Long overdue updates....

It is now Week #9 and I have lots to report! A lot has happened since Day #4…

Week #1
I found that the best time for me to do auditory training took me back to the days when I got my first CI and drove around so much from school to school when I was an educational audiologist – in the car! Listening to talk radio and music has been great and I am getting more words and more sounds every day.

I also went through my first set of 3 programs and instead of waiting until 2 weeks post-hookup for a map check, I got to go in after 1 week. I am very fortunate being so close to my CI center and try not take that for granted! We remapped across the 4 bands and the first 3 bands went up a good bit and my last band stayed essentially the same. It is amazing to me how FAST it is to do a map now! I bet the parents of the fidgety little ones really appreciate this. Also, instead of each of the bands sounding like whiffle bats hitting the ground, I could hear distinct octaves. My brain is learning – YAY! After this tweaking, I put my trusty C-1 back on. It sounds so good together, despite having two different technologies.

Sounds of Week #1:
• Oh my goodness…I absolutely DO sound like a garbage truck backing up when the headpiece of my Platinum Series Processor (body-worn processor) comes off! Beep…beep…beep I initially elected to have the feature of the audible alarm put on to show parents that there are easy ways for them to tell if their young child’s headpiece comes off, hence, the beeps. As an adult, however, I have found this alarm invaluable because it alerted others who were talking to me that I wasn’t hearing when the alarm went off! For example, there are times when I’m wearing my body-worn processor and I move in my chair, my cord moves and it pulls my headpiece off. Not a big deal except when I’m engaged in a conversation. Now, people who recognize what this alarm means, actually STOP TALKING and wait for me to go back on-air. Brilliant!
• Hearing the HVAC system kick in when it’s been so cold at night
• Maddy in her bed, rolling around and playing peek-a-boo with herself because she doesn’t want to go to sleep yet

Week #2
I feel balanced. For me, this is the only way to describe what it is like to go from unilateral to bilateral implantation. I am noticing all of those bilateral advantages – listening in noise is easier, hearing sounds on the left side is awesome, it is easy to equalize the volume between both sides and I feel like I need less volume on my C-1 side, and I can localize (figure out where a sound source is in space)! I was at the Mall and I couldn’t remember where I parked my car (definitely NOT an isolated event). In the past, I have just hit my “Unlock” button and looked around for the flashing lights. This time, I closed my eyes and hit the “Alarm” button. I turned my head in the direction I thought the car was, opened my eyes and there was my car! Hurrah! I’m hoping this new-found localization ability will help me find Maddy in the house but she still has to be still for me to do this.

Sounds of Week #2:
• Hearing the toilet flush downstairs (we live in a bi-level house) which told me that Maddy was downstairs and not, in fact, cleaning her room like I had asked her to.
• The clicking of my clock in my home office
• My mom’s I’m-Filipino-but-talk-like-Zsa-Zsa-Gabor voice

Week #3
Went to Valencia, CA this week for a company-wide meeting – I enjoyed lifting up my hair and showing everyone my Auria and the Techno color caps that I had chosen to wear. Working for a corporation is so different than working in the schools in that there seem to be so many more listening-intensive activities, especially in groups due to meetings and presentations and such. When I was unilateral, I found this exhausting but I really felt less fatigued this time around and I truly believe it is because I am hearing from both sides and having to work less. Voices continue to become more natural but are still sounding the best when I am using both sides… new side alone still doesn’t sound as natural as old side but I realize it has only been 3 weeks! I don’t think my old side sounded completely “natural” to me until many months later.

Sounds of Week #3:
• Had dinner with Matt for Date Night while my sister watched Maddy. We’re sitting in the booth and talking and all of a sudden my eyes get really big. Matt said, “What’s wrong?!?” and I said, “Nothing, but your voice is totally POPPING out at me here in this slightly noisy restaurant!” I sat there an experimented – turned off one side and then the other and the difference in noise is awesome to me, there is no comparison.
• Still being able to hear when one of my batteries die :) I no longer have the completely deer-in-headlights look but can continue to hold a conversation while I go and swiftly change batteries. I timed myself…it takes me about 15 seconds to go to my purse, grab a battery and switch out the dead one. How cool is that? Maddy is also learning how to swap batteries out for me.

Week #4
I had another map check this week. Once again, the first 3 bands came up and my last band stayed about the same. One big change that we tried this week was also increasing my Input Dynamic Range (IDR) from 60 to 85 dB. What this means is that I am getting greater access to environmental and speech sounds without them being omitted or compressed. This is also happening all the time, without the need for me to switch programs. I can hear very quiet or distant sounds, as well as take advantage of listening to music on my iPod in my office through the speakers.

I went for a long walk this week through some of the trails by my house. I live in Subdivision Land so there aren’t lots of animals to listen for except for the occasional pet dog protecting his territory or squirrel trying to cross my path . As I walked around, I felt like all of my senses were heightened…the sun was exceptionally bright and felt warm on my hair, I could smell burning wood as people took advantage of their fireplaces, the taste of my morning coffee was still fresh in my mind but most of all, there were all of these sounds! I’ve heard all of them as a former hearing person but listening in stereo again really added another dimension. That, plus the fact that I am using my full IDR, means that I am hearing things far away as well as up close. Here are some things that I heard on this walk:
• the gurgling of the water in the retention basin of the subdivision from a block away
• the geese flying overhead
• a couple of power-walkers coming up from behind me and laughing at a story that one of them told
• the sound of my shoes kicking rocks in my path
• both of implants going in to compression (not allowing sounds to become TOO loud) when an ambulance and two police cars whizzed by
• hearing a dad give directions to his son about how to open up his stance and hit a ball to the opposite field in baseball


Week #5
I really love my job…being active on various cochlear implant forums as well as having contact with some of our customers, I have really come to appreciate and cherish what this technology has brought to us. I read e-mails and blogs, personal webpages and testimonials of how people are benefiting from this wonderful device. Of course with these joys are challenges but I figure that is what I’m here for and even if I don’t know the answer, I will find someone who does. It’s funny as I write about Week #5 that I’m really just talking about work things and not necessarily “listening” or “hearing” things…I guess I’ve been pretty busy this week! :)

Sounds of Week #5:
• my cell phone vibrating on my desk because I had turned my sound off
• talking on the phone with Auria and HR 90K more and more with familiar people – I have not taken the plunge yet with unfamiliar voices
• the fan of the solar wall that Matt installed going off and blowing warm air into the house (there is a duct in my office closet right near my desk)
• the voices of Maddy’s classmates asking me questions after I did a short lesson about sign language – they also enjoyed learning about my implants. Maddy especially reveled in showing them what metals objects in her classroom can stick to my head!