A much beloved Uncle by marriage passed away August 29th. He had battled multiple myeloma for nearly two and a half years, and was 83 years old when he died. My two sisters, a nephew, and I flew out separately down South last Thursday to remember and honor him. This was my first trip on an airplane post cochlear implant. I walked through the metal detectors at the airport and no alarms blared or flashed. I carried my cochlear implant travel case with my battery charger and electric cord with interchangeable plugs and placed that travel case to be screened through the x-ray machine. Nobody asked for my medical implant ID card. I admit this was a source of anxiety for me despite being reassured by cochlear implant veterans that flying shouldn't be an issue with a cochlear implant. To my relief, it wasn't, and that was one less thing to worry about.
After landing at my destination, I picked up my rental SUV and drove the 40 minutes to my Aunt's house. She was glad to see me and we visited a while before I left for my cousin's house to change clothes and get ready for the visitation. I last saw my Aunt and Uncle last July, 2010. I had visited my aunt and uncle for a weekend last summer to celebrate my Aunt's 80th birthday - a surprise visit on my part.
Thinking I knew where the funeral home was, I had neglected to look for landmarks - and drove right past it. I stopped at a convenience store and asked for directions to the funeral home, knowing I had missed it.
The convenience store clerk immediately recognized I was deaf and simultaneously signed and spoke to me. So much for passing as a hearing person with a cochlear implant. Not happening! I am still a deaf person with a cochlear implant!
That should satisfy the Deafies who think I am no longer "Deaf" because I have a cochlear implant. The Hearing World still views me as deaf, and I didn't even identify myself to the convenience store clerk as a deaf person. Go Figure.
Once at the funeral home, there was a long line of people waiting to greet my Aunt and my cousins, their wives and my Uncle and Aunt's three grand children. I walked up and saw the mother in law of one of my cousins. We greeted each other and hugged. The gathering was a bit noisy, but I could pretty much follow the conversation and respond appropriately. I saw one of my now retired Freshman English Professors from the University, and we hugged and talked. I showed her my cochlear implant sound processor and explained how it worked and how life changing it has been for me. I saw old neighbors and friends and we talked. My younger sister came in, and we hugged.
Our older sister arrived that night with her son, in from the West Coast at 1:30 AM Friday morning. My cousin, his wife and my sisters stayed up talking until around 5 AM. Knowing there was a 11:00 AM memorial service at church, I gave up and turned into bed around 2 AM.
Friday morning we all got up, dressed and went to church. My Uncle and Aunt's three grandchildren spoke of what they remembered of their beloved Papa, and I had absolutely no trouble hearing them. I had no difficulty understanding the pastor's homily nor the singing of the choir. I heard the music for the first time post implant, and to my surprise, it didn't sound the way I "remembered" it. I had to remind myself that hearing aids had amplified sound of a piano, organ, other musical instrument, and what I was hearing was at "normal" volume.
After the service, we went downstairs for refreshments which the church family had prepared for us, and I mingled around. I had no difficulty in carrying on conversations. We said our good byes and I drove to my cousin's house, ditched the church clothes for bare feet, shorts and a shirt. Later, one of my friends from deaf school days came by and I showed her my cochlear implant sound processor and explained how it worked. She was delighted for me.
Later, sitting with my family, Aunt, cousins, second cousins, outside that evening, I could hear the fire in the fire pit, the logs snapping, crackling, popping. I heard the cascading waterfall of the pool. I had asked one of my cousins earlier if the chirping noise were birds. He said he didn't think so.
The next night, I heard the chirping again, and told my younger sister, who told me that the chirping noises were crickets! She said it was a relaxing sound, and I said I didn't know if it was relaxing, but I was glad she identified the chirping sound for me! I could understand snatches of the conversation as the evening got dark, but still missed some of what was said. I decided to just focus on listening as auditory training. Still, when I think what my journey has been like for nearly ten months, it has been simply amazing. From first hearing voices as sounding like people were talking underwater, to understanding speech to scratchy singing, that's pretty good!
I am not yet at the point where I can fully understand a phone conversation without the aid of captioning or use a cell phone. I can definitely hear a person talking on a cell phone from a distance, but I cannot fully comprehend speech a hundred percent. I haven't yet tried out a cell phone to see if I can understand the conversation.
I hear airport announcements at the airport, but cannot fully comprehend what is being said. I still have to ask for clarification if I do not understand something. I can understand the flight attendants announce the boarding when a person holds up that mike thing with a cord. I can even understand part of the safety drill being spoken several rows down from the flight attendant, and that's progress.
We all reluctantly said our good byes and returned home. We all returned to work. When I was leaving the subway station earlier this evening, I could hear a musical instrument over the noise of home bound commuters and the road noise. As I approached the exit, I realized I was hearing a small harp being played by a young woman. I paused and listened and could pick out high to low sounds from that harp.
What a unexpected treat!
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