A lot of folks extended their Memorial Day Holiday through today. I elected to take Amtrak to the Cochlear Center, rather then spend two hours or more inching along in interstate traffic. I drove to the subway station, parked my car, took the subway to the train station. It was noisy, busy and controlled chaos. I explained to the guy at the Information Desk that I was a person with a hearing disability and that I probably wouldn't "hear" the train announcements. This was a better explanation than going into this long-winded explanation that I was a deaf person with two cochlear implants, and while I can technically "hear" the Public Announcement System, understanding the actual announcement was going to be dicey, especially in a noisy environment.
The guy at the information desk told me there would be three consecutive stops, and that at the third stop I was to get off the train. I thanked him and proceeded to the gate. The train was about ten minutes late in arriving at the station. 42 minutes later I arrived at my destination, got off the train and took a taxi to the cochlear center with about 15 minutes to spare until my appointment with the audiologist.
I went to the kiosk and started keying in my information into the computer and verifying my name, address, etc. As I was doing so, I could hear the keys click as I pressed each key in response to the menu.
The good news is that as far as the audiogram is concerned for my right ear, with the cochlear implant, I am hearing where I should be hearing at this stage of hearing with two cochlear implants.
Because I started wearing a hearing aid in my right ear later in life, when it came to speech discrimination for my right ear, I was able to recognize two words and that was it. Understanding speech in my right ear continues to be challenging.
My audiologist and I discussed where I was as far as hearing with two cochlear implants. We went through mapping the right ear cochlear sound processor for my right ear, starting with low frequencies and working up to higher frequencies.
Right away I could hear my audiologists' fingers flying over the keys as she completed each sequence on the computer. I told her what I was hearing, what voices sound like, what noise sounds like. After the session, I said good-bye to my audiologist, as she is going on maternity leave and is expecting a baby (her second) in August.
I made my appointments for August with a substitute Audiologist and left the cochlear clinic. I got in a taxi and went to the train station for my return trip home. The trains were late arriving and departing due to the unusually warm weather. I went ahead and ate lunch at a cafe as the train was not expected to arrive for another hour and a half.
I ended up getting on the train at 2:00 PM instead of at 1:00 PM which made for a long day. I got off the train, made a stop at the women's bathroom and proceeded to the subway station.
One sound that the cochlear implants HASN'T helped with is the crinkling sound of a toilet paper seat liner or sheets of toilet paper. It was 88 degrees today with a heat index of 95. I was unaware that there was still a sheet or so of toilet paper stuck to the inside of my T-shirt over my bottom. A very kind woman came up to me and told me to check my behind. I did. I thanked her profusely.
Note to Self: Please, from now on, do a sweep of your lower back, and bottom and make sure there are NO seat liners or toilet paper sticking to you, especially during hot weather!!
So much for bilateral hearing. I still can't hear stuck toilet paper on me. It WAS noisy in the bathroom!
On the way home, I turned on National Public Radio and resolutely listened to the chatter, catching a word or a sentence here and there. I could hear applause and individual hands clapping as well. The thought occurred to me, you know how they have laugh tracks on television? Is that applause on National Public Radio real or canned? I have no idea.
I will have to ask someone that question. Hearing with two cochlear implants is priceless, even with stuck toilet paper on me!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Hearing with a Cochlear Implant is absolutely a Brain Thing
Hearing with a Cochlear Implant is absolutely a Brain Thing. Let that thought sink in for a minute.
Recently I flashed back on the memory of my visit with my surgeon, August 2010. After telling me the risks of the surgery, he told me that getting fully used to a cochlear implant could take up to two and a half years.
I thought to myself, I'm a person who has worn hearing aids most of her life, the doctor doesn't get it that I am a high functioning deaf woman. Getting used to a cochlear implant will be challenging but it will be a slam dunk for me compared to someone who hasn't worn hearing aids for years.
WRONG. NOT GONNA HAPPEN!
The good doctor is absolutely correct. One year and seven months later after that initial Activation Day, November, 2010, my doctor knew what he was talking about.
The more recent the hearing loss, the more hearing memory you have.
The biggest mistake that someone can make is to put the auditory rehabilitation process in overdrive and race to the finish line. You set yourself up for disappointment that way. It is kind of like being back in school: So and so didn't study for the test and missed the last two classes and got an A. So and so studied his ass off, took copious notes, studied for three nights straight, and got a C.
You literally are learning to hear all over again. I cannot stress this enough. The harder you push yourself with listening to National Public Radio, music, "listening" exercises, the bigger the frustration and getting overtired. That's a good way to bring on a migraine. That hasn't happened to me, personally, because I knew not to push it.
I have said the hardest thing that I have ever done was to remove my behind the ear hearing aid to my unimplanted ear and wear my cochlear implant processor in my left, newly implanted ear. My CI audiologist was right. We had to force my brain to hear. By June 2011, I was used to wearing my cochlear implant processor, and felt so imbalanced when I put my ancient behind the ear hearing aid in my right ear. I did get a taste of what hearing with two cochlear implant processors COULD be like.
I wear my cochlear implant processors from sunrise to sundown. The hearing process with the second cochlear implant - my right ear this time - is a lot easier now that my brain recognized the second cochlear implant. I had hopes that on Activation Day, March, 2012, that my brain would "click," and recognize the implant. It did. My right ear has been catching up quickly. The same thing happened when I wore a hearing aid for the first time in my right ear when I was in college, at the audiologists' suggestion. From then on, I hated what I called "single-sided" deafness.
I think back to November, 2010, and just laugh. Sounds were wild and crazy, alright. My sisters were like, "Yay! Mindy can hear!" And the entire time I'm thinking, Oh My God, this is NOTHING like hearing with a hearing aid! My older sister wanted to know if I would be able to hear with an ipod one day. I think back to her comment and just laugh all over again.
My "WOW"! moments have usually happened when I wasn't even TRYING to listen. The first time I heard a bird call, for instance. I just knew that the sound was coming from the trees and wondered if that was a bird I was hearing.
Now, that I am bilateral, hearing with two cochlear implants, my world is a lot noisier, but I am starting to discriminate sounds - hearing different bird calls for instance, or different ring tones from a phone.
The thing that continues to stun me the most, is how deaf I am. I am just floored at how I managed for so many years WITHOUT the benefit of cochlear implants. I am reminded of that fact every night when I take my cochlear implant processors off and recharge the batteries. My world was still silent, even with hearing aids.
How can you put a price on hearing? I continue to be blessed beyond measure - experiencing the gift of two cochlear implants - a dream that is still out of reach of many.
Hearing with two cochlear implants is priceless.
Recently I flashed back on the memory of my visit with my surgeon, August 2010. After telling me the risks of the surgery, he told me that getting fully used to a cochlear implant could take up to two and a half years.
I thought to myself, I'm a person who has worn hearing aids most of her life, the doctor doesn't get it that I am a high functioning deaf woman. Getting used to a cochlear implant will be challenging but it will be a slam dunk for me compared to someone who hasn't worn hearing aids for years.
WRONG. NOT GONNA HAPPEN!
The good doctor is absolutely correct. One year and seven months later after that initial Activation Day, November, 2010, my doctor knew what he was talking about.
The more recent the hearing loss, the more hearing memory you have.
The biggest mistake that someone can make is to put the auditory rehabilitation process in overdrive and race to the finish line. You set yourself up for disappointment that way. It is kind of like being back in school: So and so didn't study for the test and missed the last two classes and got an A. So and so studied his ass off, took copious notes, studied for three nights straight, and got a C.
You literally are learning to hear all over again. I cannot stress this enough. The harder you push yourself with listening to National Public Radio, music, "listening" exercises, the bigger the frustration and getting overtired. That's a good way to bring on a migraine. That hasn't happened to me, personally, because I knew not to push it.
I have said the hardest thing that I have ever done was to remove my behind the ear hearing aid to my unimplanted ear and wear my cochlear implant processor in my left, newly implanted ear. My CI audiologist was right. We had to force my brain to hear. By June 2011, I was used to wearing my cochlear implant processor, and felt so imbalanced when I put my ancient behind the ear hearing aid in my right ear. I did get a taste of what hearing with two cochlear implant processors COULD be like.
I wear my cochlear implant processors from sunrise to sundown. The hearing process with the second cochlear implant - my right ear this time - is a lot easier now that my brain recognized the second cochlear implant. I had hopes that on Activation Day, March, 2012, that my brain would "click," and recognize the implant. It did. My right ear has been catching up quickly. The same thing happened when I wore a hearing aid for the first time in my right ear when I was in college, at the audiologists' suggestion. From then on, I hated what I called "single-sided" deafness.
I think back to November, 2010, and just laugh. Sounds were wild and crazy, alright. My sisters were like, "Yay! Mindy can hear!" And the entire time I'm thinking, Oh My God, this is NOTHING like hearing with a hearing aid! My older sister wanted to know if I would be able to hear with an ipod one day. I think back to her comment and just laugh all over again.
My "WOW"! moments have usually happened when I wasn't even TRYING to listen. The first time I heard a bird call, for instance. I just knew that the sound was coming from the trees and wondered if that was a bird I was hearing.
Now, that I am bilateral, hearing with two cochlear implants, my world is a lot noisier, but I am starting to discriminate sounds - hearing different bird calls for instance, or different ring tones from a phone.
The thing that continues to stun me the most, is how deaf I am. I am just floored at how I managed for so many years WITHOUT the benefit of cochlear implants. I am reminded of that fact every night when I take my cochlear implant processors off and recharge the batteries. My world was still silent, even with hearing aids.
How can you put a price on hearing? I continue to be blessed beyond measure - experiencing the gift of two cochlear implants - a dream that is still out of reach of many.
Hearing with two cochlear implants is priceless.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Distinguishing Bird Calls
I can now distinguish between the bird calls of a Cardinal, a Blue Jay and a Robin. One afternoon I had just finished mowing the grass. I heard this rather persistent bird from my neighbor's tree. It was pretty loud. I saw a flash of blue and white and knew that the bird call came from a Blue Jay.
Another afternoon I saw a male robin in my neighbor's front yard. I went inside to drop my mail inside my townhouse, and then came back outside to watch the Robin and see what he would do. He opened his beak and started calling. I just stood there, watching and listening.
I never get tired of listening to the birds. This is my second spring of hearing with a cochlear implant in my left ear, and my first with my right ear.
It has been an insanely busy month, both with work and weekend activities. Yesterday I ran into two alumni from deaf school days who I had not seen in years. It was good to see them and say hello and catch up on life. I told them I was now bilateral and had my second CI implanted in February.
A week ago Sunday I attended a baseball game of a minor league baseball team. What was cool about the event, is that there is a section of the stadium where you can bring your dogs with you. I don't have any pets at the moment, but animals sense I am a animal lover. I got adopted by a standard Yorkie who decided its owner wasn't paying enough attention and climbed into my lap and happily settled down. It was fun to listen to the sounds of baseball and enjoy the company of people and the dogs.
My world is indeed noisy.
Being bilateral and hearing with two cochlear implants is such a gift!
Another afternoon I saw a male robin in my neighbor's front yard. I went inside to drop my mail inside my townhouse, and then came back outside to watch the Robin and see what he would do. He opened his beak and started calling. I just stood there, watching and listening.
I never get tired of listening to the birds. This is my second spring of hearing with a cochlear implant in my left ear, and my first with my right ear.
It has been an insanely busy month, both with work and weekend activities. Yesterday I ran into two alumni from deaf school days who I had not seen in years. It was good to see them and say hello and catch up on life. I told them I was now bilateral and had my second CI implanted in February.
A week ago Sunday I attended a baseball game of a minor league baseball team. What was cool about the event, is that there is a section of the stadium where you can bring your dogs with you. I don't have any pets at the moment, but animals sense I am a animal lover. I got adopted by a standard Yorkie who decided its owner wasn't paying enough attention and climbed into my lap and happily settled down. It was fun to listen to the sounds of baseball and enjoy the company of people and the dogs.
My world is indeed noisy.
Being bilateral and hearing with two cochlear implants is such a gift!
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