time, perserverance and patience

I am recovering from a bad cold. It is the first I have been ill while activated with the CI. I had an awful time hearing with the processor and opted not to wear it much while recovering in bed. I have since found out from CI users that when they are sick or stressed, it can be hard to tolerate wearing the device. I have discovered that the brain and processor must work in sync together. The brain needs to be alert and healthy while the processor runs in top shape for best results. At the end of the day I continue to tire out quickly, and am getting to bed earlier at night..

I look forward to the end of the week as I will be meeting with my audiologist for some more re-mapping of my device. I still rely heavily on lipreading and wish to pursue some speech therapy.

I phoned my mother on Mothers Day. My sister picked up the phone and I thought it was her husband because the CI fooled me into thinking it was a male voice! It was a couple of days before I found out I had been talking to my sister. I also found it very difficult to hear my mother. I expected that I might have trouble, so I did not get too discouraged. Time, perserverance and patience are all in order.

the first month of activation

In the last week to 10 days the sounds going through my CI began to rise up and out of control and required stabilizing. My ability to understand speech without lipreading had dropped. I endured shrilling and unpleasant sounds. Yesterday I went back to the audiologist for some more adjustments that consisted mostly of changes in the high frequencies.

Today I will focus on one program that is quieter than any previous map I have had. My threshold for loudness seems to decrease as my auditory nerve awakens with exposure to sound. In two programs the two highest frequency electrodes were removed as a trial to see if I would understand speech better. This also changes the dynamics of the frequency range and means that I require additional time to adapt. As I write, I feel disoriented by the change in sounds going on in the house and my ability to think clearly is affected.

Today marks the first month of activation with this wild and fascinating device. Two days ago my youngest daughter had a piano performance in the International Music Festival. I had a chance to witness seven young children playing musical pieces. The ability to enjoy music with a fast beat versus a slow romantic piece became quite apparent to me. My brain is premature to decipher the faster pieces.

When I enter a new space or environment, I need time to acclimatize to background noise and voices. For example when I drive the car, park, turn off the engine and get out while a voice speaks to me, my brain is processing the sound change slowly which creates for me a delay to respond. I do experience a wide range of emotion - the anticipation to the clarity of sound and then fall into heavy wearyness when sounds overwhelm me and seem too electronic and unnatural.

I had an opportunity to spend yesterday afternoon and evening with a new CI friend who has been activated under a year. She had a short appointment following mine so we agreed to an early dinner at a mexican cafe. We then proceeded from shop to shop and walked and talked on the busy streets. She would share similar experiences that I am having right now. She would inform me with accuracy phrases that I spoke when she wasn't looking at me. It was great to witness her progress and to feel support and understanding. I am lucky to have a couple of CI friends that I can contact and seek for support.

Its time to move onward and approach a new day (and a new month) with these ongoing changes in sound perspective. I am learning to relax on this rollercoaster I am on..