Everything has a sound

EVERYTHING has a sound. Friday, November 12th, my two sisters and I returned to my CI Audiologist for more "tweaking." She hooked my sound processor up to the computer. I was told again to listen for beeps, tones and to tell her what was the most tolerable. Everybody's voices still sounded a bit like that person was talking underwater, but the clarity of sound was much better. I still cannot understand speech without lip reading. I recognize music when it is being played but don't yet recognize the song or the artist. I now hear distinct sounds like the elevator doors opening and closing.

None of the sounds are loud, overwhelming or anything like that.  Everything is NOISY. I don't have to strain to hear anything. The cochlear implant and sound processor are doing what they are supposed to do.  I do have to listen and figure out what I am "hearing."  My friend came to take me home. She met me at a Ruby Tuesday's restaurant near the airport. My sisters and my friend and I all said our good-byes. My friend and I stopped by her apartment. We went inside. I heard my friend's cats meow for the first time with the implant and recognized it for what it was. The 16 year old cat's meow is "Mah," at a higher frequency. The six month old kitten's meow is "Meee," also at a higher frequency. I couldn't hear the kitten purr, but I could feel it. My friend said he was purring quite loudly.

We stopped at a take-out restaurant and picked up items to take home for dinner. The television was on and NBC news was on.  I was able to understand Brian Williams, the news anchor, for the first time with the implant and without the aid of captioning.  As my friend drove, I was able to identify the sound of vehicles passing in the night. For the first time that my friend and I could ever remember, I was able to carry on a conversation at night in the car with her, sitting beside my friend. The lights from the control panel of the car illuminated her face just enough that I was able to lipread her and respond to the conversation appropriately.

When we reached my home, we had dinner and talked some more. I was tired by the time my friend and I decided to say good night and go to sleep. I wasn't exhausted, but I was tired from Day Two of post-activation.

My friend and I got up this morning, Day Three of activation. She had already made up the sofa bed downstairs and was in the shower in the basement by the time I came downstairs to the kitchen to fix breakfast. I thanked her for everything. She hugged me back and left to go to her son's apartment.

I can hear myself chew food. I can hear the keys of the computer keyboard clicking as I type this blog. I hear my regulator clock ticking. I drove my car for the first time in four weeks. I could hear the car automatically shift gears. I could hear the door locks unlocking and lock when I used my remote key control.  I went to a small grocery store to pick up a few items. I could hear the wheels of the grocery carts on the floor.  No more grocery cart collisions!  I could hear people come up behind me and move around.  I could hear the cashier scan individual items and hear "beeps" everytime an item got scanned.

I experienced no vertigo or dizziness on the interstate last night, nor did I have any sense of imbalance. I can hear leaves crunching under my feet as I walk. I am more steady on my feet now than I can ever remember.

Everything has a sound. My world is now "noisy," post implant.  Hearing is such a gift to me. I feel like it is my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and New Year's rolled into one.  Each sound also has a "flavor," and as I process each new sound or recognize sounds from long ago, like the cat's meow, I bank it away into my hearing memory.