tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5254796043381679472024-03-13T09:23:49.746-04:00soundflavoringsanewBlog of a college educated deaf adult woman born into a hearing family who has been deaf since she was a toddler. She received a cochlear implant in October, 2010. She received a second cochlear implant in February, 2012.mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-78520941854502851062013-10-12T21:06:00.000-04:002013-10-12T21:06:41.325-04:00My Third Ear Anniversary<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Three years ago I had my left ear implanted. I could not have looked into a crystal ball and envisioned just how profoundly cochlear implants would change my life. I had my right ear implanted 15 months after the first one.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Yesterday I attended the retirement of a family friend and her husband - the couple were retiring after 34 years of military service. It took place at a location unaffected by the Federal Government Shutdown. That was good.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">For the past two days we experienced unrelenting, torrential rain accompanied by wind - poor visibility and lots of accidents all over the metropolitan area. What saved me - was my Magellan Roadmate portable GPS. I have a poor sense of direction, especially during weather with poor visibility. Cochlear Implants allow me to understand and hear the directions on the GPS. I also can hear the alerts as I am prompted to make my turn by turn instructions. There were a few mistakes as I attempted to locate the hotel. I made it, and a good time was had by all.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Earlier in the week, I returned to the Cochlear Clinic for new software mapping. This software mapping has helped with speech discrimination and increased battery life. So far, so good! I return to the Cochlear Clinic in a year.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The week before that, I was on the West Coast attending mentorship training which my cochlear implant company paid for. It was invaluable, the training, the tour of the manufacturing floor, talking with the staff, the audiologists, and finally meeting face to face, some members of my cochlear implanted community. My cochlear implant company launched a new BTE CI Processor late this summer called the Naida with wireless connectivity. The technological advances are awesome!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">There were lots of stories, laughter, tears and sharing of what we call "WOW"! moments. I loved seeing the commitment, the vision, the passion this company demonstrated for cochlear implants and the miracle of hearing technology that can be offered to deaf people.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">As I grew up deaf in a hearing world, Deaf Culture was not a part of my life. I went to deaf schools quite young, and was mainstreamed into schools with hearing peers by second grade.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">You hear comments about "finding one's tribe." I never understood the clannishness experienced among Deaf people who grew up in Deaf Culture with deaf neighbors, families, children, a hearing community who communicated with Deaf people in American Sign Language (ASL).</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Well. In my cochlear-implanted community, or the cyborgs as we call ourselves, I have found my "tribe." We know and share our experiences in hearing with cochlear implants. We offer hope, encouragement and cheer each other on. We crack jokes and tell each other stories about how people react to cochlear implants. One priceless story was told by two women who had traveled together on the airplane. They had told the airline they were deaf. At their destination, they were greeted by airport personnel with two wheelchairs!!! These women were not mobility impaired but DEAF!</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">We all got a good laugh out of that one! These women were quite young and not at all senior!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">My cyborg community is my tribe and my extended family. They are my rock.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">As 24 year old Jacob Landis put it, "The world is wide open to me because of cochlear implants."</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I wholeheartedly agree. I am still a deaf person who hears with bilateral cochlear implants, but oh, wow! what an amazing three years it has been!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Here's a heartfelt thanks to my surgeon, who is now based on the West Coast. Thank you for my miracle of hearing with cochlear implants. I never will get tired of saying thank you to this talented, humble, world famous doctor.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Hearing with bilateral cochlear implants is such a joy, a blessing and a wonder of technology. I am blessed!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;"></span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-91995050555768469162013-09-28T20:40:00.001-04:002013-09-28T20:40:03.221-04:00Acoustics<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I work in a building that was built in the 1930's. It is made of granite, marble and houses about five thousand employees in the building. I always wondered why sounds, voices, phones, everyday noise sounds so loud in this work environment. Voices often sound distorted.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Acoustics! It took me nearly three years to figure this out. Being deaf with cochlear implants, with no hearing memory aside of what I remember what hearing with hearing aids were like, acoustics make a huge difference.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">When I am outside of the building, while everyday sounds are still noisy, it doesn't bounce off walls or floors. I can hear just about everything in this building, from the squeaking wheels of the mail cart to the clicking of high heels, to the soft squishing sounds of rubber soles on shoes, to phones ringing in nearby offices, to the squeak from the hinges on my office door, paper being shuffled.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">According to my decibel meter app on my iPhone, what I am "hearing" is what one would hear on a normally quiet street or in normally "quiet" conversation.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">There's nothing quiet about working in this ancient building, trust me on this one.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Who knew Acoustics would be such a big deal? </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am so deaf without CI's, that I no longer hear thunder, or the roar of jet engines when I fly.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">My world isn't totally silent without CI's. I still have Tinnitus, but it is more like white noise.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Acoustics IS a big deal. Music played on my cheap factory installed stereo radio/cd player sounds lousy. If I listen to Spotify, Pandora, iHeart Radio on my iPhone or my laptop, it sounds far better to my CI implanted ears.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I never cease to be astounded at cochlear implant technology and what I discover, like Acoustics for instance.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Next month I return to the Cochlear Center for mappings. The brain is an amazing thing. While it takes a couple of weeks to get used to mappings, it is nothing like Activation Day, where everything I heard was a strange sensory experience!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I think back on that November day in 2010 and just laugh. What is true about CI users is the fact that you constantly change and evolve in hearing with cochlear implants. I am recognizing more and more without captioning, especially watching television news. While using the phone and refilling prescription medicines, I am familiar with the menu prompts.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">But Acoustics!? What a hearing concept!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Amazing what one learns! What a hearing surprise!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;"></span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-69764611442111399842013-08-31T20:58:00.001-04:002013-08-31T20:58:06.194-04:00Summer's End - August 31, 2013<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is hard to believe that this is the last day of August, let alone the fact that summer is ending. It has been a very hectic, busy summer. I continue to progress in hearing with bilateral cochlear implants.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Recently I traveled to a nearby city to meet some friends for dinner. It was late when I returned home around midnight, and it was dark. This was my second nighttime solo trip on a busy interstate with four to six to eight lanes. I dropped two of my friends off at a light rail station before returning home, and while it was kind of touch and go, I didn't do too badly in understanding my friend's instructions on which exit to take. Her husband was in the back seat.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">My trusty portable GPS was a lot more accurate than her iPhone GPS! I can hear and understand the GPS pretty well now, although I do travel with a Google Maps or MapQuest printout from my computer for back-ups.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Three years ago, I would not have dared drive on a major interstate at night. I also could not understand verbal directions other than turn left, right, let alone understand verbal instructions from a portable GPS. When I dropped my friends off, I programmed the GPS to go home, and did not have any back up. I just followed the GPS and I was home about an hour and fifteen minutes later, with absolutely no problems. I did not get lost.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I thought it was pretty funny that all three of us were people with hearing disabilities. I mean that's pretty comic: three deaf adults in a car on a major interstate, it is pitch black outside, and me receiving verbal directions on how to reach a light rail station?? My friend has bilateral CI's, her husband does not, he wears hearing aids for now.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">With bilateral CI's, I have a lot more confidence, and definitely gained more independence.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">More and more, I am trusting my cochlear implants to do their job, and still discovering new sounds.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Earlier this month, I had dinner with a friend who also has a cochlear implant and she was visiting. I drove her back to her hotel so she could take an early morning flight back home. I drove on the interstate in pouring rain at night. I ordinarily would not have done that before cochlear implants.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am a better driver in the daytime than I am at night. I do not enjoy night time driving, but I will and can do it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">As for recognizing new sounds, even with bilateral CI's, I am hearing new sounds. Last night I was at my computer going through e-mails, and I heard a tinkling melody. I was in my home office, and realized the tinkling melody was coming from an ice cream truck several blocks away, and smiled. Another sound of summer.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Slowly, but surely, I am gaining more confidence as a bilateral CI user.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">After living with deafness for many years, it has been an experience shifting from a mindset of a deaf woman who wore hearing aids with limitations, to a mindset of a independent deaf woman who wears bilateral cochlear implants, with little to no limitations.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Conversations are easier, even in restaurants. Phone usage on captioned phones is easier. phone usage on my iPhone 4S is easier, and with the few uncaptioned phone conversations I have tried, it is the phone menu prompts and voice messages that trip me up.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">That's really okay. I used to be a deaf person who couldn't hear on a cellular or smart phone at all.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Bilateral Cochlear Implants are something else. My world has just exploded by leaps and bounds in nearly three short years.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">What a technological miracle. My joy in hearing knows no bounds. My heart is full.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;"></span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-69294719497558662362013-07-04T17:34:00.002-04:002013-08-24T12:57:11.594-04:00Choices, July 4, 2013<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just finished watching an episode on "Switched At Birth". The episode was titled: "He did what he wanted". It touched briefly on the subject of cochlear implants. There was a scene played by Sean Berdy, a Deaf son angrily signing to his TV Deaf Dad, "So being deaf isn't good enough for you,"?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The turf wars between Deaf and people who are deaf have been going on since Mother Nature and Father Time.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">You have some Deaf folks passionately saying they would NEVER choose to hear with something "artificial" like a cochlear implant. Well, there's nothing artificial about hearing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">God made ears for humans, and ears serve a purpose.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I grew up deaf in a Hearing World. I am still in a Hearing World and I am still deaf, in spite of being able to hear bilaterally with cochlear implants. Deafness has been a part of my life for a very long time.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I have a hearing family. Many of my friends are hearing. I have Hard of Hearing friends, I have deaf friends and I have Deaf friends.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I'm not about to reject my long-standing hearing friends or my hearing family or my Hard of Hearing Friends or my deaf friends or my Deaf friends who have been my friends through the test of time. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I know who my friends are. Hearing, Hard of Hearing, Deaf or deaf people like me who grew up in a hearing world.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">See, as a bionic "cyborg" friend put it recently, it truly is about choices. It really and truly is about the CHOICE to have a cochlear implant, as much as it is about the CHOICE to be Deaf and embrace Deaf Culture. It is also about the CHOICE to hear with nothing: no hearing aids, no cochlear implants, nothing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I made a personal choice to hear with cochlear implants and I have absolutely no regrets.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I have more choices before me post-cochlear implants than I did before I was implanted with cochlear implants.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">These past few years post-cochlear implants, have been so life changing, I could not have dreamed this.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">This is what the 4th of July represents to me: The choice to hear. That to me, IS freedom.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Amazing. For that, I am truly thankful for the freedom to hear.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;"></span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-13325828678924396172013-07-03T21:25:00.001-04:002013-07-03T21:25:05.163-04:00Privacy, Deafness and Freedoms we take for granted, July 3, 2013<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Due to recent events and the fact that tomorrow is the 4th of July, I started thinking about freedoms that Americans enjoy or take for granted, deafness and privacy. You see, there's been a lot of brouhaha about our telephone conversations being "monitored." Being deaf, I gave up privacy involving telephone conversations years ago. I really had to laugh at hearing people having an absolute hissy fit about this. I began losing my ability to understand speech over a voice telephone in late 1979 - through the early 2000's. By 2000, I was using either TTY's or text pagers. All were telephone conversations that required a third party to read my text speech to a hearing person. Nothing was spared. Health information, credit card information, sensitive conversations. The Caller Assistant (CA) could have easily shared sensitive information to anyone but didn't.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I will observe my third CI anniversary on October 12, 2013, and I have been bilateral for a little over 17 months. I don't use TTY's anymore. I use a captioned phone and a voice-data smartphone. Today I made some business-related calls using my captioned phone and the connection from the business I was speaking with was not the greatest quality. I suspect the customer representative was using a wireless headset because the audio kept cutting in and out. Thank God for voice recognition software. There was absolutely no privacy during this phone conversation. There was still a third party using voice recognition software in transcribing the phone conversation for me.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I'm still a deaf person with two cochlear implants. You think monitoring telephone conversations is lacking in privacy? What about deaf people whose first language is American Sign Language (ASL)? Now THAT's an "open conversation"! Signing for all the world to see. There's nothing secret or private about ASL. Everybody knows your business.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I recently attended a convention in the Pacific Northwest, and for the first time post cochlear implants, got taken aside by a TSA Agent. I was surprised - I didn't hear any warning bells or see any flashing lights - I am old enough to remember when my Behind The Ear Hearing Aids used to trip magnometers at the airports (pre-9-11) and I would tell security that I wore BTE's and was deaf. That was the time I usually got "wanded."</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Well, Post 9-11, security at the airports has changed, so here's what happened. I was shown a picture of a human body with "hot squares" that had lit up the wave technology scanner. It reminded me of Star Trek. The TSA Agent, who was a woman, patted me down, using the edge of her blue gloved hand. I wasn't embarrassed, but it did make me think about all the fuss about the body scanners allegedly showing the size of body parts, particularly what the guys call "their junk." The TSA Agent was very professional and no, I didn't feel violated.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Next, she took me over to this machine that spit out a strip of paper and she took the strip of paper and tested me for residue. Nothing. I was cleared and I went on my way to my gate to wait for my flight. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Now I don't doubt the horror stories of passengers who have been humiliated by improperly trained TSA agents who required the passenger to reveal a colostomy bag in the open or whatever. Fortunately, these incidents are few and between, and the exception.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I grew up a deaf person in a hearing family. My view of "privacy" is different than that of Hearing people. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The revelation that the National Security Agency has been monitoring phone calls or phone numbers is not funny. I get that. But as someone who is deaf, uses bilateral cochlear implants, I gave up privacy to a certain extent. Does it bother me? No. It is simply a way of life for me as a deaf person with two cochlear implants. I would rather forfeit a little privacy in order to keep my country safe from terrorists and others who would do us harm.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">There were people who died to give us the right to vote, practice what religion we choose, free speech, the right to criticize our own government, and as a deaf person, to choose to hear with cochlear implants. We now have rights that we didn't have 40 years ago.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">As you celebrate the 4th of July, remember, Freedom is not Free.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;"></span><br />mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-13454069652696664482013-06-10T21:40:00.001-04:002013-06-10T21:40:16.580-04:00Residual Hearing: Is it usable?<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People who have qualified for cochlear implants often have concerns about losing residual hearing after implantation.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Prior to being implanted with cochlear implants, my body felt like it was in "hyperdrive" all the time. I was constantly in a state of alert, as I had to work to hear with what little hearing I had left.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">That takes energy and it was wearing me out.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Hearing people tend to want to "preserve" residual hearing of their deaf family member.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">But is residual hearing usable?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">In my case, I heard nothing without my hearing aids. It had to be the mother of all thunderstorms for me to "hear" thunder without hearing aids. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Here's what my residual hearing was not doing for me, prior to cochlear implants. I definitely didn't have any hearing in the speech range, and I couldn't understand speech unseen over the telephone, and depended 100% on lipreading by the time I qualified for CI's.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">With my CI processors on, I can hear the doorbell, the heat pump coming on and shutting off. I can hear traffic go by from inside my townhouse. I can hear birds. I can hear dogs barking, the phone ring, the ticking of a second hand sweeping a clock.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am still deaf without my CI processors on. My silence isn't totally silent. I hear tinnitus in my ears - it used to be really bad, roaring, hissing, hooting noises. Now it is more like white noise. I can hear my Sonicare toothbrush vibrate as I am brushing my teeth. That's what is left of my residual hearing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">It isn't much.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Over time, I am getting more relaxed in using cochlear implant processors. I can trust what I am hearing with my cochlear implants. I rarely startle when people walk into my office (unless I have had too much coffee!)</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Hearing with cochlear implants is still a process. I may not hear a new sound each and every day, but my brain picks it up. I can hear things as they drop, like the tip of a ball point pen, or a nail, or even pieces of food dropping on the floor. After it has rained, I can hear the squeaking of shoes. I can hear my feet squishing through already saturated grass. I definitely hear rain, and yes, I can tell a light rain from a heavy rain.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">In my view, cochlear implant processors pick up where hearing aids leave off. I hear far better with cochlear implants than I ever did with hearing aids, and with CI's, I don't even miss residual hearing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I had so little left. I would counsel people who are investigating cochlear implants to think about the flip side of the coin.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">What ISN'T residual hearing doing for you? Can you hear the doorbell ring, the teakettle whistle, a child crying, a door knock, an alarm clock ringing WITHOUT hearing aids? Can you understand speech? Can you understand speech unseen without a captioned phone?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Again, is residual hearing usable? If not, and you want to be able to hear, than you owe it to yourself to investigate cochlear implantation if hearing aids are not an option for you.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Technology is growing by leaps and bounds. We are fast approaching a day where cochlear implants can be implanted and residual hearing can be preserved.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Amazing.</span><br />
mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-71721333243679223752013-06-01T21:38:00.002-04:002013-06-01T21:38:56.553-04:00A Spring of two Bionic Ears, 2013<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The month of May has been a busy one. I cannot believe it is June already!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I recently accomplished my second solo trip of driving on the interstate at night. It was an hour and a half trip. As it was the Memorial Day weekend, traffic was busy. I had my Google maps and my Magellan GPS. I now can hear and understand the GPS telling me directions. I also had never been to this particular address before, so nothing was familiar. I didn't get lost going there and didn't get lost coming home. I am getting better with directionality of sound. So far, so good.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I still am discovering new sounds. The other night I was watching a news feature about a dolphin that had surgery to improve its breathing. I didn't know dolphins made clicking sounds. The birds are still calling to each other. I can hear more different bird calls now. I also can hear the difference in cars and trucks idling in city traffic. I hear paper shuffling and rustling in offices where I share adjoining doors.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I still can hear a co-worker snap and chew gum all day long, much to my chagrin. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">There are so many things I am doing now that I never would have done before cochlear implants - driving at night on the interstate, for example.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am an Amy Grant fan, have been for years, and love her music. I bought her new CD, "How Mercy Looks From Here,"put it in my car stereo, not expecting to understand any of the lyrics, just the music. Well, to my surprise, I heard "If what I could see what the Angels see..." out of my right ear. Well, that floored me, because my right ear typically did poorly as far as speech comprehension. I thought about how this talented woman started out singing with her guitar as a teenager, and in her latest CD still sings with her guitar. I could hear the harmonizing on the CD. I always liked Amy's music and the lyrics because she keeps things real. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">So as audio therapy on the drive home from work, I plan to listen to her newest CD some more.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am listening to traffic and cars driving by from within my townhouse. A dog is intermittently barking/howling somewhere outside - and getting more persistent. I think the dog is bored. It is funny, because before cochlear implants, my townhouse was a lot quieter! Not any more!!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">It has been an amazing journey since October, 2010, when I was first implanted in my left ear. I am still processing new sounds. I am still stunned by how deaf I am. Cochlear Implant technology continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Already, my cochlear implant company has a new BTE CI processor coming out. Computer technology and telephones are now adaptable for the deaf. Social media like Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, Skype, Face Time now bridge the gap between the hearing world and the deaf world.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I always felt there was something missing from my life, even with hearing aids. With cochlear implants, my hunger to hear more sound and to have a better quality of life is being satisfied. I also have been going through a kind of spiritual healing of sorts, and my spirit is at peace.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Isolation doesn't have to be a part of my life anymore. Neither does loneliness. Thank you, God for my blessings. I don't take hearing for granted anymore.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">For eight plus hours a day, I hear with my cochlear implant processors and have access to smartphones, ipod nanos. I listen to iheart radio, Spotify, and my downloaded tunes.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">"Surround Sound," now makes up my world. Everything has a sound.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">My life is still transitioning...! I still am profoundly deaf, I still am very visual, but I am hearing speech along with lipreading. The fact that I can understand the GPS giving me step by step directions and hearing the bell before I make my turns tell me this.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Yes. Everything has a sound. Who would have thought I would be hearing out of both ears with two cochlear implants in three years?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">A dream realized.</span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-46785704495706466782013-04-20T19:29:00.001-04:002013-04-20T19:29:29.964-04:00A baseball game<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recently gathered with friends at a baseball game. The purpose was two-fold: To support Jacob Landis, who is a CI recipient and is bicycling to all the Major League Baseball stadiums in the USA to raise a million dollars for cochlear implant surgery. His project is called "Jacob's Ride," and I was privileged to meet this young man.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The second purpose was to educate others about cochlear implants and to provide information to potential candidates, as well as socializing with other cochlear implant recipients.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">It was really COLD. I was bundled up in layers of clothing but neglected to do something for my legs. I should have brought a stadium blanket. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the game and getting together with friends.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Even sitting WAY up in the bleachers, I could hear the crack of the ball hitting the bat, the cheers of the crowd, and the unofficial cheerleading coaches who coached us how to do the wave. I couldn't get over folks who were in jeans, t-shirts, tank tops in 50 degree weather and drinking ice cold beer. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">This is my second spring hearing out of both ears. The sounds of spring are all around me, people riding on motorcycles, the sound of weed trimmers, lawn mowers, dogs barking, and the birds serenading me in the early hours of the morning as I leave for work.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Money is still a huge obstacle for many who qualify for and desire cochlear implants. This was one of the reasons Jacob Landis launched his project, "A baseball for hearing."</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The cost of cochlear implant surgery is slowly coming down. Most health insurance plans cover 80% of the surgery. The co-payments can be expensive.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The dog is barking non-stop. I do not have any dogs or cats, but I can hear the neighborhood dogs barking through the walls of my townhouse.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I gave some thought recently of how to explain my deafness in abstract terms. Most people have heard the roar of the engines of a 747 commercial jet as the plane prepares to take off a runway.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Without my cochlear implant processors on, I no longer hear it. That is how deaf I am.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Nearly three years ago, on October 12, 2010, I had cochlear implant surgery on my left ear. On February 29, 2012, I had cochlear implant surgery on my right ear.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I made a deliberate choice to hear. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I'm so glad it did. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I just heard a plane overhead, and smiled.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Having bionic ears is pretty cool.</span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-26791522914520652672013-03-31T21:23:00.001-04:002013-03-31T21:23:27.066-04:00Deaf but not exactly Hearing, either<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today is Easter Sunday. It was cloudy, rainy and chilly. It was a good day to stay inside and read. I just finished reading the Kindle version of "He is not me," by Stuart McNaughton. As a deaf person who has grown up in a hearing world, I could identify with Stuart. Stuart lives in England and he just published his book. Every deaf person who is oral, speaks and lipreads, and grew up in a hearing family should read the book.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I have changed and grown so much since first being implanted in my left ear in October, 2010. I had my right ear implanted in February, 2012. Yesterday was Doctor's Day, and I would have liked to have thanked my surgeon yet once again. He is on the West Coast now, so distance separates us.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Cochlear Implants allows me to function as a hearing person each day as I put on my cochlear implant processors and leave in the early dawn hours for work. Yet, every day when I come home and get ready for bed at night and lay down in bed to sleep, I am deaf again.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Cochlear Implants are not a cure for deafness, but it certainly has made my existence in a hearing world easier. I no longer struggle to understand conversations in a noisy environment, at work, or in my everyday interactions with a hearing public. I am a more relaxed driver now that I can hear emergency and police sirens long before the vehicle enters my field of vision.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I definitely have more confidence in myself. That has been a long time coming. It has been an experience going from a "no you can't do that because you are deaf" mindset to "I can do these things with my cochlear implants." For so long, deaf people have been held back because of their disability. I certainly was limited by my deafness. Absolutely.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I see a future where I contribute my knowledge and skill set in situations where deaf people may need reasonable accommodation in the workplace while recuperating from cochlear implant surgery. There is a knowledge gap among medical personnel, human resources and management when it comes to reintroducing a newly implanted person back into the workforce. Many supervisors really don't know how to accommodate someone who is deaf and newly implanted with a cochlear implant, or two. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I still remember with the utmost clarity the day I went on a job interview, freshly out of graduate school. I had just finished telling the interviewer my capabilities, only to be told, "That's fine, Jane Doe, but what is it that you CAN'T do?" I would love to go back in time and tell that person, with cochlear implants, I can fully function in the workplace, including answering the telephone!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I still have my deaf habits. I am still a very visual person. I still lipread, but I am also hearing what I lipread. To this day, I prefer backing my car into a parking space so that I can see in front of me when I am pulling out of a space. I also toot my horn when backing out of a parking space. Not because I can't hear other people or cars. I still drive with my day light running lights on. I also will turn on my headlights when I am passing a semi truck on the interstate so the truck driver can see me. All because of habit, and years of being profoundly deaf. I'm still profoundly deaf. That hasn't changed</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Helen Keller once said that deafness cuts off one from people. Well, with cochlear implants, that no longer has to be the case.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I no longer feel isolated. As a single deaf person, I am very good at entertaining myself, and I had to learn to be alone and not to fear it. I rarely am bored because there is always something to do. If I feel lonesome, all I have to do is e-mail someone, call someone, or do something for someone who has a need.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I still continue to be stunned at how deaf I am. I still am in awe of what cochlear implants are doing for me. I still enjoy hearing the birds in the early hours of the morning as I leave for work.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Learning to hear with cochlear implants has been the hardest thing I have ever done, but also the most rewarding.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Amazing.</span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-78983664177222207852013-03-27T20:11:00.000-04:002013-03-27T20:11:23.510-04:00The Smart phone version of climbing Mount Everest<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My captioned phone at work is out of commission and needs replacing. I needed to call a doctor's office to confirm an appointment I had for this Friday. I had my audiologist remove the software program which allows a person to use the telephone and block out all sound, including your own voice. For Hearing Aid users, they may have a microphone-t-switch that allows for more clarity of sound and speech over the phone. I have a iPhone 4S with a voice and data plan. I had thought the phone was incompatible with my cochlear implant processor until someone told me just have the audiologist remove the t-coil program and it will eliminate any interference like buzzing, crackling sounds or electromagnetic interference. I did that. I wasn't using the program anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Well, I got brave and decided I would TRY calling the doctor's office and confirming that appointment.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I took a deep breath and dialed my cell phone. I had no trouble understanding the menu prompts and responded appropriately. I gave the receptionist my name and pertinent information. She realized that Friday was Good Friday, and the office would be closed. April was busy, but I was able to schedule a follow up visit for May 1st. We had no problems understanding each other and I was able to hear and understand the entire conversation.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">For someone who has no hearing memory aside from what I remember hearing with hearing aids, and who has been deaf since age 2 1/2, I not only felt victorious, I felt as if I had climbed the equivalent of Mount Everest, Smartphone style.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">This is HUGE. I never thought in my lifetime that I would be hearing on a cell phone, let alone have a coherent conversation on a smartphone!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">It has been two years and five months since I was implanted in my left ear, and a year and one month since I was implanted in my right ear.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I also met my cousins for lunch who are in town for Spring Break. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Café, and I had no trouble understanding the woman who waited on our table or the Hard Rock Café staff. My cousins and I had a good lunch and a good visit!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">It really IS a brain thing. Absolutely! Hearing bilaterally with two cochlear implant processors is truly a blessing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">So here's to Easter Joy, Blessings and rejoicing that I had my first smartphone conversation without captions with someone who I wasn't sure I'd understand speech!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">AMAZING. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;"></span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-63895197196592736682013-03-03T17:25:00.000-05:002013-03-03T17:25:03.402-05:00Hearing Memory<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As someone who has been deaf since around age two and a half, I have no "hearing memory" of what it means to hear "normally." </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> For me, "normal hearing" with analog </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">hearing aids is my conscious "hearing memory." I never did like digital hearing aids, even though I wore digital behind the ear hearing aids for ten years prior to getting my first cochlear implant.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">It took me a long time - it wasn't until I could "hear" bilaterally with cochlear implants that I had a better sense of my own "hearing memory" and what I wanted in hearing with cochlear implants.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Two years and three months of hearing with one cochlear implant, and one year of hearing with two cochlear implants, I can hear with the aid of bilateral cochlear implants. I hear environmental noises. I hear high, middle and low frequencies.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am very happy with this last mapping, and now feel comfortable in hearing bilaterally with cochlear implants.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Those of us who deafness is "our normal," we want to hear everything. For me, that means being able to hear my car idle, the gears shift, the turn signal clicking, the 18 wheeler truck's engine idling behind me at a traffic signal. Being able to hear a jackhammer from inside the kitchen of my townhouse a block away. The sound of birds chirping and twittering in the early hours of the morning.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Here's something that's telling. For someone who was late deafened, the sound of the grocery cart wheels around the aisle ma</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">de her tense up because she couldn't tolerate the sound. For me, I had never heard the sound of the grocery cart wheels, but I could tell from the squeaking sound that someone was coming in my direction, and I could say, "Excuse me." </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">To me, not having grocery cart collisions in the grocery store is a relief! There is one sound that I absolutely hate. The sound of someone chewing and snapping gum in my office all day long. I am learning to tune that particular sound out, but I still do not like that sound.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Some people do not like the sound of wind. Others find that the sound of a ticking clock bothers them. When I was growing up, my parents had clocks with pendulums all over the house. All with a different sound "flavor," and reassuring me as each clock chimed the hour. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Speech recognition continues to improve, but it is taking time. I find that bilaterally, I can hear and understand simple sentences without lipreading. That was impossible for me to do in August, 2010.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I still am a very visual person, and still have my "deaf habits." I had someone tell me last week I had a unique accent, and she asked where I was from. I told her. I probably should have said this is my deaf southern accent!! I mean no malice. Deaf people do have a sense of humor, and it takes a deaf person to understand my humor in this instance!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Hearing bilaterally with cochlear implants continues to be a gift which I cherish everyday.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am blessed.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;"></span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-71290858891015516492013-02-16T14:03:00.000-05:002013-02-16T14:21:27.353-05:00Hearing in Dolby Surround Sound, Version Two<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well after hearing with my new mappings for four days, I definitely hit the Mother Lode of all mappings. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It took a very talented audiologist and reading about other CI recipient's dislikes, likes and suggestions. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It reinforced the fact that hearing with cochlear implants is totally unlike hearing with hearing aids.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mistake Number One: Thinking that increasing VOLUME was going to give me the Dolby Surround Sound effect. Didn't happen. Fact was, it made things worse.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mistake Number Two: Not asking for 100% T-mic sooner.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The realization that my "hearing memory," consisted of what I remember "hearing" with my hearing aids on or off and not "normal hearing." I haven't heard "normally," since I was about two years old. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The realization that I WAS born hearing after reading over medical reports from childhood.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's one that was telling. I was two years old. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Imitates dog barking. Responds to loud clapping. Presses ear to television to hear it." </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I had been born deaf, I wouldn't have had a hearing memory at all, because you have nothing to draw FROM.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your brain never forgets to hear. Hearing Memory is something else all together, and hard to explain. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are a music lover and buy a luxury car, you are going to have quality stereo sound in that car. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Listening to classical music in your Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, or BMW is going to sound like listening to classical music in a concert hall. I will have to win the lottery before going into a</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">dealership to buy a new Mercedes-Benz, Lexus or BMW.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was in the kitchen earlier. I heard a blue jay calling. This time, I not only heard the blue jay calling, I heard the rhythm in the bird song.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I never did like digital hearing aids. To tell you the truth, I preferred the analog hearing aids.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many CI users prefer to use mapping programs that are quieter when driving in traffic.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not me. When you are driving through eight lanes of asphalt going 55-65 mph, you better believe I want mapping programs that allow me to hear in Dolby Surround Sound. Absolutely. I want to hear that 18 wheeler truck 3/4ths of an inch next to my car shifting gears and getting ready to pass lanes BEFORE I see it in my line of vision, especially at 5:30 in the morning.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night when I was driving home, I could hear two emergency vehicles a mile away before I saw the sirens. I knew they were coming in my direction and I wanted to respond appropriately.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I had been wearing my ancient ten year old digital behind the ear hearing aids, those two emergency vehicles would have had to have been riding my car bumper before I heard it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lessons Learned. Hearing bilaterally with cochlear implants is indeed a process.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It still amazes me at how deaf I am without my cochlear implant processors on. The fact that I managed to even SUCCEED when I did is phenomenal.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just Amazing.</span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-66550196165269211172013-02-12T20:30:00.000-05:002013-02-16T14:14:00.372-05:00An Early Valentine's Present<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I returned to the Cochlear Center for my one year mapping of my right ear cochlear implant. It is hard to believe I have two cochlear implants. I have been hearing out of both ears for a year now.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I am hearing out of both ears, I was in a better position to communicate to my audiologist my likes and dislikes and what I hoped to achieve through "tweaking" the cochlear implant programs.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wore digital behind the ear hearing aids in both ears for ten years prior to being implanted with cochlear implants. In spite of the latest digital technology, one of the things I always hated about digital hearing aids vs. analog hearing aids, was that sounds always sounded quieter or "tampered down." A perfect example is hearing a fire engine or police car siren. With digital aids, the computer technology would automatically lessen the loudness of the siren. That always sounded weird.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My particular cochlear implant has a t-mic, a technology patented by the manufacturer. I had tried several mixes 50/50, 50/70, and so forth and felt that voices and sound quality needed more. I didn't necessarily need more loudness of sound (a very common mistake of ex-hearing aid users), but I wanted to hear more SOUND. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I told my audiologist, I wanted to increase the t-mic to 100%. After testing my hearing and going through tones, words, sentences, my audiologist had a better idea of what was needed.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She had the doctoral audiology student do the tweaking. We switched out headpieces, t-mics, to test that the CI processor was working properly. Then she switched the t-mic to 100%.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was definitely hearing more sound. It wasn't loud or sharp. My audiologist did clapping to see if I had any facial twitches or reacted uncomfortably to sound. I was fine.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also had the audiologist remove the t-coil program as I wasn't using it at all and have no need for it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I drove home on the interstate, I heard more sound. What I realized what I was hearing, I was nearly in tears. I could hear the 18-wheeler trucks idling, shifting gears. I could hear my tires going ta-click over the asphalt. I could hear the rumble of motorcycles. I could hear wind. All this through rolled up windows and a "quiet" car.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recognized a hearing memory. With the t-mic at 100%, I am hearing what I remember hearing with analog hearing aids, but more sound, not volume. I am hearing at all frequencies. I am hearing more middle frequencies, and higher frequencies.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever watch a movie in Dolby Surround Sound, or watch a movie on a Home Theater System? THAT is what I am hearing with cochlear implant processors with a 100% t-mic setting. Sounds are ENHANCED.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think I hit the Mother Lode with this mapping. I was so hungry for more SOUND.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Voices are not scratchy anymore. AMEN to that! I go back in six months. I have a feeling I am going to progress by leaps and bounds.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a precious early Valentine's Day present!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here's to hearing more sound in Dolby Surround Sound, Stereo, and High Definition!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-27251598162174690362013-01-12T21:31:00.000-05:002013-01-12T21:31:29.615-05:00Bilaterally Hearing with Cochlear Implants vs. Hearing Aids<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Someone who had been late-deafened recently commented that he never thought he would be hearing as well as he has been with a cochlear implant when first implanted a couple of years ago.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">When I was first implanted in October, 2010, I knew intellectually that a cochlear implant was going to be "life changing."</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I think the biggest shock for me, as someone who has lived with deafness for a very long time, was how limiting hearing aids really are. Seriously.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I hear far better with bilateral cochlear implants than I ever did with hearing aids.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">By November, 2011, I wanted more. I qualified for bilateral CI's in April, 2010, after testing within the physical limits of the audiometer, but my health insurance would only pay for one cochlear implant per calendar year. My CI audiologist thought I was ready for a second cochlear implant, and my response was an enthusiastic "YES"!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">After nearly a year of bilateral hearing, OMG, how time flies!! I have better directionality of sound. I am getting better at discerning where sounds are located.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I definitely hear high frequencies. I can hear hydraulic hammering three townhouses away as workers replace a roof and roof shingles from INSIDE my home office. I can hear cars and traffic approaching blocks away before I even SEE the car, truck, emergency vehicle.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am getting better at understanding speech without the aid of captioning. I still use it on the phone and television to "cue" me in.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I also have observed that there are a lot of "hearing" people who are actually hard of hearing and do not realize it. We live in a very noisy world, and there are people who are slowly losing their hearing due to noise exposure - whether it is environmental noise, or long-term wearing of MP-3 Players, iPhones, iPod Classic, or iPod Touch. We have a generation of people who are slowly going deaf over time.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">My world has expanded beyond my wildest imagination. I have made so many new friends, and continue to expand my social network of friends. As some friends have moved away and or in the process of moving on, others make my acquaintance. I have friends of all ages. I have two jobs: one that is my so-called "day job," and my second job, which is volunteering as a mentor to people who are just starting their hearing journey with a cochlear implant or two.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I hope to improve my speech discrimination to the point where I can have a quality conversation on my iPhone without captioning.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I would like to learn to read music, and to play a musical instrument such as the piano and the guitar. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I would like to learn to sing and to carry a tune.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The fact that I can even HEAR on a cell phone, let alone hear birds, is still stunning to me.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">How does one adequately explain hearing with hearing aids vs. hearing with cochlear implants is like watching a black and white television vs. a color tv?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">My world is no longer quiet, except for when I take off my cochlear implant processors to recharge the batteries and to sleep.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I chose to hear with cochlear implants once I learned hearing aids were no longer helping me understand speech.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am pretty happy as a bilateral cochlear implant recipient, and I continue to reap the benefits of the cochlear implant technology.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">William F. House, M.D., who invented cochlear implants, died December 7, 2012, at the age of 89 in California.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am thankful to Dr. House for his invention. Hearing with cochlear implants has indeed been life-changing for me, and for countless others.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">EVERYTHING has a sound. How amazing is that?</span><br />
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mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-44972740192672698122012-12-26T18:58:00.001-05:002012-12-26T18:58:34.138-05:00Christmas Reflections and Bilateral Hearing with CI's <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm with my younger sister and her family. We had a lot of fun yesterday. Some of us wanted to sleep in, but some other family relatives were simply too excited to let us sleep past 7 in the morning.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I trotted into the kitchen and prepared coffee. My brother in law left to go get his mother, who lives 15 minutes away. A short time later, she arrived and I asked her if she would like coffee. She happily accepted and I prepared two very strong cups of Columbian coffee for us.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the kids excitedly opened their Christmas presents and chattered on, I sliced up some Italian sweetbread, cinnamon coffee cake, and put out some dried fruit on a plate, and brought that into the living room and passed the plate around. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was definitely a noisy Christmas gathering. We all had attended Christmas Eve services the previous night and the adults were in bed by 1:30 AM after last minute Christmas preparations. It was a treat for me to hear familar Christmas hymns out of both ears. It felt more like Thanksgiving to me than Christmas. I am just so thankful to be hearing out of both ears. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friends came over for dessert and a word game that was hysterically funny to play. I had to quit the game after a while because I was getting tired after a long festive day. I went to bed by 11 PM, only to joyfully be awakened by a black and white bundle of fur who insisted I get up and entertain her. The puppy was relentless.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today has been cold and rainy. At times it was heavy. I could hear the rain coming down. I spent most of the morning trying to entertain a stir-crazy 10 month old border collie named Nellie. I could hear her playful growl as we played tug of war with a tennis ball and and a rubber squeaky bone. When Nellie figured out that she wasn't going outside anytime soon, she settled down somewhat. Nellie is funny, though. She is the perfect family dog for five very energetic nieces and nephews.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My brother in law, five of my nieces and nephews have been playing with a new family gift -a computerized entertainment game. It has been a noisy day. My sister took an extra shift at work for a veterinarian who had a death in the family December 22nd. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My sister just walked in. More hearing adventures later.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a blessing to have bionic ears!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-57919146218172196312012-12-19T16:36:00.001-05:002012-12-19T17:08:45.804-05:00Medical Procedures and Cochlear Implants<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday I had to go to the hospital to have two medical procedures done requiring anesthesia. A friend drove me to the hospital as I wasn't permitted to drive home afterwards. Prior to my medical procedures, I had filled out an online history, and had an interview with a nurse over the telephone. This was my first medical procedure as a bilateral cochlear implant recipient. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The nurse who interviewed me was really concerned how the medical staff was going to alert me to wake up after the procedure. I explained</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that I would be wearing my cochlear implant processors, and that I lipread well, and communication shouldn't be an issue. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I told this to my friend who was really amused. She asked me, "Mindy, when you had hearing aids and had to take them off to sleep, how did people wake you up?" I shook her shoulder in response. She laughed. Well, I have to take off my cochlear implant processors to go to sleep at night, so I use alternative methods to wake myself up.</span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When my friend and I arrived, I was wearing my freestyle cochlear implant processors clipped to my hair. I went through the registration process. I was asked to verify in writing that I was deaf, did not need a sign language interpreter or "special devices" as an accommodation. I again explained that I was a bilateral cochlear implant recipient and that communication shouldn't be an issue. The hospital employee asked me to indicate that I lipread. To her credit, she told me that if she talked too fast, to let her know. I thanked her.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had to remove my glasses, so lipreading was challenging as faces were fuzzy. However, I had little problem appropriately responding to the questions and conversation. I kept the cochlear implant processors on. I wish I had thought to secure the headpieces with first aid tape before I lay on my left side and was anesthesized. It would have been interesting to experience hearing conversations under anesthesia. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I was in recovery, I secured the headpieces to the magnets, and could hear again.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had no issues with communication, and went through the procedures with flying colors.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My friend drove me home, and I watched a tv program and the news. I decided to go take a nap as I was cold (a common reaction for me). I slept for five hours. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decided to look at my discharge folder and patient record. To my great amusement, there was a yellow label all across the folder with the universal sign for "hearing impairment." Inside the folder was a post-it sticky note that said in black Sharpie pen lettering, "Speech impediment" please speak slowly and carefully."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I am not old enough to be on Medicare, Social Security, and I am still gainfully employed full time. You would think I was on the high side of a 100, or, had suffered some neurological event, such as a stroke which impaired my speech.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As it is the Christmas Season, I probably should have had a neon sign which read:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NEWSFLASH: <i>Patient is a bilateral cochlear implant recipient who wears CI processors, allowing her to hear. She doesn't use sign language, speaks articulately, is readily understood, lipreads well, and isn't elderly.</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my view, medical personnel need to be educated about cochlear implants, beginning with the fact that a cochlear implant is not a hearing aid, doesn't amplify sound.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe I should volunteer my services to the hospital...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now there's a thought.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-7568670659000195572012-12-15T21:02:00.001-05:002012-12-15T21:02:45.602-05:00Cochlear Implants and Speech<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I asked my younger sister if my speech had changed. She said it was changing. Hearing people have told me that my voice has changed since receiving cochlear implants. I knew Heather Whitestone McCallum, the first deaf woman to be crowned Miss America, had been implanted with cochlear implants about twelve years ago. I found a commercial she had filmed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on line and listened to her speech. She sounded just like a hearing person.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was very encouraging to me. I know it is possible for a person's voice to change after a lifetime of being deaf after cochlear implant surgery. I don't know if Heather went through any speech therapy after receiving cochlear implants.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adults who have either been deaf for years or late-deafened usually do not receive speech therapy, unless an adult has had speech affected by a stroke or some other medical event.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think that is a mistake. I wish health insurance companies would invest in speech therapy for adults who have received cochlear implants.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Babies and children who have been implanted with cochlear implants receive speech therapy.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can hear "sh," and "k" and "ch," and don't have any issues following conversations. It can be challenging in noisy environments, but I am getting better at it. I still have captions on the television, but I am listening to the conversations on the television and do not rely on captioning as much.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I still listen to talk radio. I am recognizing sentences now. I haven't reached the point where I can listen to a discussion in its entirety on talk radio yet.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People still make the mistake of talking louder with me, and that comes from habit. Cochlear Implants don't amplify sound. Hearing Aids do that.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my third Christmas hearing with a cochlear implant, and my first Christmas as a bilateral cochlear implant recipient. It is so nice to be able to hear with two cochlear implants.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hearing with two cochlear implants continues to be a blessing. I am extraordinarily blessed.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span></span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-21903831224269021272012-11-25T15:34:00.001-05:002012-11-25T21:14:23.567-05:00Thanksgiving 2012<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I spent Thanksgiving with my younger sister, her husband, five of my nieces and nephews, and their paternal grandmother. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I first arrived, I went to the animal hospital where my sister has a private veterinary practice. I greeted the veterinary staff, and went around the back. I could hear a dog barking in the background, a long haired Chihuahua.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I greeted my sister and the other staff. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A cat wandered over to greet me.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I went back around to the desk in the front of the hospital entrance, I met a beautiful well behaved </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">dog, a Dalmatian who I first thought was a stuffed dog, much to the amusement of the veterinary staff. I was assured me the dog was quite real. Her name is Cassie, and I saw her ears perk up. I went over and greeted this beautiful dog, who gently kissed me. I asked if Cassie was deaf, and the staff said no. Cassie is a dog who stays at the veterinary practice during the day and then her owner comes and picks her up. My sister then left to pick up one of her daughters from school, and I told her I'd meet her at the house.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My sister set a beautiful table. Her mother in law made sweet potatoes, pecan pie and a roast pork shoulder that was beyond delicious. We had that along with turkey and some side dishes.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I could follow the conversation around the Thanksgiving dinner table. I could follow conversations and participate. My younger sister only had to repeat one word the entire visit when I misunderstood something someone said. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We each went around the table and said one thing we were thankful for. I said I was thankful for my surgeon who implanted cochlear implants so I could have the gift of hearing, and thankful for hearing bilaterally with two cochlear implants.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My sister's family has a nine month old border collie puppy, who joyfully adopted me. She brought over a squeaky toy that looked like an octopus,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and we played some tug of war. She has a deep bark that is huge for her size! She also joyfully greeted me each morning with a face full of kisses. It was nice to get acquainted with a puppy who loves you back unconditionally. My sister says the puppy hasn't yet met a stranger she did not like.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I listened to my 14 year old niece play and sing on her guitar. I listened to all the electronic beeps, boops, and sounds coming from the TV, computers, as they played Wii and other computer games. I watched my other 14 year old niece play with the puppy, and I could her her playful growl as she played her favorite game with my niece.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had an intelligent conversation with my brother in law and could respond appropriately without misunderstanding what he said.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While outside, I could hear the twittering of flocks of birds as they flew south on their journey before wintry cold weather returned.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was the first time I made the journey to my sister's home with two cochlear implants and while I did not enjoy driving in busy interstate traffic during the first leg of the journey, I did just fine.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a good visit. I got to see how my sister's children have grown. One niece is taller than I am!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hearing bilaterally with two cochlear implant processors is priceless. I continue to be thankful for my many blessings. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I am still a deaf person who chooses to hear with cochlear implants. My hearing journey and acquiring new "soundflavorings," continues. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The difference is, I no longer struggle to hear when I put on my cochlear implant processors.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, once again, I give thanks.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-30460421715643936082012-11-04T16:49:00.001-05:002012-11-04T16:49:51.799-05:00A Month of Thankfulness<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a month of Thankfulness, as a good friend put it. Thanksgiving will soon be here once again.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recent</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">ly learned that my CI surgeon is leaving the hospital where I had my CI surgeries and moving on. It will be a big loss for the hospital, and I feel so privleged and blessed to have had this internationally famous doctor and to have been his patient.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I have several friends who are having birthdays this month. Earlier I was in a store looking through birthday cards and thank you cards. Not one card seemed to convey "thank you," to my wonderful surgeon. I am so thankful he was able to do both my CI surgeries, and that my recovery in both instances went a lot smoother than I expected.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I did the next best thing. I composed a letter of thanks to him. I could not have looked into a Crystal Ball in October, 2010, and envisioned how dramatically my life would change.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am so thankful for the gift of cochlear implants and bilateral hearing. I am so blessed my younger sister was able to be with me during both CI surgeries, taking time away from her family to be with me.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am so thankful that both of my sisters were able to be with me during Activation Day, November 2010. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am thankful for my many new friends within the cochlear implanted community all of whom I consider my extended family.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am thankful for each and every opportunity I have to give back to people who are considering cochlear implants, have met candidacy requirements for cochlear implants, and guiding them on their own journey in hearing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am thankful for employment, food, water, clothing, reliable transportation, a roof over my head, health insurance, the ability to pay my bills in full every month, friends and family.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;"> am thankful to the person who invented cochlear implants, and who is still alive today to bear witness to the fact that cochlear implants have changed lives, mine among them.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am thankful for my wonderful and capable audiologist, who has been patient with me during our mapping sessions. I still call them "tweaking sessions."</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am thankful that with the cochlear implant processors on, I can hear. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am thankful that I can share my blessings with people who are truly in need.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am thankful for an enriched and improved quality of life because of cochlear implants and bilateral hearing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Hearing with two cochlear implants continues to be a priceless gift, and I continue to reap blessings in my Hearing Journey.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Here's wishing everyone abundant blessings and grace this Thanksgiving.</span><br />
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mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-80234112299904540542012-10-14T14:37:00.001-04:002012-10-14T14:37:59.339-04:00Bionic Ears and an Anniversary<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two years ago on October 12, 2010, I took a huge leap of faith and walked into the operating room, accompanied by my surgical team, for cochlear implantation surgery. I was so calm. I was totally in the zone and fearless. I had placed my faith in God, my surgical team, and my very talented surgeon, trusting that the cochlear implant would work.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Today I think in terms of My Life Before The Cochlear Implants and My Life After The Cochlear Implants. Today, I have two cochlear implants, having been implanted in my right ear on February 29th of this year.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Years ago there used to be a show called the Bionic Woman. She had a totally bionic body. Well, I have Bionic Ears. Some deaf people think of people who have been implanted with cochlear implants, as having robotic ears. Well, two years later, hearing with cochlear implants don't sound robotic at all. They never did.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Here's the really cool thing about Bionic Ears. We recently had a fire drill at the building where I work. We were outside, waiting to be called in. It was noisy, listening to traffic sounds, people chattering. In the midst of all this, I heard a squeaking high pitched sound. I turned to the person standing next to me and asked if she heard a bird or a squeaking sound. She replied no. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I stood, listening. Something told me to look up and straight ahead. Well, the squeaking sound was the sound of a window washer's squeegee, squeaking against the glass window, several floors up and two blocks away! I could hear that "squeak," in spite of traffic noises and people chattering. I was amused.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">How's THAT for Bionic Ears?? Pretty cool, huh?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I also am part of a growing community of people who have been implanted with cochlear implants. Some members were born deaf, became deaf as infants, toddlers, children, teenagers, and as adults. Some lost their hearing quite suddenly and without warning. Whatever our hearing history, we chose a life enhanced by cochlear implants.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">My journey to better hearing with cochlear implants has been one exhilarating ride. Oh, there have been bumps and setbacks along the way. The positives of cochlear implants have far outweighed any negatives.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I have made and met so many new friends and who I consider family. We have people who are grandparents, married, widowed, divorced, separated, single, straight, gay, and we are a diverse group. Some live as far away as the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait. We are definitely a global community, and we are many.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Every day there are people who have decided to be implanted with cochlear implants and seek advice, support, and yes, affirmation that this choice is the right decision for them. Many of us are volunteer mentors. I am one of them.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Just the other day, I read a post from a "newbie," who had just been activated. His question made me laugh. He asked when the "jello brain," would go away.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Hearing with cochlear implants is NOT like hearing with a hearing aid. FAR from it. One of the biggest shocks upon activation, or shortly thereafter, is the discovery that hearing with a cochlear implant is a "brain thing."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I had a "tweaking" session with my audiologist last Thursday. She just returned from maternity leave. I reminded her that it had been nearly two years since my first cochlear implant surgery. We talked a bit about the progress I have made. We talked about my mistakes. We did some more tweaking. I asked questions.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am blessed with FOUR cochlear implant processors. For me, that's HUGE.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">When I wore hearing aids, every time one would go out, I would be deaf again in one ear, unless I was lucky to wear a loaner that was strong enough for my hearing loss.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">One set of cochlear implant processors is worn behind the ear and is water-resistant. I don't have to clap my hands over my ears in order to keep my cochlear implant processors dry if it starts to sprinkle. I find that I still do that as a force of habit!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The second set of cochlear implant processors is totally, completely waterproof! No hands needed! I can wear these processors totally off the ears. I can clip them to my clothing, my hair. I can wear arm bands, and a headband and clip the processors on that way.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I just get giddy, thinking about the choices I have with my Bionic Ears! I can listen to music on my iPod Nano. I can listen to music on my iPhone. I can listen to talk radio, although I do not yet understand all of it, I am recognizing sentences. For someone who tested with zero speech discrimination in August 2010, that is a HUGE improvement.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">If I choose to, I can take a water aerobics class at a indoor pool facility and hear the instructions of the water aerobics instructor with my waterproof cochlear implant processors.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">My world post cochlear implants has changed so much. I think back to August 18, 2010, when I knew I met candidacy requirements for cochlear implants. Barbara, a nurse, told me that cochlear implants would change my life. I understood that in a intellectual way, but still was clueless!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Yes, cochlear implants has definitely changed my life, and for the better.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">So here's to many more years of bilateral hearing with cochlear implants!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am blessed beyond measure, and my life is richer because of a choice I made on October 12, 2010.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Here's a thank you to my surgeon, whose skilled hands and talent gave me hearing, aided by cochlear implants, which I thought was lost to me forever. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">No longer do I have to be told, </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">"You can't do that because you are deaf."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The possibilities are endless with Bionic Ears!</span><br />
<br />
mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-91410861502474527102012-09-30T17:51:00.001-04:002012-09-30T17:51:24.008-04:00Are People who get Cochlear Implants Freaks or Serial Killers?<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night I watched an episode of Criminal Minds titled, "The Silencer." It first aired on the CBS Network on September 27, 2012. I watched the episode on the computer on the CBS Network page.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Sadly, like other episodes aired on American Television on various networks, it implied that people who have cochlear implants "forced" on them are freaks. Worse, the actor who played a man who was born deaf on this episode was also portrayed as a Serial Killer. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The man's face drooped, and his right eye bulged. The incision behind his ear (depicting cochlear implant surgery) frankly looked like an incompetent surgeon had done the surgery with an ax.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The implicit message was this. People who get cochlear implants are freaks.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">All sorts of horrible things go wrong when you undergo cochlear implant surgery.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">You can't turn off the implant. NEWSFLASH: When you remove the cochlear implant processor, turn the volume dial down, remove the battery, you hear </span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">SILENCE.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am a proud bilateral recipient of cochlear implants. The incisions behind my ears were beautifully done and you have to bend my ears to see the evidence of cochlear implant surgery.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">My face isn't drooping. I wear my cochlear implant processors with joy and pride. I am a member of a growing community of cochlear implanted recipients. I don't consider myself a freak, and I am certainly not a Serial Killer because I received two cochlear implants, one for each ear.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">All surgery carries risk. Including Cochlear Implant Surgery. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Today, cochlear implant surgeries are done in accredited hospitals by surgeons who are well trained in cochlear implant surgery. Cochlear Implant research and the technology have come so far since cochlear implants were first invented in 1957 and were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States in the 1980's.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I am a volunteer mentor to individuals who are candidates for cochlear implants and/or have just received a cochlear implant. I will advocate for anyone who qualifies and desires to experience the benefits of cochlear implants.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The decision to get the cochlear implants was 100% mine. Nobody forced me into getting cochlear implants. I was already so deaf in April, 2010, I tested within the physical limits of the audiometer. I had absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain by going through cochlear implant surgery. Hearing Aids were no longer helping me with speech discrimination.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Here is my reality: Today, I hear far better with cochlear implants than I ever did with hearing aids.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I'm still deaf when I remove my cochlear implant processors at night. Cochlear Implants don't "cure" deafness, but when I wear my Cochlear Implant processors, I can once again hear.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">CBS, by choosing to air an episode (in order to get ratings for the show Criminal Minds) insulted every dedicated surgeon, doctor, scientist, researcher, nurse, audiologist, speech therapist, teacher for the deaf, dedicated families, friends, and communities who advocate for the gift of hearing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">That is exactly what cochlear implants are for me, a gift. It is a gift that has changed my life so profoundly, it is hard to put it into words. It is a gift which gives me joy every day, gladdens my heart, my spirit, my soul, and allows me to experience hearing through wonderful technology.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I refuse to allow such bigotry, misinformation, and blatant abuse of freedom of "dramatic license," steal my joy in being a bilateral cochlear implant recipient.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Hearing with two cochlear implants continues to bless me each and every day.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I have absolutely no regrets in my decision to undergo cochlear implant surgery. None. I would undergo cochlear implantation surgery again in a heartbeat.</span><br />
<br />
mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-85787371327502423612012-08-31T22:09:00.000-04:002012-08-31T22:09:33.128-04:00Lessons Learned<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been bilateral for six months. With two CI's, I am learning to discern what feels "balanced" in terms of hearing out of both ears. One of the hardest concepts I have had to learn is the fact that sound is a spectrum. When you go for a mapping session, there are many variables that can contribute to a mapping that feels "off." </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It can be allergies, a cold. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">In my case, having worn hearing aids for many years, I thought I had a good grasp of what a good mapping session would be. With each mapping session, I was pushing the volume of each electrode higher, signaling to the audiologist that the sound was "comfortable."</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">I had my last mapping session in May. During the next three months, I started feeling like I was being bombarded by sound. Sounds weren't loud, just incredibly noisy. It was too much of a good thing. Voices sounded distorted. Sounds were unusually sharp and sounds like typing on a keyboard and my office mate chewing and snapping gum all day were unpleasant to hear. I could hear my office mate from the opposite side of the wall which separates our office.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">I still struggled with imbalance issues (not uncommon for six months post surgery), vestibular migraines (without the headache), and it was getting old, feeling slightly drunk all the time. My ears felt like they were constantly at war with each other. I knew I take medications that can contribute to dizziness. I resigned myself to the fact that I would forever be a klutz.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">My audiologist is currently on maternity leave. When I returned to the Cochlear Clinic on Wednesday for my six month mapping, I told the substitute audiologist that the mappings were really off, and told her everything that was going on with me.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">She re-mapped the processors electrode by electrode. The first clue that I was being overstimulated by sound was that my face beneath my right eye started twitching. I was totally unaware this was happening. The audiologist saw that, and with each electrode, she clapped her hands loudly to see if I would twitch, and then adjust the mapping thresholds accordingly. The twitching sounds painful. I can assure you that it wasn't painful at all.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">The audiologist "tweaked" the mappings, asking each time if the sound was too soft, too loud, or just right. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the first time, voices sounded natural and I felt "balanced" in hearing out of both ears.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">Yesterday I got up to get ready for work. I noticed I was not woozy, dizzy, or experiencing imbalance issues. I tilted my head back, to see if I was dizzy. Nothing. I felt very steady and not at all off balance. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, the same thing. I could not hear my office mate chew and snap gum from the wall which separates us, much to my relief.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">The difference in the mapping is just HUGE. I had no idea or clue that I was possibly being overstimulated by sound. Again, cochlear implants do not amplify sound. That is not the objective. You want to hear high, middle, and low frequencies, and not necessarily loud, either.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">I am just absolutely stunned that one mapping session produced such drastic results. I feel as if I am hearing "normally," and I do not feel unbalanced, nor are sounds constantly noisy.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">I am hearing where the audiologists want me to be on the audiogram. My speech discrimination score was 25%. Given the fact that in April and August of 2010, I scored a big fat zero in speech discrimination, this is definitely progress. Now that the mappings are where we want them to be, I think the speech discrimination will improve.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">Lessons Learned. Hearing with two cochlear implants is still a blessing! <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-85580691945799682622012-08-20T21:15:00.001-04:002012-08-20T21:15:20.886-04:00Misinformation, The dangers of Social Media and Cochlear Implants<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night I came across a posting from someone from deaf school days. This person had posted this picture of an x-ray of a human head. There was an implant and a cochlear processor, and the picture depicted someone in the throes of a horrible headache - a migraine. Beneath the picture was the caption, "Cochlear Implants Ca</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">n B</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">e Da</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ngerous." Almost immediately, this posting generated a lot of nervous responses, all based on half-truths, inaccuracies, and misinformation. There were those who posted back, saying that they knew of individuals with cochlear implants whose surgeries were all successful.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">One person commented you can't get an x-ray with a cochlear implant. Another said, if you have dizzy spells and headaches, you can't get a cochlear implant. Still another person said, I don't want to see someone in that much pain. Yet another individual proclaimed hearing aids "safer" than cochlear implants.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Here's what I DON'T MISS about Hearing Aids. Feedback. Pressure sores from ill-fitting earmolds. Itchy Ears! Ear Wax! Cleaning earmolds!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The individual who posted the picture also told horror stories about friends who this person knew suffered adverse effects from cochlear implants. For a person who claimed NOT to be "against cochlear implants," I noted with some amusement, that this person chose not to tell the other side of the story. This person and I personally </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">know three other individuals from deaf school days and who are alumni of this school for the deaf we attended years ago. Three alumni of this school chose to get cochlear implants. The surgery was successful, and, these three individuals have no regrets about their decision to undergo cochlear implantation. In fact, one of the individuals and I met again at a convention and shared a hotel room during our stay. This person did not appear to have suffered any long-lasting "ill-effects," from the cochlear implant surgery.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Yes, there are failures. Yes, there are those individuals who, for some unforeseen reason or another, the cochlear implant surgery and usage of a cochlear implant, did not work out. There are those individuals where there was implant failure. The implant was removed surgically and a new implant surgically implanted. Out of eight "failures" out of 28,000 cochlear implant surgeries performed in 2010, (using the CI implant I chose), all e</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">ight were reimplanted successfully. The reimplantation surgery required one week's recuperation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">This never-ending discussion about the pros and cons of cochlear implants, made me think about the early days of heart transplants and open heart surgery. For those of us who are old enough to remember, there were a lot of very sick, brave individuals who died on the operating table for a chance to live a healthy life for a few hours, days, weeks even, with a artificial heart, or a real one.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Today, heart transplants and open heart surgery is commonplace. You don't usually have people running around saying, OMG! Heart transplants and/or open heart surgery can kill you! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Well, yes it can. There is risk involved in ANY type of surgery, INCLUDING heart transplants, open heart surgery, dental surgery, and yes, cochlear implants.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I can definitely tell you for every story of a "failed" cochlear implant, I can introduce you to at least 25 individuals who have had successful cochlear implant surgery and are enjoying the benefits of cochlear implants.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">My vestibular migraines started long before I ever had cochlear implant surgery. I started having headaches before it would rain, starting at about age 11. The headaches were either weather related and/or hormone related. I had not had a migraine since 2002 when I was being evaluated for cochlear implant surgery. As I have gotten older, I thought I had "outgrown" the migraines. The imbalance issues and vertigo got worse over time, due to the effects of Streptomycin given to me at birth. As my deafness worsened, so did the imbalance issues. I have always been clumsy, due to the deafness. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I found out very recently, that </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">the vestibular migraine episodes (minus the headaches but not the vestibular symptoms) were again hormonally and weather related. As my right ear adjusts to the cochlear implant and subsequent mappings, I am confident that m</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">y left ear and my right ear will be what I call "balanced." I have had two bad episodes of vestibular migraines four months apart. I do not have headaches, dizziness or vertigo every single day. Far from it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">NEWSFLASH. By the time I was evaluated for cochlear implants, I tested within the limits of the audiometer. I have been profoundly deaf for YEARS. Hearing Aids were no longer helping me, and I had absolutely nothing to lose and everything to GAIN by getting a cochlear implant. I now have two, one for each ear.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I was absolutely blessed in that I had both cochlear implant surgeries done at a hospital that has consistently ranked #1 in U.S. News and World Report for cochlear implant surgery. I was even more blessed to have a surgeon who is internationally famous for his expertise in his speciality. This talented surgeon did both my cochlear implant surgeries.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">There are very competent surgeons and hospitals all over the United States and abroad who have successfully performed hundreds, if not thousands of cochlear implant surgeries. I have met many of the cochlear implant recipients.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">That said, there is a reason why a patient being evaluated for cochlear implant surgery undergoes rigorous screening. You may have a psychological or psychiatric evaluation to determine your readiness for cochlear implant surgery. I did not have this evaluation. Not all hospital protocols are the same. I had labwork, a CT scan. Some require MRI's. I had an extensive medical history taken, and audiograms done. I also had a pneumonovax vaccine prior to surgery. The hospital which performed my CI surgeries will not do the surgery until you present them with a vaccination certificate which certifies that you have had the pneumonovax vaccine. You are told of the risks of cochlear implant surgery. Depending on one's hearing history, you are also told the time frame it will take you to get used to the cochlear implants. The medical/surgical team has a staff meeting and they determine your readiness for cochlear implant surgery. Then you are notified of a surgery date.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">As for "pain," any pain I had after surgery was well managed with prescribed pain medications. At no time was I ever in excruciating pain. Ever.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Before I took my own journey in learning to hear with cochlear implants, I talked with individuals who were successful cochlear implant recipients. One was late-deafened as an adult. Still another person was born deaf. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">For those of you who are tempted to take social media postings such as </span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">the proclamation that "Cochlear Implants can be Dangerous," as</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;"> the gospel truth, take what is said on-line with a grain of salt. Do your own research. Talk to people who have received cochlear implants. Talk to doctors. Talk to organizations for people with hearing loss. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Someone who I have come to consider a dear friend, said recently to another person who recently had cochlear implant surgery and is awaiting activation along with a relative who fears the implant won't work: "No one can steal your joy unless you allow them to." This person was saying be joyful about your decision to get a cochlear implant and don't allow your relative to spoil your joy. Well Said.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">At times I hav</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">e behaved like a child opening presents on Christmas Morning with unrestrained glee. For years, I've been jealous of hearing people who could talk on a smartphone, listen to music on an ipod or an MP3 player. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I now have my own! It is a lot of FUN listening to music on an ipod nano!</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I'm learning to talk on a smartphone. I have had three conversations on it and am pretty sure I got most of the conversation!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I often times think back to </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">my Activation Day in November, 2010, and just </span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">laugh.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I have SO come a long way, baby! WHOO HOO!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">CARPE DIEM! One Hearing Day At a Time!!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Hearing with two cochlear implants absolutely ROCKS. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I had nothing to lose by taking this journey and everything to GAIN. Thank You, God! Would I do this again? YES!!</span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-32376323508497749192012-08-17T21:59:00.001-04:002012-08-17T21:59:25.984-04:00Another Vestibular Migraine and a Meeting <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is raining. I can hear the raindrops drumming on the roof. We needed the rain. I suffered another Vestibular Migraine Episode a week ago Wednesday, complete with nausea and vomiting. I contacted my surgeon's office and was given a Migraine Diet. It seems to be working. I am just amazed at how much salt there is in processed foods.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Now that I have had two full-blown Vestibular Migraines four months apart, I absolutely know my "triggers" and what to avoid. Weather is definitely my first "trigger." I met the woman I have been mentoring at the hospital. I met her father. My mentee and I share the same surgeon and same audiologist. She was at the hospital to meet with our surgeon and to make a decision whether to go with a second CI. We discovered that we had both been sick a week ago Wednesday night. We were "twins" for a night. We talked to the surgeon's nurse while we were at the hospital.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I had never met anyone who had misgivings about a second cochlear implant.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">This woman's father has never really been exposed to deafness, and the same is true for the sisters in this family. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Our surgeon examined my mentee, and told us that his recommendation was that she go ahead with a second cochlear implant in her unimplanted ear. The father said to the surgeon that he hated for his daughter to go through all that (the surgery) again and couldn't he just give his daughter another shot in the ear? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Our surgeon was firm in his recommendation that my mentee have the second cochlear implant surgery. He explained that because she has Meniere's and the disease is quite active, they hoped to preserve what vestibular function was left. My mentee wants the second cochlear implant. Her father doesn't want her to go through with the second cochlear implant surgery.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">We met with the audiologist, who tested my mentee's hearing, and sure enough, the audiogram revealed further loss of hearing in the unimplanted ear and established her candidacy for the second cochlear implant. The Audiologist also mapped the cochlear implant processors, and explained the benefits of a second cochlear implant.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">As my mentee was deafened as an adult, she has what we call hearing memory. She did very well on the speech discrimination tests in her implanted ear and is making great progress. She scored a big fat zero on speech discrimination in her unimplanted ear, which we had expected.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">While my mentee was in the testing booth, her father and I were in the waiting room and I had a window of opportunity to discuss with him what was happening with his daughter. He has difficulty grasping what deafness is, so I explained deafness to him in terms he could understand. He still did not understand why the second cochlear implant was necessary, and referred to his daughter as "almost normal," with the inititial cochlear implant.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">This experience was an eye-opener for me. I had never dealt with a hearing person who really didn't want his daughter to have a cochlear implant in the first place, and wanted her to "preserve" what "natural hearing" she has. It also affirmed for me the difficulty people have in grasping that a hearing disability is real, although invisible. The same is true of having a disease like Meniere's. The disease is invisible to most, and only becomes apparent when the person staggers, struggles with balance, or falls to the floor, or is so dizzy nausea and vomiting result.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">My mentee has dealt with her permanent hearing loss a lot better than others.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">The loss of hearing has been gradual over a period of three years, accompanied by vertigo and imbalance issues so severe, she has been unable to work and had to go on disability from her job.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I gave my mentee a signaling system that will alert her to sounds she cannot hear without the cochlear implant. She and I have to take off the cochlear implant processors to sleep, shower, and bathe. During those times, we are deaf and cannot hear a doorbell, telephone, smoke alarm, door knock, tea kettle. I had purchased a newer signaling system prior to getting my first CI, and hadn't set it up. When I found out my mentee didn't have a signaling system, I was glad to give her my older signaling system. She gave me a gift of canned pickles and salsa she made herself. Yum!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I don't know if her father realized after our meeting that it was and is possible for his daughter to lead a full life with cochlear implants in spite of her deafness. Right now, all he can focus on, is that his daughter is now DEAF and he questions whether the second cochlear implant will be beneficial to her, or lessen or eliminate the vertigo and Meniere's attacks.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">There is light at the end of the tunnel. She has a surgery date set for October 31st. At that time, it will have been eight months since the first CI. She is going ahead with the surgery in spite of her father's misgivings. I am confident that her father and her sisters, over time, will come to the realization that being a bilateral cochlear implant recipient is the best thing to happen to their daughter and sister.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">My mentee and I are deaf individuals who lead full lives in spite of our deafness. The miracle of cochlear implant technology allows us to hear with our cochlear implant processors on.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">We have faith, optimism, and hope. One of my greatest joys right now is the fact that I am able to be a blessing to other deaf individuals who are new cochlear implant recipients, and to be blessed by them as well. We share our experiences, our setbacks, our frustrations, and our "WOW"! moments.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">What a Hearing Journey it has been. I just look back at my Activation Day experience in November, 2010, and just laugh. I have come a long way since that initial day of wild and crazy sounds.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Hearing with two cochlear implants is such a blessing.</span><br />
<br />
mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-525479604338167947.post-31572149854731912102012-07-28T22:36:00.004-04:002012-07-28T22:40:02.455-04:00A Club and a Heavy Metal Band<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, all work and no play made me pretty cranky, so a weekend ago a friend and I got in her rental SUV and got out of town. We headed south and about seven hours later arrived at our destination. We checked into the hotel, freshened up, and headed for the club. This was my first time hearing any kind of a band "live," bilaterally, with two cochlear implants instead of one.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">As in days past, my friend lip-synched the band lyrics for me. It was loud, but the cochlear implant processors adjusted for that. I knew the music was loud because the floor and walls were vibrating. We were near the bar, sitting at a table way in the back away from the band, and I could still hear them. In between sets I could talk to my friend and heard everything she said in spite of the noise, chatter and people moving about.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">I could hear the lyrics, but didn't understand them - but I knew the music and recognized the music first. I tried an experiment - I took the cochlear processors off and put them on the table to see what I could hear, if anything.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Well, I don't think I am totally deaf, because I could hear the drum set. That started another conversation - my friend thinks I heard vibrations rather than "sound." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Still, it was an enjoyable experience, loudness and all. Great bartender and great cranberry and vodka drinks. I wasn't the designated driver. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">We turned into bed around 2AM and then spent most of the next day driving back home and chatting as my friend drove.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Hearing with two cochlear implants is such a blessing, even with a Heavy Metal Band. </span>mindysue in the USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108852687328906523noreply@blogger.com0