Three months after activation - what progress I have made

Today is a holiday for me. I was glad for a three day weekend. I indulged myself and watched "The View" earlier this morning. The show featured a new "tween" group called The Big Rush. This group sang their hit song. " I wanna be your B B B Boyfriend."  The kids were cute.  The music had a percussive beat, and the song was cute. While the group of tweens or teenagers who sang this song are probably old enough to be my sons, I have a young enough soul that I could enjoy the music, and did.

Musically "hearing" with a cochlear implant, three months after activation, I am likely to enjoy hearing a electric guitar solo, a piano recital, a drum solo, any kind of music that doesn't have lyrics.  While voices sound more human, it still sounds to me like people are talking or singing with a scratchy voice. I am waiting for the day when I can hear and understand "a clear voice."

I am still not at the point where I can hear and talk on a landline phone, a cell phone, a cordless phone without the aid of captions.  I can hear snatches of lyrics when listening to CD's, commercial jingles on television, the radio.

I still cannot fully understand speech without the aid of lipreading.  Last week I had a check up with a medical specialist. We hadn't seen each other in 24 months, and I told him that I now had a cochlear implant for my left ear. I showed him my sound processor, and he was impressed.  He asked, "Is it better than hearing with a hearing aid"? and I said , Oh, yes.  Perhaps when we see each other in another 24 months, I will have had the right ear implanted as well.  I would like that.

If I am absolutely still in my kitchen, sitting and listening, I think I can hear birds.  I am not absolutely sure, but it is a high, twittering, almost tinkling sound.  I think the next time I think I hear twittering, I will look outside and see if a bird is perched on a branch on my crape myrtle tree.

Does wind make a "whooshing sound"? If that is the case, then I definitely heard wind on Saturday while inside my townhouse. It was definitely windy.  I had to go outside and tie down the covers on my patio furniture, and somewhat anchor down the furniture.

I discovered that clocks have different ticking sounds. No one clock is alike.

Hearing is such a gift.

A Noisy February

I hear more environmental sounds. The sound of my shoes squishing over saturated wet ground. My boots crunching over snow. Outside construction noises as I work from my office window. People walking and talking outside in the corridor of my office with the door closed. If it is quiet, I can hear my co-worker's phone ringing in the next office. I hear the rustling of paper.

 I listen to the radio as I drive. I can hear snatches of words. Speech and lyrics are still challenging. It depends on who I am talking/listening to.  I am not at the point where I can talk on the telephone or cell phone without captions.  Lipreading and listening simultaneously definitely helps.

I had my nails and a pedicure done this weekend. I could hear the water swirling around in the pedicure chair. I could hear the nail technician's tools as she worked, the clipping of the nail clippers, the sound of the nail buffer brushing over my toenails and nails.

I can now hear some things drop, depending on what is dropped.  Before I got my left ear implanted with a cochlear implant, if I dropped anything, a hearing person would call it to my attention.

The Grammy Awards are on television tonight. Another opportunity to hear some singing, along with lipreading the singers! 

Enjoy Valentine's Day tomorrow.  As for me, I'll continue to enjoy experiencing the gift of hearing with my cochlear implant. I am still stunned every night when I take off my sound processor at night, just how deaf I am.  I am grateful that deaf babies and young deaf children now have the option to be implanted with cochlear implants now.  They have opportunities that were not available to me at that age. 

Amazing.