Last night we went to the movies. Before my CI, we had almost totally stopped going to any movie theater that did not offer a captioned film. So last night was an experiment. We saw The Iron Lady and both of us were blown away by Meryl Streep's performance. I understood almost everything that was said on screen and a lot of what was said from off the parameters of the screen itself. That was a huge improvement!
Then this morning I initiated a conversation with a stranger in the ladies room at our gym. It didn't occur to me how unusual that was until I was well into the conversation. Then I realized that I had been avoiding conversations like that because I could not understand much of what was said and often didn't want to explain that I had a hearing problem. I felt like I was coming out of my shell. That, too, is progress.
One other observation, on the rong-chang listening practice website, I noticed that some of the stories were being read by the familiar female reader but that they sounded as if she were speaking down a tunnel or through a microphone. They were more difficult for me to understand completely. I needed to listen to some a second time and occasionally even to look at some of the words before I could understand them via hearing.
That's the latest.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Learning more
I found a terrific site for practicing listening. It is a program for people trying to learn English as a second language, and it is perfect for new CI users. It is http://www.rong-chang.com. Scrolling down the main page, you can find stories grouped by level of complexity. I started at low intermediate (I think) and am listening to one story after another. I find that I can understand almost everything without looking at the text, which is there in front of me. There are female and male readers, both of whom enunciate well. It is a great "find." In addition, when I go back in, after a pause of some kind, I can pick up where I left off. The titles change color when I have listened to those stories.
Talk about listening, my audi tested my ability to hear sounds via my CI. She wanted me to score between 40 and 15 db; I scored between 30 and 10, well into the "normal hearing" range. She was happy and I am thrilled!
She also recommended another practice site. It is The Listening Room, a service of Advanced Bionics. It comes up via a Google search. I haven't tried it yet.
I do find that my hearing deteriorates when I am tired, which I still am more than normal. That deterioration is typical, I understand. I am still bugged by a sore spot on the back of my ear, where the processor battery sits and probably rubs. I am going to try to alleviate that soreness with mole skin. I'll let you know if it helps.
I learned today that my remote does not turn itself off. The processor does. So I must remember to shut it down when I don't need it, like overnight or when it is stashed away in my purse or somewhere.
So here I am, two weeks after activation, absolutely amazed at all I can hear and understand. What a gift this CI is!
Talk about listening, my audi tested my ability to hear sounds via my CI. She wanted me to score between 40 and 15 db; I scored between 30 and 10, well into the "normal hearing" range. She was happy and I am thrilled!
She also recommended another practice site. It is The Listening Room, a service of Advanced Bionics. It comes up via a Google search. I haven't tried it yet.
I do find that my hearing deteriorates when I am tired, which I still am more than normal. That deterioration is typical, I understand. I am still bugged by a sore spot on the back of my ear, where the processor battery sits and probably rubs. I am going to try to alleviate that soreness with mole skin. I'll let you know if it helps.
I learned today that my remote does not turn itself off. The processor does. So I must remember to shut it down when I don't need it, like overnight or when it is stashed away in my purse or somewhere.
So here I am, two weeks after activation, absolutely amazed at all I can hear and understand. What a gift this CI is!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Some observations and experiences
Today was beautiful, sunny and in the mid-60s, so we went out walking. I noticed that when the wind blew, the static sound--similar to what you hear when someone blows directly into a microphone--in my CI was much less overbearing than it had been in my hearing aids. I had wondered how that would be. I'm happy with my new knowledge.
I find that so far I can enjoy classical music better with my regular program than with my "music" program and that classical is much better, more normal, than jazz. The jazz seems to be much more distorted and whiney or tinny in the higher notes. With my regular program I am now able to understand most of the banter on our public radio station and to enjoy the classical music. That's a huge improvement!
I did have an adventure yesterday. When trying to switch programs via my remote, it refused to respond. It stayed black. I put it back into the charger, thinking that maybe the overnight charge had not taken, and left it there for a while. It became fully charged quickly and when I unplugged it, it did open up properly but very quickly it died again, turned black, and refused to respond. I emailed my audi in a panic. Responding quickly, she made one brief suggestion and then said that if I still had trouble I should get hold of Cochlear customer support. I did that and the Cochlear employee walked me through a basic restart of my remote. That worked and I have not had any further problems with it...yet.
One thing I learned during this process was that I was not turning the remote off correctly; rather I was waiting for it to turn itself off, as it does after a few seconds of inactivity. I don't know if that was causing a problem. A second thing I learned was the difference between "tapping" and "holding" the Cochlear button.
Next task: listening practice.
I find that so far I can enjoy classical music better with my regular program than with my "music" program and that classical is much better, more normal, than jazz. The jazz seems to be much more distorted and whiney or tinny in the higher notes. With my regular program I am now able to understand most of the banter on our public radio station and to enjoy the classical music. That's a huge improvement!
I did have an adventure yesterday. When trying to switch programs via my remote, it refused to respond. It stayed black. I put it back into the charger, thinking that maybe the overnight charge had not taken, and left it there for a while. It became fully charged quickly and when I unplugged it, it did open up properly but very quickly it died again, turned black, and refused to respond. I emailed my audi in a panic. Responding quickly, she made one brief suggestion and then said that if I still had trouble I should get hold of Cochlear customer support. I did that and the Cochlear employee walked me through a basic restart of my remote. That worked and I have not had any further problems with it...yet.
One thing I learned during this process was that I was not turning the remote off correctly; rather I was waiting for it to turn itself off, as it does after a few seconds of inactivity. I don't know if that was causing a problem. A second thing I learned was the difference between "tapping" and "holding" the Cochlear button.
Next task: listening practice.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
An update
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.
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.
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.
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