When I walked into my office yesterday, there was a surprise waiting for me. On my desk, there was this beautiful potted fuchsia orchid. In front of the orchid, there was a card. I opened it. It said on the front, "Yay for you"! The inside of the card said a congratulatory message, and everyone in my office signed it, and they were congratulating me on receiving my second cochlear implant. I was so glad nobody was there to see my tears. I was really touched. The gesture was totally unexpected.
Easing back into work has been more tiring than I thought. I have been battling allergies, sneezing, and dealing with a tender right ear. The incision has just about healed. I returned to the cochlear clinic today and got "tweaked" again.
Sounds are not wild and crazy, and speech is understandable as long as I'm lipreading. The speech discrimination without captioning is improving, but nowhere am I ready for a gab session on a smart phone just yet. It is a relief to have both ears implanted now and activated.
The balance issues have just about gone, but I still have touches of wooziness when I get out of bed in the morning.
Music is fine. Lyrics still sound scratchy, but words will come through clearly every now and then.
I had my Magellan GPS in my car when I went to the cochlear clinic. I can understand some of the verbal instructions now, and the GPS now has an audible bell that I can hear when I am getting ready to turn onto a street.
I had forgotten how tiring it is getting used to a cochlear implant. Yesterday my ears were battling each other in order to be the dominant ear. It truly is a brain thing. You cannot force hearing new sounds.
It is noisy. I hear more environmental noise from within my townhouse. I can hear myself rubbing my hands. I didn't know you could hear that. I am definitely hearing out of both ears, there is no question about that.
I am sleeping like a baby. The Hearing Dreams have quieted for now.
Hearing with two cochlear implants is such a gift.
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