On the edge of something: Day 5
If you haven't checked out day 3 - please do so, as I have compared my experiences in listening within a quiet environment with a noisy one. Again, my experience is my own!
Today was pretty amazing. Wearing my CI with my HA on its lowest volume, I went to school, and instantly realised I didn't feel as on edge as I usually do when preparing to listen to people all day. I was relaxed, and I chatted with a number of colleagues briefly, recognising that they seemed so much easier to understand. I feel as if my voice has changed in volume and maybe clarity, I don't feel as mumbly.
I caught up with one colleague whom I have known for longer and better than most in the school, in the background was 'The Lark Ascending', which was playing fairly loudly, yet we had a conversation at length and at the end she commented that before my CI, I would have gone and turned the music down but that I had picked out everything she said over the music!
At lunch time, I took my CI off for 10 minutes because I was aware of a slight sensation, like a burning - the same as yesterday. After a brief break, I noticed how much 'noisier' it seemed with my right HA only, when I put the CI back on I was completely blown away by how much louder everything seemed, but not noisier, it was clearer, all of a sudden the voices from the girls in the cloakroom sounded more like voices instead of chatter.
Nervously, I settled in the staffroom with a cup of tea, yesterday had to have been a fluke, I thought, but as I sat on a couch and watched two different conversations in different parts of the room, I realised that I could follow parts of the conversations! Not word for word, but I could hear words, enough of them to get the gist of what was being said! What more, the room was essentially filled, and yet it wasn't the overwhelming noisy experience that it usually is. I felt so happy I almost cried. The best bit was when the boss came in, she took one of the staff aside and they told her something and she swore very clearly and I caught it as clearly as anything, I usually have to face the speaker and focus and this was caught in passing, I was so shocked I grinned and we had a giggle about the swearing. Amazing. Honestly, I could have screamed, but instead I sipped my tea and smiled.
I'm shattered, so after school I did my marking and then went home. After dinner, I settled down and spent almost three hours looking at lots of videos on YouTube. It was a revelation. This man is not only clear to lipread, and with a good accent, he is seriously funny and always has something interesting to discuss. I listened to a few of his videos and then moved onto music. Must admit, I cried several times as what I heard was so close to how it remember it. During one song, I was convinced that I was hearing something with the residual hearing in my right and so I took the CI off. Silence. Put it back on, and I was aware of a low level instrumental, a beat and a clear voice. Took it off, silence again. That's when it hit me, my CI is already better than my left HA ever was, as my volume wasn't ridiculously loud for me to have to pick anything up. Usually, with my left HA, I had to whack the volume right up but not anymore.
Now, as I am a huge nerd - I am going to post links and describe the sounds I can presently hear with just my CI.
Songs that have a particularly clear vocal, as in - normal and not metallic, even if the instruments and background music aren't quite right...
Today was pretty amazing. Wearing my CI with my HA on its lowest volume, I went to school, and instantly realised I didn't feel as on edge as I usually do when preparing to listen to people all day. I was relaxed, and I chatted with a number of colleagues briefly, recognising that they seemed so much easier to understand. I feel as if my voice has changed in volume and maybe clarity, I don't feel as mumbly.
I caught up with one colleague whom I have known for longer and better than most in the school, in the background was 'The Lark Ascending', which was playing fairly loudly, yet we had a conversation at length and at the end she commented that before my CI, I would have gone and turned the music down but that I had picked out everything she said over the music!
At lunch time, I took my CI off for 10 minutes because I was aware of a slight sensation, like a burning - the same as yesterday. After a brief break, I noticed how much 'noisier' it seemed with my right HA only, when I put the CI back on I was completely blown away by how much louder everything seemed, but not noisier, it was clearer, all of a sudden the voices from the girls in the cloakroom sounded more like voices instead of chatter.
Nervously, I settled in the staffroom with a cup of tea, yesterday had to have been a fluke, I thought, but as I sat on a couch and watched two different conversations in different parts of the room, I realised that I could follow parts of the conversations! Not word for word, but I could hear words, enough of them to get the gist of what was being said! What more, the room was essentially filled, and yet it wasn't the overwhelming noisy experience that it usually is. I felt so happy I almost cried. The best bit was when the boss came in, she took one of the staff aside and they told her something and she swore very clearly and I caught it as clearly as anything, I usually have to face the speaker and focus and this was caught in passing, I was so shocked I grinned and we had a giggle about the swearing. Amazing. Honestly, I could have screamed, but instead I sipped my tea and smiled.
I'm shattered, so after school I did my marking and then went home. After dinner, I settled down and spent almost three hours looking at lots of videos on YouTube. It was a revelation. This man is not only clear to lipread, and with a good accent, he is seriously funny and always has something interesting to discuss. I listened to a few of his videos and then moved onto music. Must admit, I cried several times as what I heard was so close to how it remember it. During one song, I was convinced that I was hearing something with the residual hearing in my right and so I took the CI off. Silence. Put it back on, and I was aware of a low level instrumental, a beat and a clear voice. Took it off, silence again. That's when it hit me, my CI is already better than my left HA ever was, as my volume wasn't ridiculously loud for me to have to pick anything up. Usually, with my left HA, I had to whack the volume right up but not anymore.
Now, as I am a huge nerd - I am going to post links and describe the sounds I can presently hear with just my CI.
Songs that have a particularly clear vocal, as in - normal and not metallic, even if the instruments and background music aren't quite right...
- Clean Bandit - Symphony - her voice wavers in and out of normal but it sounds crystal clear.
- Evanescence - Good Enough - again, the voice wavers in and out but I felt as if it was being heard in my right ear, but pulling the CI off put me back into silence again, so it must have been the CI having that effect. It's almost as if sounds are in my head. It's effortless.
- Rag'n'Bone Man - Skin - simply stunning, his voice is absolutely gorgeous and pretty much normal to my ear now.
- Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine - I've not heard this since it was used in Notting Hill and it was a surprise to hear as I haven't heard it many times before. There must be something about the tonal quality of the men's voices listed so far.
- Taylor Swift - Ready For It? - A lot of the backing music missing but the quality of her voice is almost normal to me.
- Harry Styles - The Chain (cover) - I have no words. Love!
- Norah Jones
- And relax, think my brain is actually pulsating from tonight, if such a thing is possible!
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