Ping! Day 1
Words cannot describe how relieved I am! And grateful, and lucky. I had my switch on today and it went as well as it could have done, considering I was born deaf, and profoundly deaf at that! Everybody reacts differently, this is my experience, and may not be the experience that others have.
The testing of the electrodes was strange. I quickly got over the sensation of having a magnet on my head and for the most part today, I have not been aware of having anything on my ear and on my head. At first, the beeps all sounded the same, but as the test progressed, they sounded more like different keys being pressed on a piano. The poor audiologist had the patience of a saint because instead of telling her how loud everything was, I was excitedly yammering away about the pitches and comparing them... whoops. The higher pitches were physically jarring to experience, it was almost as if the sound was splitting my brain. That's what I've noticed today, my brain is hearing the sounds! It's as if my head is my own bell jar! Can you tell from my words that I am excited?
So, all the electrodes were checked, everything was set to comfortably loud and then she switched it on! I don't remember exactly what I did, but I do remember that I swore quite loudly, Peter says I seemed to try and move away from my own body, wriggled my head or something. The audiologist said something and so I said, 'I can hear your voice!' and then upon realising I could hear my own voice, promptly swore again. She turned to Peter and at this point I realised that I couldn't hear him. His poor little face sank and so she suggested he speak up, which helped. After a few minutes of talking, I explained how Peter was still difficult to understand, so she tweaked the electrodes, reducing the higher frequency ones and bumping up the mid-range ones. This had an immediate effect, as did increasing the overall volume.
After tweaking the electrodes, she tried out some sounds on me, allowing me to lipread and then repeating without: oo, s, sh, m, ee. I struggled with oo, ee and m, but the s and sh were nice and sharp. Trying it without lipreading was harder still. After that, she got Peter to test the days of the week, allowing me to lipread and then repeat without. Lipreading and sound was fine, but it was harder without. However, I was able to pick out sounds and fill in the blanks which is good. Can only get better? When we had finished the days of the week, she got Peter to do the same for months of the year.
Once all the initial speaking and tweaking was done, she then showed me how to put my cochlear implant processor together and how to dismantle it. I then made a totally insane comment about how it reminded me of Army practice at assembling and the disassembling a gun at speed. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm a complete wacko. Anyhow, she talked us both through the huge box of Medel related goodies and that was it! By this point, almost two and a half hours had passed, and I was shattered!
After the appointment, we went into Manchester city centre and headed for Wagamama. It was so strange to hear just how much noise the chefs made by crashing and clattering their pans and tools. I was able to chat with Peter despite the noise level. Trying out listening without lipreading was unsuccessful, as was attempting to follow what random waiters said to us. When I say I can hear voices, I need to concentrate still!
Observations:
Cars passing are quiet but audible.
People chattering nearby are audible but not easy to understand.
Heels clattering on the floor, yep.
Beeps from the traffic lights, yep.
The pass pad on the bus beeping when swiped - I did not know it beeped, but it does!
Peter inhaling and exhaling loudly, yep.
The train conductor aggressively blowing his whistle, YEP.
People coughing, sounds like somebody shaking a bag of empty cans. UGH.
The train going through a tunnel - loud.
Leaves being kicked up, yep.
Music - with headphones I can hear it faintly as I remember it. The beat and rhythm is clear.
Music - via laptop, I can hear my music faintly and it sounds as I remember, just much quieter.
I'm tired, that's it for today! Got my right hearing aid back in as my left magnet site feels hot and sore. Will spend the day tomorrow practising listening to pure tones and then environmental sounds. Wednesday will be practising more sounds and then voices.
The testing of the electrodes was strange. I quickly got over the sensation of having a magnet on my head and for the most part today, I have not been aware of having anything on my ear and on my head. At first, the beeps all sounded the same, but as the test progressed, they sounded more like different keys being pressed on a piano. The poor audiologist had the patience of a saint because instead of telling her how loud everything was, I was excitedly yammering away about the pitches and comparing them... whoops. The higher pitches were physically jarring to experience, it was almost as if the sound was splitting my brain. That's what I've noticed today, my brain is hearing the sounds! It's as if my head is my own bell jar! Can you tell from my words that I am excited?
So, all the electrodes were checked, everything was set to comfortably loud and then she switched it on! I don't remember exactly what I did, but I do remember that I swore quite loudly, Peter says I seemed to try and move away from my own body, wriggled my head or something. The audiologist said something and so I said, 'I can hear your voice!' and then upon realising I could hear my own voice, promptly swore again. She turned to Peter and at this point I realised that I couldn't hear him. His poor little face sank and so she suggested he speak up, which helped. After a few minutes of talking, I explained how Peter was still difficult to understand, so she tweaked the electrodes, reducing the higher frequency ones and bumping up the mid-range ones. This had an immediate effect, as did increasing the overall volume.
After tweaking the electrodes, she tried out some sounds on me, allowing me to lipread and then repeating without: oo, s, sh, m, ee. I struggled with oo, ee and m, but the s and sh were nice and sharp. Trying it without lipreading was harder still. After that, she got Peter to test the days of the week, allowing me to lipread and then repeat without. Lipreading and sound was fine, but it was harder without. However, I was able to pick out sounds and fill in the blanks which is good. Can only get better? When we had finished the days of the week, she got Peter to do the same for months of the year.
Once all the initial speaking and tweaking was done, she then showed me how to put my cochlear implant processor together and how to dismantle it. I then made a totally insane comment about how it reminded me of Army practice at assembling and the disassembling a gun at speed. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm a complete wacko. Anyhow, she talked us both through the huge box of Medel related goodies and that was it! By this point, almost two and a half hours had passed, and I was shattered!
After the appointment, we went into Manchester city centre and headed for Wagamama. It was so strange to hear just how much noise the chefs made by crashing and clattering their pans and tools. I was able to chat with Peter despite the noise level. Trying out listening without lipreading was unsuccessful, as was attempting to follow what random waiters said to us. When I say I can hear voices, I need to concentrate still!
Observations:
Cars passing are quiet but audible.
People chattering nearby are audible but not easy to understand.
Heels clattering on the floor, yep.
Beeps from the traffic lights, yep.
The pass pad on the bus beeping when swiped - I did not know it beeped, but it does!
Peter inhaling and exhaling loudly, yep.
The train conductor aggressively blowing his whistle, YEP.
People coughing, sounds like somebody shaking a bag of empty cans. UGH.
The train going through a tunnel - loud.
Leaves being kicked up, yep.
Music - with headphones I can hear it faintly as I remember it. The beat and rhythm is clear.
Music - via laptop, I can hear my music faintly and it sounds as I remember, just much quieter.
I'm tired, that's it for today! Got my right hearing aid back in as my left magnet site feels hot and sore. Will spend the day tomorrow practising listening to pure tones and then environmental sounds. Wednesday will be practising more sounds and then voices.
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