Last week was not fun, but I woke up this morning feeling better and hope I will stay that way.
I had my second audiologist's appointment on Friday and came away with a single new program and four different ways to modify it--focus, noise, music and everyday. This program does not give me the clarity I had with the louder ones I used last week so I find that I cannot understand as much on the car radio or on TV as I did with the earlier ones. But I know that I must just experiment and see what works best for me. I am trying to do that.
I find it easier to put the processor on. Today I succeeded on my first try. I have bought some mole skin to put on the sore spot behind my ear but haven't affixed it yet. I got an explanation for the sensitivity on my ear on the side that was implanted: the ear is bent forward while the operation is done behind it and then bent back into place. It is not exactly "turned inside out" as I thought I had heard, but it is close. (-:
Using the Kindle to practice listening is not as simple as I first thought. My audiologist is recommending that I read and listen to one paragraph and then reverse the Kindle to the beginning of that paragraph and just listen to it. I'm not sure I can manipulate my Kindle that finitely and, until today, I haven't have the energy to try. I will try that later today. When I try to close my eyes and just listen for a while, I lose my place and have a hard time finding it again. I may find it is better to use the other programs that are available through Cochlear and the recommendations I've kept on my email of things other recipients have found useful, like listening to children's books being read and calling the weather stations.
I'm a little bit disappointed in the amount of practice I've put in so far, but I will get there. That's it for today.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Today
This morning we were expecting a painter to arrive at 9:00 to discuss a paint job. So we dutifully got up, straightened up, etc. and then I started to put on my CI. Except I couldn't! For 20 minutes I fished around for the magnet to suck onto the implant, Lee helping me for about half the time, but no matter where I moved it there was no "grab." Finally, in disgust, I set it down on the counter and answered the door, deaf on the right side.
We discussed the project and then the painter left and I went back to my CI task. It worked on my second go-round! And it's been successfully hanging where it belongs since then. But what frustration!
I'm getting the hang of listening to my Kindle read while I look at the text. I can now turn the Kindle on and off when I want to and get it to pick up where we last stopped when I get back to it again. I try sometimes to not look at the text, but just to listen. That's difficult for me because I do not understand a lot and then I can't find where I am in the text. So, for now, I think I need both to hear and to read. And there's still a lot I don't know about the Kindle.
But mostly I'm going forward, not backward, so that's progress.
We discussed the project and then the painter left and I went back to my CI task. It worked on my second go-round! And it's been successfully hanging where it belongs since then. But what frustration!
I'm getting the hang of listening to my Kindle read while I look at the text. I can now turn the Kindle on and off when I want to and get it to pick up where we last stopped when I get back to it again. I try sometimes to not look at the text, but just to listen. That's difficult for me because I do not understand a lot and then I can't find where I am in the text. So, for now, I think I need both to hear and to read. And there's still a lot I don't know about the Kindle.
But mostly I'm going forward, not backward, so that's progress.
Monday, January 23, 2012
More new understanding
Well, I'm home from the internist's without an answer to what is causing the fever, but things are being cultured to get better clues. Meanwhile, I am not feeling bad.
So, I heard both the single ping and the multiple pings in the backing-up car. I understood a lot of the weather and traffic update on the car radio (it's been a long time since I could understand any of that). I heard the nurse summon me into the doctor's inner sanctum and I could understand much of what my doctor was saying to me even when she was facing her computer, not me. All of this is progress.
Next, it's Kindle listening time.
So, I heard both the single ping and the multiple pings in the backing-up car. I understood a lot of the weather and traffic update on the car radio (it's been a long time since I could understand any of that). I heard the nurse summon me into the doctor's inner sanctum and I could understand much of what my doctor was saying to me even when she was facing her computer, not me. All of this is progress.
Next, it's Kindle listening time.
The good, the bad and the ugly?
The bad is that I have fever again. The ugly may be what's causing it. I have an 11:30 appointment with my internist and, hopefully, will find out then.
Meanwhile, though, I have had lots of success with my activated implant so far this week. I came home with 4 programs in my processor. I left the audiologist's office in the 2nd, with a weaker one to fall back on if I felt I needed it. I am now in the 3rd, half-way up in volume and I'm sure I'll end up in the 4th before I go back to the audiologist on Friday. I am supposed to increase the volume and the program as much as I can.
I have only minimal squeaks and scrapes. Most of the conversations I hear I can understand as just that, some with a high-pitched Darth Vader tinge. I spent Saturday night as part of a family celebration in a large, noisy steak house. I could understand some of the conversation around our table, but by no means all. I did clearly hear the waitress describe the specials at the table next to ours, and I could have repeated them back to our table, but when the waiter was describing them to us, I could not understand him. Go figure! I'm used to having more trouble with women's voices than with men's.
I heard the ping when my husband backed our car up yesterday morning, signifying that he was getting close to something behind him. I haven't heard that for years!
At a family brunch yesterday with four jabbering kids under the age of 7, I heard more Darth Vader than at any other time. I had lots of trouble understanding what the kids were saying, but not as much as I normally do.
After my initial difficulty putting the processor and magnet thing on my head on Saturday morning, I have now succeeded several times, but never the first time I try. It usually takes me half a dozen attempts. It is really working well but I do have a tender spot on the back of my ear, where it rubs, which I'll need to figure out how to minimize.
I'm also working on using my new Kindle to read to me so I can listen...I have gotten it to work, but I haven't figured out how to stop it except by turning it off and I haven't figured out how to find the words on the screen while the sound is coming out. So that too is not easy. What I was doing yesterday was to read the actual book, which I happen to have, while my Kindle speaks the text to me. But when the phone rang I couldn't figure out how to stop it and so after the call I was faced with backing up so I could pick up where I actually stopped listening or starting over. I started over. Everything seems to be an adventure.
Setting all the pieces up to charge overnight is becoming more routine, so I am more comfortable doing that. There is less mystery in that process, but it's not all clear. I haven't figured out, for example, how to tell if the disposable batteries are out of juice and I haven't figured out a system for rotating the rechargeable batteries so I don't always use the same one. I also don't know if I need to turn the processor on before I try to attach it in place, or not. It seems to work better for me if I do, but I think I read that it doesn't matter. There's a lot to read and remember.
Meanwhile, though, I have had lots of success with my activated implant so far this week. I came home with 4 programs in my processor. I left the audiologist's office in the 2nd, with a weaker one to fall back on if I felt I needed it. I am now in the 3rd, half-way up in volume and I'm sure I'll end up in the 4th before I go back to the audiologist on Friday. I am supposed to increase the volume and the program as much as I can.
I have only minimal squeaks and scrapes. Most of the conversations I hear I can understand as just that, some with a high-pitched Darth Vader tinge. I spent Saturday night as part of a family celebration in a large, noisy steak house. I could understand some of the conversation around our table, but by no means all. I did clearly hear the waitress describe the specials at the table next to ours, and I could have repeated them back to our table, but when the waiter was describing them to us, I could not understand him. Go figure! I'm used to having more trouble with women's voices than with men's.
I heard the ping when my husband backed our car up yesterday morning, signifying that he was getting close to something behind him. I haven't heard that for years!
At a family brunch yesterday with four jabbering kids under the age of 7, I heard more Darth Vader than at any other time. I had lots of trouble understanding what the kids were saying, but not as much as I normally do.
After my initial difficulty putting the processor and magnet thing on my head on Saturday morning, I have now succeeded several times, but never the first time I try. It usually takes me half a dozen attempts. It is really working well but I do have a tender spot on the back of my ear, where it rubs, which I'll need to figure out how to minimize.
I'm also working on using my new Kindle to read to me so I can listen...I have gotten it to work, but I haven't figured out how to stop it except by turning it off and I haven't figured out how to find the words on the screen while the sound is coming out. So that too is not easy. What I was doing yesterday was to read the actual book, which I happen to have, while my Kindle speaks the text to me. But when the phone rang I couldn't figure out how to stop it and so after the call I was faced with backing up so I could pick up where I actually stopped listening or starting over. I started over. Everything seems to be an adventure.
Setting all the pieces up to charge overnight is becoming more routine, so I am more comfortable doing that. There is less mystery in that process, but it's not all clear. I haven't figured out, for example, how to tell if the disposable batteries are out of juice and I haven't figured out a system for rotating the rechargeable batteries so I don't always use the same one. I also don't know if I need to turn the processor on before I try to attach it in place, or not. It seems to work better for me if I do, but I think I read that it doesn't matter. There's a lot to read and remember.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Not a walk in the park
Lest you and I both think this is going to be simple, let me describe how today has gone so far. We woke up to 3 inches of new snow and needed to be at the tennis court less than two hours later. So we dressed for tennis and went outside with our shovels and brooms to clean one car and clear a path. I did not put my processor on for fear that it would fall off and end up in the snow. We cleared enough and planned to head out, just as soon as I could get the processor on. But I couldn't! I fidgeted with it for 15 or 20 minutes, looking at the directions and photos and could not get the magnet to hold over its spot. I simply couldn't find the spot! So I grabbed everything and figured I'd get it on while we drove. I did, finally, and went into the court with only my normal trepidation when I am filling in in a men's game. The sounds I heard at first from the processor were a bit metallic and scratchy, but that soon disappeared and I was hearing just fine.
We played, poorly for the most part, and then suddenly my sound was dead and my processor was lying on the court. It had simply fallen off. I grabbed it, set it on the bench and finished our game without it.
We are back home but I do not have it back on yet. I am about to read everything I have and figure out (hopefully) why I'm having trouble. But I wanted to take you along on this trip and explain a bit about why it seems to be complicated. First, I came home yesterday from the audiologist's with a suitcase (12 x 18 x 6) full of cochlear implant stuff. It contains at least 14 boxes, several CDs, a box full of guides, chargers for everything (rechargeable batteries, remote control, etc.), all of which seem mysterious. I did succeed in hooking up everything last night before I went to bed so that it would all be charged this morning. At least I think I did. Perhaps I was supposed to charge the processor, too. I didn't.
No one warned me that there would be all this stuff and that it would be this complicated, although I have read about magnets not being strong enough to keep the processor in place and about processors suddenly flying off and ending up stuck to some metal bar nearby.
So I am about to begin to wade through this information to learn how to use this wonderful gizmo. I am still absolutely thrilled that I am on this journey and pleased that you are traveling with me.
We played, poorly for the most part, and then suddenly my sound was dead and my processor was lying on the court. It had simply fallen off. I grabbed it, set it on the bench and finished our game without it.
We are back home but I do not have it back on yet. I am about to read everything I have and figure out (hopefully) why I'm having trouble. But I wanted to take you along on this trip and explain a bit about why it seems to be complicated. First, I came home yesterday from the audiologist's with a suitcase (12 x 18 x 6) full of cochlear implant stuff. It contains at least 14 boxes, several CDs, a box full of guides, chargers for everything (rechargeable batteries, remote control, etc.), all of which seem mysterious. I did succeed in hooking up everything last night before I went to bed so that it would all be charged this morning. At least I think I did. Perhaps I was supposed to charge the processor, too. I didn't.
No one warned me that there would be all this stuff and that it would be this complicated, although I have read about magnets not being strong enough to keep the processor in place and about processors suddenly flying off and ending up stuck to some metal bar nearby.
So I am about to begin to wade through this information to learn how to use this wonderful gizmo. I am still absolutely thrilled that I am on this journey and pleased that you are traveling with me.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Activation happened!
Today my cochlear implant was activated. It was an amazing experience! I can't believe how much I understood of what my audiologist said (from behind a black screen). It must have been at least 75%; Lee says 95%.
I have two streams of sounds coming in. One, from the CI side, has the tinny Darth Vader sound everyone else describes and is sometimes offensively scratchy, but not often. The sounds from the other side (with or without the old hearing aid in place there) sound pretty much like sounds have always sounded to me, when I could hear them. If this is just the beginning and things get better from here, it is indeed a miracle! I am feeling very lucky!
My assignment for the next week is to learn about all this new equipment, use my CI and processor whenever I am awake and my hearing aid only occasionally, and listen, listen, listen as I go on with my life. I do not have a specific listening assignment, but I plan to begin listening to a book on my Kindle whenever I have the time.
The initial turn-on process included an electronic, computer-guided trip on each of ten of the 26 electrodes in an attempt to identify the point at which my auditory nerve picked up the sound. Then we mapped how loud it was still comfortable for me and tried to make the volume consistent across the 10 electrodes. It is amazing what this equipment is capable of discerning.
For those of you still along for the ride, thanks for keeping me company and helping to celebrate this day.
I have two streams of sounds coming in. One, from the CI side, has the tinny Darth Vader sound everyone else describes and is sometimes offensively scratchy, but not often. The sounds from the other side (with or without the old hearing aid in place there) sound pretty much like sounds have always sounded to me, when I could hear them. If this is just the beginning and things get better from here, it is indeed a miracle! I am feeling very lucky!
My assignment for the next week is to learn about all this new equipment, use my CI and processor whenever I am awake and my hearing aid only occasionally, and listen, listen, listen as I go on with my life. I do not have a specific listening assignment, but I plan to begin listening to a book on my Kindle whenever I have the time.
The initial turn-on process included an electronic, computer-guided trip on each of ten of the 26 electrodes in an attempt to identify the point at which my auditory nerve picked up the sound. Then we mapped how loud it was still comfortable for me and tried to make the volume consistent across the 10 electrodes. It is amazing what this equipment is capable of discerning.
For those of you still along for the ride, thanks for keeping me company and helping to celebrate this day.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Activation rescheduled
My activation is tentatively rescheduled for next Friday and I'm off to see my internist to try to get help getting rid of whatever I have.
Today's activation cancelled
I woke up with 101.5 degree temperature this morning after feeling hot overnight and getting up very frequently. So my appointment for today has been canceled. It will be rescheduled.
Now I have to figure out how to get rid of whatever I have. I do not feel terrific.
Now I have to figure out how to get rid of whatever I have. I do not feel terrific.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Just waiting
Fewer pains, fewer Tylenol caplets, fewer naps, but otherwise not much new to report. Until Friday, it's just a waiting game.
Friday, January 6, 2012
One week till activation
One week from now I hope to be hearing something through my CI. I have no idea what! I keep thinking about an email that was sent to a member of a group I belong to, from a good friend of hers. She basically said, "I can't wait till you're activated! You're going to hate it!!"
I'm trying to keep that comment in mind so I will not be disappointed when I finally hear something. I'd love to understand language, of course, but if it is just loud noise and I need to work to make sense out of it, that will be okay as long as my expectations are not set too high. I just hope it works somehow!
My cold is almost entirely gone now and I don't sense much of a difference in my ability to carry on one-on-one conversations since before my CI. I dealt with a "genius" at an Apple Store yesterday who was working to fix a problem on my computer and I only had to ask my husband for a translation twice during that interaction. Today a friend was here helping me learn to use my new Kindle so I'll be able to practice listening and I figured out everything she was saying to me, one way or another. That's about the way things went before my implant. So if I am not one of the lucky implantees, and I don't get any benefit from the implant, I will not be much worse off than I was before I tried this.
But I plan to go for the gold--with practice, perseverance, and patience, as advised. I hope to be able to document lots of CI moments, occasions when I am amazed by something I can hear again, but I am trying to recognize and accept that that may take a long time.
I'm trying to keep that comment in mind so I will not be disappointed when I finally hear something. I'd love to understand language, of course, but if it is just loud noise and I need to work to make sense out of it, that will be okay as long as my expectations are not set too high. I just hope it works somehow!
My cold is almost entirely gone now and I don't sense much of a difference in my ability to carry on one-on-one conversations since before my CI. I dealt with a "genius" at an Apple Store yesterday who was working to fix a problem on my computer and I only had to ask my husband for a translation twice during that interaction. Today a friend was here helping me learn to use my new Kindle so I'll be able to practice listening and I figured out everything she was saying to me, one way or another. That's about the way things went before my implant. So if I am not one of the lucky implantees, and I don't get any benefit from the implant, I will not be much worse off than I was before I tried this.
But I plan to go for the gold--with practice, perseverance, and patience, as advised. I hope to be able to document lots of CI moments, occasions when I am amazed by something I can hear again, but I am trying to recognize and accept that that may take a long time.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Moving toward normal
I'm back to driving and carefully donning regular glasses (with two arms). I also walked 2 1/4 miles yesterday with normal, not excessive, sleep last night. I did get up once in the middle of the night to take Tylenol, however, so I am still dealing with the after-effects of the surgery. The pain still comes and goes, jumping around to different spots.
Today marks 16 days after surgery.
Today marks 16 days after surgery.
Monday, January 2, 2012
First new year's resolution
Trying to get back into some kind of exercise regimen, I walked two miles yesterday...and then slept twelve hours last night after a brief afternoon nap. It seems I have a way to go!
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