I made the four-hour trek to my younger sister's house for Christmas. I did well with the drive post-implant. I am with my younger sister, my brother in law and several of my nieces and nephews.
One of my nieces sang and played,"I'm Yours," by Jason Mraz for me on her guitar for me. It sounded like music to me for the first time post-implant. We all went to church Christmas Eve. I met the family of two little girls who had been implanted with cochlear implants. They were visiting family in the area. I also met the 18 year old niece of a pastor at the church where I was visiting. She had been implanted since age 7. She is in college now and was visiting her aunt and uncle over the holidays. All three girls do well with their implants.
Listening to the singing at church, I was able to recognize lyrics here and there. I would recognize the familiar Christmas hymns first before recognizing lyrics. Music with several instruments playing at once still doesn't quite sound like music, but I can pick out the keyboards, guitar. Church was noisy. I had a bit of trouble following conversations, but I am not straining to listen. The cochlear implant and sound processor are doing their job.
It started snowing last night. We are experiencing blizzard conditions, and I may not be able to get home tomorrow. We will see what the roads are like.
I have had quality conversation with three of my nieces, and can converse with the entire family without too much trouble. As the ages of my nieces and nephews vary from age 13 to age 6, the conversations vary. I can understand my six year old nephew a lot better than I did when I was wearing two behind the ear hearing aids.
I think I am progressing post-implant quite nicely. My younger sister's house with five of my nieces and nephews, is indeed noisy. They all have techie toys, Wii games, remote controlled cars, so I hear all kinds of beeps, clicks, whirring noises, and even bickering among the kids. Merry Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment