Don't Be Scared!!!!!!!

Yes! I actually am going to mosey over here and lay down a few words! Since last we spoke.....

At my March 14 appointment with Meg, she stuck me in the booth to see how I measured up at the one year mark. We all know how much I love the booth!! However, it is nice to see how much things have changed. With the sentences, I got 35 out of 52 words correct, for a score of 67%. There were 3 sentences that I got completely right. For the word list (which is much harder), I got 11 out of 25 right, which is 44%. I got 47 out of 75 phonemes (partial words), which is 63%. Coming right along! This is a big improvement from the way things were before!

We keep making changes and some of them I just don't like. Sometimes it seems like things are not as good as they were at a previous time. So we keep trying this and trying that! About a month ago, Meg was trying different tones that corresponded with certain electrodes. There were some high pitches, which are the last electrodes, that I actually felt before I heard them! It set off a pain in my head! She thinks it's possible that I may have never heard in those ranges and therefore the nerve and my brain are having a hard time processing them. So, she set me up with a program that cut off the last 2 electrodes and another program that cut off the last 3. I had to see how that worked. Plus, she left the current program that I had been using.

I couldn't really say which of the 2 programs I liked better (with the electrodes cut off), but after using those for a while, I switched back to my original program (with all electrodes firing) and really noticed a difference! The original was worser!!! Yes, worser!! It really did kind of shock me.

So, back to Meg I went last Friday. We are now trying the program with the last 2 'trodes cut off. AND she stuck be back in that da-gone booth!! This time I got 49 out of 57 words which is 86%!!! WooHoo!! I got 7 of the sentences completely right! So, things are still improving! However, for the single word test, things have not changed much. For the words, I had 44% and 69% for the phonemes. She said we need to work on increasing some of the low tones without them taking over the other frequencies. I guess we'll be working on that later.

She has given me homework. Oh, I love homework. Rick has to read to me while I follow along. We need to do this most days of the week for at least 15 minutes. Then, after about 3 weeks, I am to listen only.....no following the words. This helps me work on my hearing skills. The more practicing I do, the better things should get.

So, that's where we are right now. I don't go back to Meg for 3 months, unless I feel the need to. If I don't like this program or feel that something needs to be changed, then I give her a buzz and she'll work on me some more! Poor Meg. I do feel sorry for the poor girl.

February 27, 2008

Happy Anniversary to Me!! Happy Anniversary to Me!! Happy Anniversary to Meeeeeeee!! Can you believe it has been one year since my surgery??!!! Wow! Where does the time go??

Of course I get asked how things are going. But also if I am happy I had the surgery. Do I regret having the surgery? Would I do the other ear?

Things are going very well. YES I’m happy I had the surgery! No regrets whatsoever. But no plans to do the other ear at this time.

I can truly say that I am very happy I had the cochlear implant surgery. I hear so much more than I used to be able to. It still amazes me sometimes the things I hear. Things I could not hear a year ago. But (there’s always a “but,” isn’t there), I am not where I had hoped I would be. I really thought I would be hearing much better by this time....being able to pick up more things, more words, more music, going to movies without captioning.....I know that things will continue to change and continue to get better. I’m not disappointed, I just had high hopes! One day those things may come.....but then again, they may not.

It’s still an exciting journey!!! At this time I have no plans to do the other ear. That ear picks up the bass sounds that my implant is not getting. The two ears work together pretty good. I think if I took away my regular ear I would not hear as well. So, for the time being, I’ll just stay the way I am. Also, it used to be so weird....I would definitely hear from a particular ear. It was very divided....but kind of cool too! It was like I would hear some stuff from one ear and other things from the other ear. Now, things just blend. I guess my brain has adapted and decided to put the two sounds together. Works for me! However, I can still tell what I’m hearing from which ear, but I have to think about it and pay attention. As I’m strolling through my day, I don’t have 2 sided hearing anymore.

I know things are still gradually changing, but they come on slowly and I don’t really notice them until one day I realize that Hey! I didn’t use to be able to hear that! Or I notice that something has a better sound. Such as music. Music has a looooooooooooong ways to go!…but it is much better than it used to be. I get more variance and more of a tune. A lot will depend on the song. Is it a song with lots of “noise” or more of a simple song without a lot going on? But it just hit me today that not too long ago I wasn’t getting any of it at all. It’s just a sloooooooooooow process....at least for me. I am so jealous of the other folks who get hooked up and can hear so quickly. You know...they kind of tick me off!!! :-)

So, all in all it’s been great! There are still things we need to work on and things that need to be changed. I go back to Meg in a couple of weeks for another tweaking. We’ll have to see what needs to be switched around. I’m also sure there will be testing done. She’ll put me in that booth!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I hate the booth!!! But after it’s all done, it’s cool to see the changes on paper. So, I’ll let you know what I find out.....it could be good, it could be bad, it could be downright U G L Y!!!!

I would have to encourage anyone who has a bad hearing problem to consider a cochlear implant. It can really change your life! Get evaluated, do the research, talk to the doctor, talk to those who have one, but really ponder the idea!!

As always, THANKS to everyone who keeps me on their prayer list!!

I can’t wait to see what is ahead for me in the upcoming year!! WOOHOO!!!

Is That Bass I Hear??

Yes!! Oh My!! I have probably mentioned in a previous post somewhere, but just to make sure, I'll rehash. I don't hear bass sounds with my implant. For me to explain it doesn't really make a lot of sense. I can tell a man's voice and things like that, but if a truck rumbles by, I don't hear the rumble. Well, not with my implant. Where I really notice it is with music. With my regular ear, I do hear the bass sounds so therefore I know it's there and I know I'm not getting it with my implant. This is one of those things that Meg has tried to straighten out, but it's just not been happening.

Well, on my way home this evening, I put in a Barry Manilow cd. Don't you just love Barry??!!!! Anyway, I'm listening to see if music is getting any better. I was a little shocked!!! I thought I picked up some of the bass!! So I plugged up my regular ear, ran back the cd and listened again..........YES!!! It was there!! No, it still doesn't sound real bass-y, but I'm picking it up!! Usually, it's just not there. If it's a bass guitar playing, I just don't hear a thing with my implant. But it's starting to come through!!! WOOHOO!!!! I need to let Meg know....she will be sooooo excited!!!

Then I threw in some Billy Joel.....got some bass there too!!! Life is good!

Hopefully it will keep getting better and HOPEFULLY one day I'll really hear music the way it's suppose to be. I'm headed in that direction!!

Oh, by the way......Jennifer and Cynthia are true smart alecks. Just thought you might want to know.

I'm Rested.....Well, Somewhat

Ok, let's see....what's been going on. Oh heck, it's been 3 whole months!! How in the world am I suppose to remember??!!! I don't remember what I had for lunch! And I have to look down to know what I wore today. It's really very sad.

Well, while we were at the beach (oh man, that was soooooooooooooooooo long ago!!), I did hear the whoosh whoosh of the waves. But let me say, we barely spent any time at the beach! We only spent one afternoon hanging out at the beach and the whole time we were playing in the sand with the girls. I literally had to stop for a moment to see what I heard. I was too busy with the girls!! Then later in the week, while riding bikes, we rode down the beach. Man, oh man, how I miss being there!! I should have taken more time to realize exactly what I heard. Maybe I need to go back!!!

On another day of bike riding, we were traveling down one of those beautiful lanes. You know, the winding road, the big trees making a canopy, the big southern clubhouse that looked like a plantation home.....it was absolutely beautiful!!! Anyway, while moseying down the lane, I heard a weird noise. Asked Rick what it was and he said a crow in the trees!

I can't remember much else from the trip. If something comes to mind I'll let you know!

In December Meg wanted me to come in for a "special" appointment when the Advanced Bionics rep came through. She passes by every few months and will see people who have issues to see if she can help with the programming. Well, we all know I am issue laden!!! So, in I go. Poor Rick missed this appt and he would have loved it! There were the 2 audiologists from UK, 2 women from AB and another girl.....not sure who she was. They hooked me up and they tried this and they tried that and how about this, no try that.....on and on and on. The AB rep says we need to try different things, push the limits, see what happens. So, when I left there, I had a new program. Rick says he could tell right off that I wasn't understanding things as well. When they change a program, and especially when there are big changes, the brain has to adjust. So, it took a few weeks, but I was hearing better again! A woman at work even mentioned that she could tell I was hearing better.

One person that I really have a hard time with is our sweet little pastor at church. For some reason he is very hard for me to understand. But finally a few weeks ago he started coming in much clearer!! Woohoo!! For 2 Sundays, I caught pretty much everything he said!! But then.........you know, there's always a "but." I went back to Meg last week for another tweaking. She didn't change a whole lot (I think), but expanded a few things. Well, this Sunday I didn't understand Jon as well again. I caught some things here and there, but missed a lot. Hopefully he'll be coming in clear again before too long!! Love that little fellow!!

Oh! I got one of those singing Christmas cards for Cynthia and Adam. I can never really "hear" those things......and music is still bad, but anyway, I got one that had the song Feliz Navidad in it. Well, lo and behold, I could hear the whole thing!! Come on now....EVERYBODY sing!!.....Feliz Navidad..bum, bum, bum, bum....Feliz Navidad, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, Feliz Navidad blah, blah, blah, blah......not sure what the words are. You get the idea. I love that song. It makes me dance!!

Is there anything else? Probably so. I'm trying to remember 3 months worth!

Another thing, since my last tweaking, I'm catching a few words of people's conversations around me at work. (I'm trying to listen to the guy that sits in the next cubicle over!) Or listen to people in the walkway. I'll catch a word here and a word there. Normally I don't catch anything! Soon I'll be eavesdropping on all the juicy conversations!!!

I've made a couple of phone calls to set up doctor's appointments. Yes, I was nervous, but I did good! Woohoo, watch me go!!!

So, things are still coming along. I have a looooooong ways to go, but improvements are still happening and will continue for a long time to come.

So, Jennifer and kids, and everybody else hanging around this blog, please keep me in your prayers! Don't give up on me!!

Fabio, Fabio, Where For Art Thou Fabio!?

Friends.......well, I thought I had some, but there I was at the beach......been there for 3 months now.....stuck in a rip tip!!! Striving to stay afloat. Trying to survive. Did anybody pull me in to shore?? Oh nooooooooooo. At one point I thought I saw Fabio pass by......I screamed...FAAAABIO......FAAAAABIO...... He didn't even glance over. So, as usual, I had to save myself. Took me 3 months but here I am. Once I catch my breath, I'll let you know how things are going.

Miss Fruity Patooty

ps - if this leaves you scratching your head and saying what??... check out a December 22, 2007 post from a dear old friend, Jennifer, on her blog.... There's a link over on the side....Jennifer's Blog.....that kind of makes sense, doesn't it?!! She's a true friend.