors, so it is hard to see him when he is on the floor in those dark shadows. Maybe we should have gotten a white dog, ha! It’ll be fine once he is grown to his full size, which will be in a few months.
Noel and the puppy are playful, and they jump around, run around, etc… it is soooo cute and fun to hear the sounds too. Sophie is the more sophisticated and mature lady dog, standing by watching them thinking they are idiots. She is 4 years old, so I can understand. Too cute!!
Raymond and I will have a little feature story on the following website anytime soon:http://www.hearingandspeech.ca/
Once it is on there, I will copy and paste the story and put it on the blog later.
Our next appointment with the audiologist is on January 16th, 2009.
Myself, I have an appointment to see Dr. Morris on the same day, for my 6 month post-op check up.
Until the next time….
Things are coming along really smoothly with both of us. Raymond has pretty well settled into his hearing routine. He is hearing very well, and only requires periodical visits to the audiologist in Halifax, as his CI processor adjustments are pretty updated and pretty steady too. He is hearing soft and normal sounds, they are not as loud as they are for me now. He is now able to turn up the TV and radio which is painful for me, ugh.
Myself, I am still finding things pretty loud, but things are gradually getting softer, surely but slowly. Takes time, I guess. Lately, I seem to have the tendency to take the CI off as soon as I come home from work to take a “break” from the white noise and staff chatting away in the background. I always forget to put the CI back on in the evenings. I must get myself back on track in wearing the CI consistently. When Raymond’s CI is off, he talks loud; it goes from low to booming high for me. He thinks I am silly, but it’s the truth.
A lot of people have been great with us, and respecting our wishes to talk a bit lower than they usually do. Only a couple of people won’t, saying, “Too bad, get used to it.” Sighhhhhhhhh…. I wish they could actually hear what we are hearing and if it was the other way around, they would be asking us to whisper! When I am around them, I have no choice but turn down my CI volume control just a tad bit. They say "it is the way it is", "you have to get used to it", etc.... people don't realize that they had since childhood to get used to all these sounds and adjust to them. We are adults and have not heard very well majority of our lives and then we are given the gift of hearing things, so it is like cranking up the volume, pow!!! We do have a hard time in the first few months...we need time to get adjusted to it at our own time/pace. People need to have that picture in their minds on how things would be for us for the first time as adults after a quiet few years... it can be hard at times. Some people adjust to it very quickly, others just take a bit longer.
A funny thing happened the other night over at my parents. We all were watching the program, “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” and while the contestant was thinking of the answer, I could hear a ticking in the background so I asked my sister if they were on a timer as I wasn’t aware of this. She said no. Listened again and it came to my realization that it was the clock on the wall, ticking-tocking. Phew, it’s a tad loud. How can hearing people tune these things out?
This part was written by Kimberly Carter, the CEO of the Nova Scotia Hearing and Speech Foundation:
"Raymond was visiting his friend's cottage in Caissie Cape, NB. As you can imagine in the first several months after a cochlear implant, recipients are hearing “new” sounds all the time. Raymond talks about getting off his motorcycle at the cottage and hearing this sound in the background. He didn’t know what it was but immediately knew he loved it. In the rush of greeting his friend and getting settled, Raymond forgot to ask for help in identifying the sound. But as the evening wore on, he knew he had to find out what was tugging at not only his ears but his heart. Raymond walked outside and noticed the waves breaking on the beach and as realization dawned he felt the peace and power of nature that comes with the sound of the ocean’s waves."
I have not heard the ocean's waves yet, and look forward to experiencing this next summer!
Another thing that fools me quite often, is when Raymond’s battery is depleted, he leaves the CI on his head. Many times I have called his name or talking to him, he never replies, making me think…”Oh it is not working as it should!” or sometimes I would say, “hmph – selective hearing”. Hee tee. Just recently, Raymond was looking for his CI processor and headpiece all over the house. He must have passed me a few times, going from room to room looking for them. I asked him what he was looking for and he said, “My implant” and I laughed!!!! It was still on his head!!!!! Of all places he was looking for it, it was on his head the whole time. Too funny!!! This proves we don’t feel it on our heads at all.
Winter has arrived, and I am hearing new sounds. The warming up of the truck motor, the crackling of the ice/hard snow under our feet, and the blowing snow when it is stormy, etc. Wow!
We have two new dogs in our household. First is a 11 month old Boston Terrier (Noel) we adopted on November 15, 2008 and second one is a crossbreed of a Boston Terrier/Miniature Schnauzer (still un-named) – 6 ½ weeks old, got it yesterday, December 20th. What’s cool is hearing the clicking of Noel’s toe nails on the uniclic laminates flooring, drinking from his water bowl, and licking us on our hands/arms. Man, they can be loud when drinking their water, I couldn’t believe it! I have never heard these with our previous dog, Lucky. As well, up to now, I have never heard Noel bark yet so it appears he is a non-barker, which I am not complaining about. :)
Our neighbor has a miniature schnauzer and she comes to our house frequently to socialize and play with Noel. Her name is Sophie and she can “bark”, and it’s ever loud! So she is my first “hearing a real bark for the first time”, so she has the honor of having that title.
Our new “un-named” puppy… whew, is a different whole story. A puppy is like a baby, crying, whining and yipping… poor soul was taken from his parents and 7 brothers, so it’s quite the adjustment for him without them. Such cute sounds tho’ but pitiful at times. He is content lying on the floor between my feet or lying on my chest or curled up in my arms. So cuddly and adorable! I will try to remember to post a couple of pictures for you dog lovers to see. He is so tiny, that I stepped on his foot twice already, ouch! And I almost tripped over him once and nearly lost my balance. We have dark wood on our sunroom and our living room floors, so it is hard to see him when he is on the floor in those dark shadows. Maybe we should have gotten a white dog, ha! It’ll be fine once he is grown to his full size, which will be in a few months.
Noel and the puppy are playful, and they jump around, run around, etc… it is soooo cute and fun to hear the sounds too. Sophie is the more sophisticated and mature lady dog, standing by watching them thinking they are idiots. She is 4 years old, so I can understand. Too cute!!
Raymond and I will have a little feature story on the following website anytime soon:http://www.hearingandspeech.ca/
Once it is on there, I will copy and paste the story and put it on the blog later.
Our next appointment with the audiologist is on January 16th, 2009.
Myself, I have an appointment to see Dr. Morris on the same day, for my 6 month post-op check up.
Until the next time….
Friday, 14 November 2008
The Waiting list as of 2008....
The Nova Scotia Hearing and Speech Centre's Cochlear Implant Program waiting list is getting longer and longer... and most of them are New Brunswickers! Can you believe that, there's more NB'ers than Nova Scotians on the list!!! The program has received alot of referrals, and the waiting time is getting longer now... it can go up to 2 years or more before you finally can get the surgery, if you are a candidate.
Wow!!
Until next time..... :)
Wow!!
Until next time..... :)
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Wicked!!!................
On Friday, November 7th, Raymond & I decided to take a day trip to the Miramichi to visit some relatives. We have not been "up home" for quite a while, so it was due time. It rained the whole time, but a nice trip in overall.
Down in Napan, we dropped in to visit Grammie B. first and she certainly was surprised to see us and very happy too. Stayed for two hours with her. I am excited to say this part... so may as well spit it out now. In the past few years, I have had alot of difficulty to carry on a conversation with Grammie as I was not hearing her as well as I did in the past. Plus she was not talking clearly with me like she used to, and she kept turning her head down or away from my line of vision. She is 92 years old now, so it is part of her aging process.
So hearing her on this day was the first time with my CI, and to my complete surprise, I was able to hear her voice really clearly. I had forgotten on how low she spoke. We had great conversation for the entire two hours and I enjoyed every minute of it. Raymond really enjoyed this too, as it was his first time to hear her voice with his CI. He found that her voice was much clearer than what he heard with his old hearing aid. He said it was less work to listen to her now.
At Grammie's house, I went upstairs for a minute and I heard something off a distance and recognized it to be a clock ticking. So I set myself to find it and it was in Grammie's bedroom on the wall and man-oh-man, it was loud!!!!!! I was so amazed at the loudness of it, and thought to myself, "How in the heck can Grammie sleep with that thing running???" It is much louder than the one I have here at home. I told Grammie about my wee adventure upstairs and she laughed so hard.
Next, we visited my grandfather down in Napan Bay for a couple of hours. I was able to hear his voice clearly as well, but he runs his words together, or more like mumble to me, so I had great difficulty in understanding him at times. Raymond had no problems at times, but had to struggle couple of times to really listen to him. Papa is 89 years old.
After Papa, we visited Aunt June for almost 3 hours.....when we get together, we can talk up a storm! I never really had any problems talking with June, but this time around, I was able to hear her voice more than before... so it made the conversation flow much easier.
Next pit stop was to visit Uncle Garth, but nobody was home, so off we go to visit Uncle David.... and this ended up as our last pit stop. Aunt Linda and I stayed in the house, while Raymond and David went into the men's garage, ya all know what that means. It was so funny, I just realized this AFTER the visit, more likely on the next day that Linda still continued to speak to me in her "higher than normal" volume after so many years of talking to me loudly. I guess it is a habit she soon will need to learn to adjust with me. I am sure she's the first one, but she won't be the last one.
So after seeing my relatives for the first time with my CI, made me realize it is a wonderful gadget! It works, and it is certainly SO worth it. I was extremely happy to hear Grammie's voice again so clearly. It "almost" brought tears to my eyes.
While thinking about up home.... and I felt like I was in a "timeless" zone... you know what I mean? Time stood still for a couple of years. Honestly! Things have never changed at Papa's house. I am pretty sure I have not been in the house for at least a year and half, and I felt like the last time I visited there was like a month ago. I took a "peek" in Grammie Sweezey's bedroom and nothing in there has moved or changed since she passed away 2 years ago. Just by looking in that room, you would think she was still around. I really miss her lots! :(
Ah, I am getting nostalgic.... so better end this before I bore you to death..... ;)
Until next time.....
Down in Napan, we dropped in to visit Grammie B. first and she certainly was surprised to see us and very happy too. Stayed for two hours with her. I am excited to say this part... so may as well spit it out now. In the past few years, I have had alot of difficulty to carry on a conversation with Grammie as I was not hearing her as well as I did in the past. Plus she was not talking clearly with me like she used to, and she kept turning her head down or away from my line of vision. She is 92 years old now, so it is part of her aging process.
So hearing her on this day was the first time with my CI, and to my complete surprise, I was able to hear her voice really clearly. I had forgotten on how low she spoke. We had great conversation for the entire two hours and I enjoyed every minute of it. Raymond really enjoyed this too, as it was his first time to hear her voice with his CI. He found that her voice was much clearer than what he heard with his old hearing aid. He said it was less work to listen to her now.
At Grammie's house, I went upstairs for a minute and I heard something off a distance and recognized it to be a clock ticking. So I set myself to find it and it was in Grammie's bedroom on the wall and man-oh-man, it was loud!!!!!! I was so amazed at the loudness of it, and thought to myself, "How in the heck can Grammie sleep with that thing running???" It is much louder than the one I have here at home. I told Grammie about my wee adventure upstairs and she laughed so hard.
Next, we visited my grandfather down in Napan Bay for a couple of hours. I was able to hear his voice clearly as well, but he runs his words together, or more like mumble to me, so I had great difficulty in understanding him at times. Raymond had no problems at times, but had to struggle couple of times to really listen to him. Papa is 89 years old.
After Papa, we visited Aunt June for almost 3 hours.....when we get together, we can talk up a storm! I never really had any problems talking with June, but this time around, I was able to hear her voice more than before... so it made the conversation flow much easier.
Next pit stop was to visit Uncle Garth, but nobody was home, so off we go to visit Uncle David.... and this ended up as our last pit stop. Aunt Linda and I stayed in the house, while Raymond and David went into the men's garage, ya all know what that means. It was so funny, I just realized this AFTER the visit, more likely on the next day that Linda still continued to speak to me in her "higher than normal" volume after so many years of talking to me loudly. I guess it is a habit she soon will need to learn to adjust with me. I am sure she's the first one, but she won't be the last one.
So after seeing my relatives for the first time with my CI, made me realize it is a wonderful gadget! It works, and it is certainly SO worth it. I was extremely happy to hear Grammie's voice again so clearly. It "almost" brought tears to my eyes.
While thinking about up home.... and I felt like I was in a "timeless" zone... you know what I mean? Time stood still for a couple of years. Honestly! Things have never changed at Papa's house. I am pretty sure I have not been in the house for at least a year and half, and I felt like the last time I visited there was like a month ago. I took a "peek" in Grammie Sweezey's bedroom and nothing in there has moved or changed since she passed away 2 years ago. Just by looking in that room, you would think she was still around. I really miss her lots! :(
Ah, I am getting nostalgic.... so better end this before I bore you to death..... ;)
Until next time.....
Saturday, 1 November 2008
Small update - noise reduction program and few tidbits
Tried the 2 noise reduction programs switches on my CI processor at work, and soon found out that switch #3 works best for me. It really reduces the noise level, but I do still hear the noises around me and in the background, but not as loud as it was before. I had too much simulation going on and it was making me extremely tired, and found a great difference with the noise reduction program.
However, one thing I noted with switch #3, the voices are not as clear and a little dull. That is okay as I work pretty independantly majority of the day.
Once I leave work, I go back to switch #1, which is for normal daily usage.
Last Friday, I met up with a friend of mine and she mentioned that she noticed I was talking a bit louder than a whisper now. That's good... hope it continues to improve. Or maybe it was because I had the volume down. I must check the next time someone says something about my voice level, and will check where the volume number is at.
Right now, I am having a heck of a time looking for a simple children's read-along book with a CD. They do have them in the stores, but they are more for teens, etc... I am going to drop in at Scholar's Choice/Moyer's on Monday after work to see if they have any. Keeping my fingers crossed as I would like to start practicing my listening/speech skills.
The speech therpist sent me a list of words for me to practice, and a friend will work on this with me, plus will get Mom/sister to help out as well.
Now, onward to Raymond. Really, there is not much to report from his end these days. He is doing extremely well. His CI is at the most comfortable level and he is hearing things pretty normally rather than the loudness he experienced in the previous months. Music is coming along well and he is picking up alot of words. He finally is able who the music artist is when it comes on.
Remember a few months ago, he tried out the bluetooth for his cell phone and he tried the MaxIT brand. It didn't pan out well for him, so he returned the product back to the company. Someday, not now, he will try another bluetooth thingy.
One thing we both still do not like...... is folks calling our names behind our backs testing us out. People don't realize that we DO hear the voices, but we do not realize it is for us. This has happened to me at work a couple of times, how do you expect me to hear my name with all that noise in the background, especially with the white noise?? Forget it.....
Every Wednesday night, we attend Bible Study over at the Lakeview Manor senior citizens/nursing home as they have allowed us to use their roomy chapel and large TV for our studies. There's all kinds of noises in that place!!! I can hear the buzzer's going off at the nursing station. Last week, while we were watching a session on the DVD, all of sudden Raymond and I heard a noise and I kind of looked over at Grace and shot my eyebrows upward. She laughed at me, as I am sure it was quite the sight that Raymond and I were the only ones that heard something while the other deafies watched the DVD. :)
Until next time.....
However, one thing I noted with switch #3, the voices are not as clear and a little dull. That is okay as I work pretty independantly majority of the day.
Once I leave work, I go back to switch #1, which is for normal daily usage.
Last Friday, I met up with a friend of mine and she mentioned that she noticed I was talking a bit louder than a whisper now. That's good... hope it continues to improve. Or maybe it was because I had the volume down. I must check the next time someone says something about my voice level, and will check where the volume number is at.
Right now, I am having a heck of a time looking for a simple children's read-along book with a CD. They do have them in the stores, but they are more for teens, etc... I am going to drop in at Scholar's Choice/Moyer's on Monday after work to see if they have any. Keeping my fingers crossed as I would like to start practicing my listening/speech skills.
The speech therpist sent me a list of words for me to practice, and a friend will work on this with me, plus will get Mom/sister to help out as well.
Now, onward to Raymond. Really, there is not much to report from his end these days. He is doing extremely well. His CI is at the most comfortable level and he is hearing things pretty normally rather than the loudness he experienced in the previous months. Music is coming along well and he is picking up alot of words. He finally is able who the music artist is when it comes on.
Remember a few months ago, he tried out the bluetooth for his cell phone and he tried the MaxIT brand. It didn't pan out well for him, so he returned the product back to the company. Someday, not now, he will try another bluetooth thingy.
One thing we both still do not like...... is folks calling our names behind our backs testing us out. People don't realize that we DO hear the voices, but we do not realize it is for us. This has happened to me at work a couple of times, how do you expect me to hear my name with all that noise in the background, especially with the white noise?? Forget it.....
Every Wednesday night, we attend Bible Study over at the Lakeview Manor senior citizens/nursing home as they have allowed us to use their roomy chapel and large TV for our studies. There's all kinds of noises in that place!!! I can hear the buzzer's going off at the nursing station. Last week, while we were watching a session on the DVD, all of sudden Raymond and I heard a noise and I kind of looked over at Grace and shot my eyebrows upward. She laughed at me, as I am sure it was quite the sight that Raymond and I were the only ones that heard something while the other deafies watched the DVD. :)
Until next time.....
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Cheryl's October 2008 mapping session
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....
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....
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