Clucking...

I have been collecting little moments of new sounds on post-its and when I feel like I have enough to share, I write a blog. These experiences are all very random, but each new sound is just as important and exciting as the first.

For a Halloween get together, I went to my friend Sarah and Xavier Arana's house. Most of the people at the house were profoundly deaf except for Sarah's brother and father. I was in the kitchen on the first floor talking with my friend Lynn when I kept hearing a distracting whirring sound. It was constant and I could not figure it out! After ten minutes, I could not take it anymore, ha. I went into the living room to ask Sarah's brother and father if they heard the same noise. Sarah's brother walked around the kitchen, then walked downstairs to the basement in the playroom to discover one of the kids left on a fishing game. I was surprised that I could hear something that was so far away.

Another situation was at work, my teaching team is still not used to how much I can hear. A custodian just left the portable and my co-worker Sharon ran to the door to yell after him. She was facing away from me about 15 feet at the door. She had a few more requests that she forgotten to tell him when he was in the portable. When Sharon finished and shut the door, she turned to me and started tell me what she yelling about, but I actually heard the whole conversation :).

Last weekend, I went to a hobby farm. The area is beautiful, it reminded me a little of Door County, WI. I walked out to the chicken coop to see if they had laid any eggs.  It was my first time in one of these. I did not find eggs, but I heard the clucking of chickens for the first time.  After that I saw sheep and I finally heard bleating ba ba noises!  It was really cool being so close to nature.  Later that day, I heard a loud lapping sound coming from the other room. It was a dog licking up the water from the bowl.  I guess she is a loud drinker!

One last story, I was asked to go outside to see if I could hear the calls of migrating of the Canadian geese.  At first I could not hear them, however it had started snowing.  The snow was coming down in small round pellets.  I could hear them hitting my jacket and things around me. It was fascinating to hear snow for the first time.  Then, another huge flock of geese were flying near us and I thought to turn my sensitivity on my implant to the highest number of 20, (normal people hear at a 10) to see if I could pick up some of the calls.  Sure enough, I was able to pick up the high pitch honking noise of many geese nearby.  

Thanks for reading!  

Leaves :)

Hello everyone,

It has been a while since I reported. I have a few new sounds to report! My brother and sister in law was in town a few weeks ago with my twin nieces and nephew. As you can see I have posted my first photo of my cochlear implant with my brother's. Now we look a little more alike :).

The first thing we did when they arrived was drive in the minivan to a park near by. I was sitting in the front seat giving directions, which is hilarious because I am TERRIBLE at directions! Anyways, my twin nieces and nephew LOVE to talk and they were very excited about heading to the park. They started asking a lot of questions and usually I have to turn around to face them to understand what they are saying. For the first time, I was able to look straight ahead and answer their questions. This was when my family noticed how well I was hearing!

Other new sounds... I was drinking out of a fruit box (yes, I still like fruit boxes just like a kid) and I heard an unusual sound, then I figured out that it was me sucking the juice out of the box. It is loud! Last night, I heard the click of the buttons when pressing the remote to change the channels. A little annoying!

The sounds I enjoyed the most happened last week when I was on a walk. It was a gorgeous fall day and the leaves were starting to fall on the ground and there was a little breeze. As I was walking, I heard a scraping noise and I looked around to see if I could figure it out. Sure enough, I saw a dried up leaf moving across the pavement. It was so bizarre that something so small could make such a loud noise.

Afterwards, I stomped through the leaves and it made such a loud crunching noise. It sounded so crisp! Then, I sat on a bench in the middle of the park and heard the leaves rustling in the trees! That was my favorite of all since the visual audiogram (a chart that shows hearing loss) that I have used with my students had a visual image of "leaves rustling" to indicate what a high frequency sounds like. I have always wondered what rustling leaves would sound like, it brought tears to my eyes when I finally heard it. I can't wait to hear the sounds of winter!

My latest sound discovery happened today when I was at work. I was in the office with my other co-worker and friend, Amy. She is the other member of the team with a hearing loss. Amy has a mild to severe high frequency hearing loss and wears hearing aids. Most of the time, she hears much better than I do, but today I was able to hear something she couldn't. This was a little funny. I think I have bionic hearing now! For the past month, I have heard an unusual tap sound occurring almost every second. I have repeatedly asked staff what it was and they could not identify the sound. Today I finally figured it out! It was the second hand on the wall clock!

Third Mapping Appointment on September 19th

Hello everyone!

It has been a while since I have blogged on here. The beginning of the school year is always a crazy time of year. The last time I blogged on here was the day before school started. At that time, I mentioned that sounds were becoming more natural and that there were no new sounds to be learned. Well, I was in for a treat! Different environments most definitely bring different sounds! My first week back was spent getting used to all the new sounds in my office which is in a portable. I appreciate the patience of my co-workers as they tried to identify all the nonsense sounds that I was hearing!

I work with eight other people and the first week is usually crazy getting inservice materials ready for our new students. Just to name a few things I heard...eight other people clacking on their keyboards at once, the dings of the incoming mail on our work e-mail, various cell phone rings and beeps, shuffling of a lot of paper, tons of stapling, computers whirring, refrigerator and electronical equipment humming in the corner, various voices talking around me, the leaf blower outside of the portable, crinkling of many snacks, the microwave running...I was sooooo exhausted by the end of the day that whole week! Talk about overload! I had to give my ears a break, so I took out my hearing aids often.

A month has passed since my first week back at work. Things seem to be much easier. I am understanding new staff and my students' voices a lot better. I am not constantly straining to hear like I was before. On Monday, I gave an inservice to a 2nd grade classroom. It was funny to be able to explain the cochlear implant by showing my head and taking off the speech processor. Usually I had a mock implant or photos of someone with an implant. The students were very fascinated with the magnet sticking to my head.

Another thing others have noticed is my speech. According to others my speech seemed to have improved greatly over the past month. My cochlear implant audiologist noticed this the most. She was amazed of how different the voice was in a month. Other friends have described my voice as being more clear and articulate. I guess I am hearing myself a little bit better these days, ha.

Anyways, on September 19th, I headed back down to Mayo to have my third mapping appointment. It was similar to first two of identifying sounds and making sure they are comfortable for me. Then, she adjusted my programs and made suggested new things to try. She said the quality of my hearing will continue to improve with the new map.

Lastly and the most important part of the visit was getting tested with my cochlear implant. I have posted my audiogram above. I scored within normal ranges with the implant! It was weird to see normal levels on my audiogram! Very exciting! It didn't hit me that I have been doing so well hearing until I did this test.

Then she tested me by giving me a variety of words with different voices. I recognized 68% of the words and 85% of the phonemes. My sentence recognition with the implant only was at 95%!! I scored a 58% when I first qualified for the implant, so this is a huge change. My tests also showed that I demonstrated significantly better performance with the cochlear implant and hearing aid in the noisy condition only. Overall, my implant is doing most of the work. My next mapping appointment will be in January 2009.

After my mapping appointment, I met with my cochlear implant surgeon and he said he was pleased with the progress I made and impressed as well. My scar looks good and there are no concerns.

This Friday, my brother Scotty, sister-in-law Tracy as well as my favorite little kids in the world are coming to visit! They will be the first family members to see me with the implant. It will be neat to see if they can tell a difference from before. Then following weekend, I will be in Atlanta visiting my other brother David with my parents. I am so looking forward to spending quality time with my family. Thanks for reading!

The world is getting a lot less noisy :)

I am still working on uploading the videos from when I was first activated. It does not seem to be working for some reason. I will keep trying! Thanks for your continued support! The world has become a lot less noisy! I am becoming used to hearing sounds in my environment. It is not as overwhelming as it has been. The fans have definitely toned down :). Sounds seem much more natural and sometimes it is hard for me to remember if I heard a certain sound before or if it is new for me.

On Friday night I was playing Pictionary with nine other friends who are hearing. A lot of talking was happening at once especially during "All Play"! That night I asked Sarah if she noticed if I was hearing a little better than before. She said it seems like it a little but it was hard to know because it was a noisy game! My friend Ben later told Sarah that he noticed stutle differences. He noticed that I did not say "what" as often as before or do the frequent nodding acting like I heard it (I know I am terrible!). I felt less tired and more with it.

Today, I was at Sarah's house getting ready to go on a walk. I said I had to use the bathroom quick before we went on our walk. As I closed the bathroom door, I heard clear as day, "Oh Kristine". I thought, she wants my attention, so I opened the door then walked out. I looked at her, thought for a second, and said, "could I have heard that before?". She said no and she was surprised I heard it too! It was a funny experience, I am hearing through walls! Sometimes wonder if I have bionic hearing!

Then, we went on our walk for an hour. I have gone on numerous walks with her before. Usually I ended up getting a stiff neck from turning my head to read her lips while walking at the same time. So, when we walked today, I noticed I did not need to look at her when walking. I heard everything she said while looking straight ahead. This did not feel natural for me, ha. I was not sure what was normal, so I asked her, "people who do hear normally, do they look straight ahead while walking with someone?" It was a funny experience and I was able to see more on my walk!

Every Day is a New Day!

I think I am still in shock or it has not hit me that I can actually hear fairly well with my right ear. I sometimes think it is a temporary thing and not forever. That I am trying out a new hearing aid or something. It continues to be a bizarre experience of hearing sounds that a normal person would hear. I always thought I could hear very well with the support of my hearing aids. I guess I thought the hearing aids gave me normal hearing, but actually it brought my levels up to a conversational level. At this level I did not hear all those soft and high pitch sounds that actually alert you of what is going on in the environment.

Everyday is a new day and I continue to discover new sounds and new ways of doing things. Today, I was in one of my bathrooms curling my hair and my implant went flying onto the metal of my curling iron! I thought this was hilarious! So, I now know to not curl the hair with the implant on! Then when I was in the bathroom, I heard a buzz from the other bathroom which let me know that the dryer completed it's cycle. Then, I was in the kitchen and I heard the same buzz three times which meant the washer was done. Crazy!

Tonight, I had the opportunity to go back to my old part time job of being an advocate for a teenager who has Autism. I worked at the Jewish Community Center and the camp for three years. This camp was in Minneapolis and it was Art Fest week. This was my first time being around many teenagers (about 100!) with the implant on. The noise did not bother me too much and I was able to understand most of the teenagers when they talked to me.

One interesting discovery was hearing my camper talking to himself and making noises while walking behind me. I guess he must have always done this in the past and now I actually hear it. It brought a smile to my face, I was able to understand his behaviors a little more. Then, we walked out to the outdoor pool. From across the pool, I heard someone calling my name. It was my old supervisor and he along with myself was surprised I actually heard it!

After swimming, all the campers gathered around the campfire to sing songs. The first song was the Hebrew version of Happy Birthday. It was Israel's 60th birthday this year as a country. I have heard this song numerous times during my three years at Camp Butwin, but I truly understood the words. Tonight, I was able to sing along :). There were many other Jewish songs that I never could grasp in the past, but I felt like I discovered the Hebrew language for the first time tonight! I was actually able to sing along! On top of that I was able to hear people around me singing the songs which never happens. It always sounded garbled and this experience allowed me to feel included.

One of my biggest fears of getting the cochlear implant was losing my identity as someone in the deaf world. In the past week, I have found that nothing has changed. I am still going about life the same way I have in the past, hanging out with friends who are hearing and deaf. My friends are my friends no matter what with the implant or not. I feel very fortunate and this whole process made me realize how lucky I truly am with the never-ending support of friends. Thank you!

My first mapping appointment

I just found out that my right hearing aid has been found at my parents house! It was sitting on a chair in the kitchen and I completely overlooked it! I could have swore that I threw it out in the garbage. I am so happy to know I didn't! Yay!

On Friday, I had my first mapping appointment. It was similar to the activation appointment. She showed me my "impetus" levels, which are the levels that my ear can be stimulated at. I believe this is the correct way to explain this. She was happy that I was willing to take in high frequency sounds. I think I have gotten used to the high frequency sounds from my digital hearing aids. She gave me multiple beeps and I had to tell her if it was too soft or soft. Then, we moved onto other beeps and I had to identify if they were "okay"sounds. After that, she played back all the beeps of the 22 electrodes and I had to let her know if it sounded too high or too soft when compared to the other beeps. They all sounded good to me, therefore my MAP was completed. I will need to gradually increase the volume which is currently set at 1 and can go up to 9 as well as increasing my sensitivity levels from a 6 to 10 as I slowly become used to sound. My next mapping appointment will be in three weeks on September 19th, which I will get tuned up again.

Once the MAP was created, she created four programs for my speech processor. Program one is ADRO which will automatically adjust my sound levels to provide clarity and comfort in a variety of environments. Program two is Auto-sensitivity plus ADRO to be used for noisier places like driving in the car. Program three is ADRO with Auto-sensitivity and Smart Sound Beam. This is good for restaurants, I would point my nose in the direction of sound I want to hear like a a flashlight beam. The last program is Smart Sound Whisper plus ADRO. This is good for listening to music, nature and quieter listening environments.

Some of the challenges of the implant so far are the steady ring / hum that I hear when all is quiet. I guess my brother still experiences this. I asked my implant audiologist and she said people do experience that. It is like similar to tinnitus, ringing of the ears. Also, every time I take off my implant there is a steady ring that stays for about two minutes. It is similar to people hearing ringing noises after leaving a concert. I guess this is normal because my nerves are being conditioned to hearing sounds. Another challenging thing is that I when I first put on the implant it sounds like a lot of electrical sounds of multiple pitches for first few minutes until I start recognizing sounds again. Other things that I am getting used to are breaking the habit of putting my hair behind my ear, it does not work with the cord attached to the magnet. So, when eating, I feel like my hair is in my way, maybe I need to shave it off, ha. Also, I am learning to hug people a little gingerly so I don't whack them in the head with my magnet or implant. I thought I might break the internal implant, but my implant audiologist told me I would likely break my skull before my implant since the implant is made of titanium. Good to know, ha. These are some little things that I need to get used to which is nothing compared to the benefits I will get with hearing new sounds in the environment.

One major experience of hearing occurred on Friday night, I went to a "fry-out" as the Sheboyganites of Wisconsin would say :). So for those of you outside my hometown would call it a cook-out, bar-b-que or grill-out at my friend Sarah and Ben Harding. There were six other people there. We sat outside for majority of the time. Then, it started to become dark and there were no lights on the table or on the deck. Normally, I would have to request to have more light available so I could read lips. While I was sitting there I realized people were talking all around me and I was unable to see their lips, but I understood what they were saying! It was very surreal experience. It was very foreign and bizarre to actually hear people in the dark without the help of their facial expressions or lips. I can tell that each day my recognition of sounds is improving. Also, my friend Jason thought I was enunciating my words a little more too. So, it is possible that I am able to hear my own voice a little better these days as well.

Thanks again for reading!

What a NOISY world we live in!

The last couple of days, I have been surrounding myself with voices and noises to train my brain as fast as I can before school starts. It has been an eye-opening experience! It can be a very draining and tiring process as well. I have been taking a few naps and auditory breaks. The biggest task has been recognizing the sound, identifying it and moving on. It is not so much learning to listen, but actually learning to not listen to the unnecessary sounds in the environment. Most of these sounds are ones that most hearing people have tuned out. Major sensory overload, but no headache yet! So grateful for that!

My first big discovery of sounds happened right after I left my audiology appointment. I went to lunch at City Cafe with Sarah and her mom (who drove from Rollingstone by Winona to join us, thank you!). We walked through downtown Rochester which was FULL of noises from traffic and construction, I could not figure out any of the sounds, but could still hear Sarah's voice. After we sat down, I started punching numbers on my cell phone to call my family, I heard the tiny beeps that it made. Then, I went to the bathroom which was very quiet. I washed my hands and I heard the water rushing out of the faucet, then the paper rustling when drying my hands, my feet shuffling on the tiled floor and the zipper on my purse. It was quite the experience in the bathroom! I was glad no one had come in because I was just standing there in wonder of all the noise that I was recognizing!

Afterwards, I started to write down all the various noises I was recognizing: the ice cubes rattling against the glass when stirring with a straw, the click of the pen cap coming on and off, laughing noises made by the tables around me, two men talking next to me, silverware tapping on the plates when eating, the rustling of the menu when turning the page over, dishes being put away near by, some of the beats of the techno music being played at the restaurant, a woman talking down the hall when walking in the subway level to the parking lot, the rubbing of hands together when Sarah put on hand sanitizer, rubbing of my skin when I put on sunblock, raindrops pounding on the windshield and the tap of a drum on one of the CD's I was listening to in the car.

After I arrived home, I met eight of my college friends at a bar / restaurant. I was curious how I would be able to handle this. Normally, it is a struggle especially when there are no sound absorbent ceilings and the floor was made of wood. Overall, it did appear to be easier to follow some conversations. It had been only seven hours since I was hooked up, so I had to give myself some credit. One thing I noticed that I could understand my friend Betsy very well. She has a soft and quieter voice and it had always been difficult for me to understand her. She sat on my right side (which was my implant side) and I felt like I understood everything she said for the first time! It was really a cool experience to have a full conversation with her without struggling. Yay!

Later, I went to the Trudeau's house where six other friends were. We were in the basement where it was quiet and I turned off my hearing aid and used only my implant. I tried to hear their voices through the implant. All of them sounded entirely different! I felt like I landed on a different planet and all of their voices had been changed! It was interesting, since you are used to people sounding a certain way, so I will need to relearn all new voices! It is a little challenging when trying to determine who is talking when in a large group.

The next morning, I woke up and decided to start training my brain right away by using only the implant. I started typing on my computer, I heard the clicking of the keys right away. Then I was hearing this noise that was going in and out, and I looked around for a while in my condo trying to figure out what it could be. Then I turned the sensitivity down on my implant (this means the distance of how far the sound will be picked up, normal people hear at a sensitivity of 10). I still heard the noise. Then after five minutes, I thought it might be my breathing, so I breathed dramatically and sure enough I discovered my breathing, ha. Once I recognized the breathing it was not annoying for me anymore.

* Just now, while I type to you on my balcony, I finally heard and recognized on my own the chirping of a bird in the tree!! I have heard multiple noises and others have told me these are birds, I finally heard a single bird chirping! Very cool. Also, I think I might be hearing the leaves rustling in the wind, not sure yet.

Other things I discovered were scratching noise when I scratched my face, coins clattering together when thrown in the wallet, my clothes touching each other when I walk, my keys jingling, the beep of a car alarm, people talking out in the hallway, air conditioners and a car starting in a parking lot. My worse enemy are FANS! VERY difficult to distinguish, they are much louder for me than others. I am determined to tackle the fans!

I heard voices!

* I am currently working on uploading the videos...hopefully they will upload soon! I guess there are issues with uploading videos in the past week, I will have to try again later!

Yesterday, I picked up my friend Sarah Trudeau (thanks for coming with me!) and we were off for my initial activation appointment at Mayo! I was feeling pretty good until a few minutes before my appointment, I became very nervous and a little excited. I was worried that the implant would not work. I felt that I accidentally sneezed a few times too many during my recovery and possibly screwed up my implant. I know...very silly.

We met with Rene' Gifford who is an audiologist and the assistant director of the Cochlear Implant Program. She placed a large rectangular box on the desk that contained all the equipment for my Nucleus Freedom processor. I was amazed at all the items that I received for my implant!

I got a back-up processor, so basically like a another hearing aid, but these processors are $7500 a piece! I will make sure I don't lose this back-up! A little story for you, I had been proud of myself to have never lost a hearing aid in my life. So, when I arrived home to recover, I had two small plastic containers that held my hearing aids when they removed them in the operating room. At the time, I was the under influence of many drugs and I thought, I have my hearing aid on so I don't need the containers anymore. I accidentally threw out my other hearing aid that I was going to use as a back up for my left ear! AGH!!! So, hopefully if anyone finds it at the dump, will know someone who needs a good working hearing aid! Unbelievable!

Anyways, my kit had many accessories: a carrying case, a rechargeable battery case, twelve earhooks, monitor earphones, lapel microphone, four battery racks, eight microphone protectors, personal audio cable and TV/ HiFi cable. I also got stickers to put on my processor if I felt like decorating it, ha, such as rainbows, stars, bears, hearts, soccer balls, basketballs, etc. I also got adapters for my two rechargeable batteries, so I can use it in other countries. Ten packs of Implant Plus battery packs to use as back-ups for the rechargeable batteries. I guess the rechargeable battery usually last about 12 hours. What was really cool was the Dry and Store kit to keep my implant in, when not in use to keep the moisture out. I wish they would give this away when you buy a new hearing aid! I was very impressed with everything. Then, I asked about how much the actual implant costs...$35,000!!! Wow!

Moving on to the activation...I was given some of the technical descriptions of the chart on the computer and completely blanked out on what it means, but I will explain the best I can of what I remember. The coil was placed on my head, but the magnet was not strong enough. Most people use #2 & #3 strength, I needed a #4. My head may still be swollen. I thought the magnet was on the scar line, but it is actually past the shaved part of my head. I guess it got tucked underneath the skin. Then, I put my speech processor on for the first time. It felt interesting having something stuck to my head and the processor was bigger than my regular hearing aid. I quickly got used to it and it was no big deal. On the computer screen, there was an animated picture of the coiled electrode in my cochlea and showed 22 electrodes lighting up as it was activated. I was not hearing anything yet.

Rene' explained that on the day of my surgery, she was in her office in another building working through a modem to test my implant while I was on the operating table. She said she gave it many tests for about 15 minutes. If I was awake during the tests, it would have been unbearably loud. Rene' said that my implant gave very good responses on the day of surgery and that it was was working properly. She also explained that some people do not hear voices right away and it takes a while. I had no idea what to expect. I remember hearing noises in my ear for a few days after my surgery when I would lay down going from soft to loud like it was going through 22 electrodes. I wonder if this is something I was remembering from being out on the table? Next, she sent me some beeps on some of the high frequency electrodes. I had to identify if they were soft, medium, okay or too loud! We were working on getting all the sounds to sound "okay".

Then, it was time to turn on the implant! I really wasn't sure what to expect. The sounds were like major explosive cackling, computerized and very unpleasant! I tried to explain the best I could of what I was hearing on the videos that I attached. The sounds I was hearing were very unexpected and insane. I was worked hard to detect and recognize any sound. It REALLY helped to have my other hearing aid.

Then about five minutes after being activated, I was told to turn off my hearing aid, I heard my first voice! I focused on Rene's lips while she was talking and I slowly started to detect her voice. Her voice slowly started to make sense to me and it felt like she was very close to me and not far away. Then, my friend Sarah said something and I was surprised! I know her voice very well since I have known her for about nine years. Her voice sounded so different than I know! It was startling and a little funny at the same time.

As time went on and we talked more, my levels were increased slightly and I was learning to accept more noises in my environment. The processor and sounds were getting a little better as time went on. Sarah asked how much I would hear potentially, Rene' printed out my audiogram and said with the implant I should be hearing within the normal ranges at 20 decibels. We will see! Rene explained that I may want to continue to increase the volume because it might sound too soft. I left the office on volume one and I am currently at volume 6. Soon, I will report about the various new sounds I have heard in my next post. Thanks for reading!

Photo #1: With my friend Sarah, thanks again for joining me!
Photo #2 of my speech processor
Video one: I was first activated
Video two: Hearing voices for the first time

Initial Implant Mapping / Hook Up Appointment Scheduled for Wednesday, August 13th!

Hello! Things are getting better each day. I am starting to sleep in again, which is a good sign that I am feeling better! So far today, I have not taken medicine for pain. Things are really looking a lot brighter. I still have restrictions until Thursday. For two weeks after surgery, I am not allowed to lift anything more than 10 pounds, bend at the waist (been doing a lot of squats to pick things up), blow my nose and must cough with my mouth open. I am still unable to sleep on my right side, it just feels funny. One of these days!

This morning, I was able to change my initial mapping appointments to an earlier date. It was originally scheduled for the 19th and 20th. I am ready now :), it is hard not to have hearing on both ears. I feel off balanced and tired since I am straining to hear with one ear. I personally understand how it can be a safety issue. Often, I have talked with parents and children with unilateral hearing loss to become more cautious and aware of their surroundings especially when crossing the street or riding a bike.

So, my initial implant mapping appointments are on Wednesday, August 13th and Friday, August 15th at 10:00 am. The mapping will be done at the Rochester Methodist Hospital at the Cochlear Implant Center. I am glad it is a week earlier, so I can train my brain before school starts again on August 25th.

For those of you who are not familiar with initial activation and mapping, this is the second step of the process. It is usually done a few weeks after the surgery. This allows for the incision to heal and the swelling to go down. For the implant to work, I need to get it mapped or programmed so I can take in sound without pain or discomfort.

My implant will be connected to a computer. The audiologist will test the implanted electrodes and adjust the frequencies of each electrode. The goal of the appointment will be finding a comfort level of sounds because at first things can sound too loud. My brain will need to get used to processing the new sounds. It depends on the individual of how quickly sounds can be processed. I have read on a website that people described the first sounds of voices to the voice of Donald Duck. This will be a little funny, I actually loved Donald Duck as a kid.

This past Friday, I was with my brother Scotty and his family. Both my sister in law, Tracy and Scotty told me some stories of when he was first discovering sounds. He was identifying sounds that Tracy had tuned out, such as the humming of the refrigerator, beeps on an oven or microwave and the crinkling of bags of potato chips. I guess potato chips bag was the most annoying. One time, they were riding in the minivan with their three kids and Scotty kept hearing this sound over and over. He said, "what is that?!" My sister in law could not figure it out. They asked the kids (I have posted a photo of the kids above, Ava, Ethan, Emma) to be quiet, then Scotty said, "see there it is, now it is gone, then there it is, now it is gone". After a few minutes they figured out that it was the windshield wipers!

I am sure I will have some interesting sounds to identify as well. I would like to hear the birds chirping, water or waves by a lake and rain. I guess any sounds found in nature!

* After I posted this, my friend Alicia and brother Scotty both asked me if I ever heard the sounds of nature before in my life. My answer...

No, I have not heard those specific sounds of nature before, at least I do not remember it. A few times when I was at Wisconsin Lions Camp late at night and also at my friends Jason and Missy's house on Minnehaha Creek when it is very quiet. I would hear an interesting sound and ask people what it was. Others would tell me I am hearing the grasshoppers putting their wings together, frogs croaking and Minnesota loons looning(?). Also, when I was in the bird cage at the Milwaukee Zoo or when I owned a parakeet, I used to hear some chirping. My brother says he hears it all that time now. Also, he said, "basically, what you will discover is that we do live in a noisy world". Great!

Feeling Great!!!

Today, I can honestly say that I am getting VERY close to my usual self! This is great since it will be a week tomorrow that I had my surgery. I never thought this day would come, I am so happy!

Last night was the first time I slept well and I actually slept in a little today. I have been getting up at 6:00 a.m. and this morning it was 7:15! Whoo hoo! My stitches look good, I have been putting Neosporin on it daily. I have been going about 9 and half hours without taking Extra Strength Tylenol for the pain. I am not too crazy about medicine, so the least amount I take, the better!

I plan to head back to Minnesota on Saturday if I am still feeling well. Thanks for all the visits, e-mails, calls and cards! I really appreciate your support!

Day of Surgery - Thursday, July 31, 2008

For those of you who are curious of the little details of the day and the day after. Sorry, it is a little long...

The day of surgery was a long one, more so for my parents who was at the hospital for 12 and half hours. Staff were great for me, but they drove my parents crazy by not giving specific information about how I was doing or where I was. I really admire and appreciate my parent's patience through this whole process. They said they were just glad I was being properly cared for.

On Thursday morning, we arrived at St. Mary's Hospital at 8:45. A man met us in the lobby and gave us a mini tour of the hospital. I thought this was odd because I thought that I would be an outpatient. Right away, I was checked into a room and was told to change into the hospital gown and robe. A nurse came in and asked a few questions, then started an IV drip of fluids since I was not allowed to eat or drink since midnight the night before. She explained the basic process of the day: an hour with anesthesiologist, an hour prepping, two hour surgery and then an hour of recovery. She said I was second case to go into surgery.

The waiting period began...an hour went by and no one came back to the room. Then two hours went by and nothing happened. We asked another nurse what was happening and she explained that the wait was normal. My parents and I were getting a little antsy and excited. I was hoping that the surgery was still going to happen that day and not be rescheduled. I just wanted to get this over with!

At 12:20, a different nurse came into the room and said, "Kristine Cinealis, they are on their way to get you, so if you need to go to the bathroom, go now". So, I thought this is it, I went to the bathroom, said goodbyes to my parents and waited. And waited...we saw many people come back from their surgeries. By this time my dad is cracking sarcastic jokes left and right to make light of this situation. I was confused, then finally at 1:30 a gurney showed up at my room. At this point, I was ready to go. I said my goodbyes to my parents once again. As I rolled out, my dad had tears in his eyes, so of course I am fighting back tears. I signed "I love you" to both and went to the operating floor.

The operating floor had 41 operating rooms so close to one another connected by small hallways that had display boards connected to the ceiling with various codes and numbers. It was a maze, every room was visible through the glass windows. I observed numerous operating teams standing around a patient with a large monitor showing whatever part of the body they were operating on. This was not exactly comforting, I was becoming nervous by the minute. Outside of my operating room, I met two women who were there to assist with the surgery. They asked a variety of questions and calmed me down a little bit.

In the operating room there were three posters of the ear which are actually the same posters that are hanging up in my deaf and hard of hearing office, I thought this was funny. A table on my right side had a TON of tiny tools and equipment that would all be used during the surgery. Two other staff came in, the anesthesiologist and a nurse who organized the items on the table. One of the women, fingerspelled the names of the other two individuals. Then, she pulled down her mask and said the names again. Afterwards, I removed my hearing aids. It occurred to me that it would be the last time I would use a hearing aid on my right ear, it was a weird feeling.

Then, they put six adhesive monitors on my chest and an oxygen monitor on my finger. (After I am out, they will put two metal probes on my forehead and near my eye to monitor the nerves during surgery.) One of the nurse's put the oxygen mask on my face and the three of them waited for me to breathe enough oxygen so they could go ahead with the anesthesia. I started to pray, then the nurse grabbed my hand and held it while I was given the anesthesia. This was very comforting. Once the anesthesia was put into my IV, I started to feel woozy and started to flutter my eyes. All the sudden, I was out.

The next thing I remember was being woken up, I was surrounded by a couple of nurses and my hearing aid was on my ear so I could hear talking. I felt so incredibly sick to my stomach and very nauseous. It was a horrible feeling! I kept saying, "I feel so sick, I think I am going to throw up". They worked on getting some medicine in me to reduce the nausea. I kept going in and out of sleep. I could not keep my eyes open and felt so sick and tired. I remember looking at the clock each time I woke up and couldn't believe how late it was. The severe nausea seemed to stay with me during the four hour recovery period. I remember hearing a nurse saying, "she can't go home, she has to stay here". I thought what is wrong with me and where are my parents?

My parents on the other hand had some very frustrating hours to deal with. They talked with my doctor at 5:20. He said everything went very well and the electrode slid in easily in the cochlea. Then he said I would be out of recovery within 15 minutes to an hour. So, my parents waited and asked various nurses of my status. The nurses did not seem to not know what was going on. They told my parents I was not yet in recovery, then I was, that it would be an hour and then it would be a couple of hours. At 7:30, they told them that the ward was closing and that I would not be returning to my original room. They had to report to a different floor in the hospital and waited in the waiting room. At 9:00 p.m., I was finally brought to a room, I guess they had to wait for one to open. I was happy to see my parents but I still was not feeling well and could not keep my eyes open. My parents said that I looked terrible, very pale and obviously not well. They understood why I was in recovery for so long and was happy that I was not going home to the hotel that night. They said good night to me and said they would be back in the morning.

During the night, I had very kind nurse, Kristin who checked in on me every two hours. She checked my blood pressure and my temperature. Whenever I went to the bathroom, I needed her help getting out of bed because I was very light headed and uneasy. She wrote on a white board to communicate with me. At 1:00 in the morning I had some vanilla ice cream. It was good to eat something cold. Then at 4:30 am I had crackers and pudding before I took oral painkillers, Vicodin which I have stopped taking due to making me even more sick. At 6:45 a.m., my doctor came in while I was sleeping to look at my vitals and sign the release form. Once I woke up, the nurse asked me to close my eyes, which I could do and smile, which looked good too, I guess. They ask this to make sure none of my facial muscles were affected from the surgery. The side effects of this type of surgery is not being able to open and close eyes on my own and smile. Good thing I passed that!

My parents showed up at 9:00 a.m. and I was taken out of the room in a wheelchair. I still could not walk on my own. I still felt very dizzy and unstable. I was terrified of the five hour drive home and prayed that I would do okay since I usually get motion sick even without having surgery! I sat in the front seat for the whole trip looking only at the road with the cool air conditioning on my face. I hugged a pillow the whole way home and my dad drove carefully trying to avoid the bumpier sides of the freeway. We stopped twice and I am sure I looked scary to a lot of people. I was so out of it, I really didn't care. I was so happy, when we finally arrived home.

I spent a lot of time during the first two days sleeping and felt very nauseous, dizzy and light headed. At times I felt like I had ringing in my right ear, like electronical whirring. I am not sure if I was imagining this. It sounded like something that started soft then went loud. It was as if sound was going through my 22 electrodes. The sound was unpleasant and I have not heard it since the first two days. I had to call my parents to help me up and down the stairs to avoid tumbling down. It was funny to call my dad on my cell phone at six in the morning to tell him to pick me up at my bedroom. It was also hard to move my head. During the first few days, I did not feel like doing anything.

I am happy to report that four days later, I am starting to feel a heck a lot better. I have a little pain, but have been taking extra strength Tylenol. I have been drinking a lot of 7-UP and eating crackers to help with the nausea. The sleeping is still tough since I am used to sleeping on my right side. I walked outside for the first time down the block and joined my mom on errands around Sheboygan. I am confident that tomorrow will be an even better day. Thanks again for your support.

Photo #1: My mom and I waiting for surgery to happen!

Photo #2: The huge bandage!

Photo #3: My shaved head and scar

Photo #4: I am feeling good today!

Still getting better!

Hello everyone,

I feel all of your well wishes all the way over here in Sheboygan, Wisconsin! I am slowly getting better. The nausea is starting to go away. My parents have been amazing. My dad has probably taken five trips to the store already for my favorite foods, medicines and 7-UP. It is funny to have people take care of me, I feel like a little kid again, ha. My parents and my brother David have all said they noticed I can hear better already. I had to explain that it is not working yet without the speech processor.

I will write more tomorrow about the actual day of surgery when I am feeling a little better to think about that long day :). It has been fun being in Wisconsin, I get the latest news on Favre's reinstatement to the Packers. It is breaking news here and interupts most stations, you would think he was the governor! I am very excited to see him put on number 4 again! I didn't get a chance to get over to the Johnsonville Brat Day's parade yesterday. Thank goodness, that too made breaking news on CNN with the erratic drunk driver driving in the crowd injuring four people. Lots of action here!

I thought this was a little cute, on Friday my childhood friend Jennie came over to the house to take off my big whooping bandage (I will post photos tomorrow) and the first thing my mom said was where is that thing that Scotty has? I was laughing and had to explain that comes later when I get "hooked" up. My friend Jennie who is a registered nurse said my stitches looked good and asked if my doctor was a plastic surgeon, so that was good to hear. Thanks for helping out Jen.

That is all for now, we are watching the end of the PGA tour (I am starting to understand it) and we are ordering Faye's pizza tonight, my favorite! Signing off until tomorrow, thanks again for your support!

Every hour gets better

Hello family and friends,

Thank you for all of your support, I feel so loved. This will be short, hopefully in a few days I will be able to report more. I am at my parent's house in Sheboygan. I am slowly recovering. I have been doing a lot of sleeping while I am here. I have been feeling dizzy, light headed and nauseous, like I do when I am motion sick. So, I am ready for that to go away. The best cure for that is sleep. My parents have been great and I am glad they were with me in Rochester. I will write more about about the day of surgery when I am more alert. Thanks again for all of your support, thoughts and prayers. I am so lucky to have all of your support. Kristine

In Rochester!

Hello everyone,

I arrived in Rochester at 5:00. Thank you Jessica for giving me a ride! You calmed me down a bit. My parents arrived at the same time, it was good to see them! We went out to dinner down the street from the hotel at Micheal's. I am getting anxious for tomorrow. Dinner was good, but I think I was focused on making the phone call to find out my surgery time.

When we got back to the room, my dad started calling the surgery line and I told him that it is not 8:15 yet. He said, they are not that good. I said we are at Mayo, they are good. Sure enough, we had to wait two minutes until 8:15. Then, we called again and found out I need to report at 9:00 am tomorrow morning.

I am hanging in there, it is good to have the support of my parents. I just asked them how they think I am doing. My mom thinks I am doing fabulous. My dad thinks I am doing fair. I am excited to get this over with :). Thank you for all your support, it has been amazing. I am really fortunate to have you all in my life. I will try to report tomorrow. I think we are planning to head back on Friday. Thanks again!

Cochlear Implant Convention?

Hello family and friends,

I just made it back from my trip to Canada. My friend Andie and her new husband did a wonderful job planning the whole weekend. Thanks for a wonderful time! Ottawa is a beautiful city. Their wedding was absolutely gorgeous and so much fun.

Initially, I thought this would be a great trip to get my mind off of my upcoming surgery. Well, it seemed like over half of the people at the wedding who had a hearing loss, had a cochlear implant! This was really great and refreshing to see. What better way to prepare myself for the implant than hang out with successful implant users over the course of five days! I was able to get a lot of stories of others' experiences, numerous questions answered, observe many amazing individuals using an implant and overwhelming support with my upcoming surgery.

The big day is coming up soon! I cannot believe it is actually this week. I think when I arrive in Rochester on Wednesday it will hit me that it is happening.

Today, my brother asked me some specific questions, so I thought I would share the same information with you as well. On Wednesday night after 8:15 p.m., I will call to find out when my surgery is scheduled on Thursday. One important thing I had to be sure not to take aspirin or Ibuprofen ten days prior surgery. I have been putting stickers all over my meds and in my wallet reminding me not to take any! So far so good!

My surgery will be performed by Dr. Neff. It will be approximately 2 - 3 hours. I will be at Saint Marys Hospital on the Mayo Campus. Prior to surgery they will be shaving about 4 inches behind my right ear. It will be interesting to see part of my head shaved! After surgery, I will be put into a recovery room to be monitored. I will be released from recovery room depending on the time and how I am recovering. I may or may not stay overnight. So, my parents may be able to drive me back to my hometown as early as Thursday if the surgery is early in the day. My brother Scotty said he slept a lot the weeks after his surgery. Then again, he loves to sleep, ha.

I may get more specific information on what to expect in the mail this week. I tend to get a mailing a couple of days before my Mayo appointments. If I do, I will send information your way!

Also, I added some photos of my recent visit to Ottawa, Canada...

#1 group photo with the beautiful bride and groom (myself, Scot, Sally, Jamie, Andie, Alicia, Sarah, Xavier)

#2 changing of the guards ceremony

#3 400 year old Parliament Building

One Week from Tomorrow!

Hi everyone,

I hope this finds you well. I am starting to get a little excited, nervous and freaked out a little bit, ha. I think this is all normal. It is a good thing that I have a ton of stuff to keep me occupied before the actual day. I will be going to Canada tomorrow until Sunday night, then I have my last three days of teaching summer school along with working on my last graduate class. So, I think next Thursday will be here before I know it.

My dear childhood friend Jessica will be driving me to Mayo on Wednesday (thanks so much!), then I will meet my parents at the hotel. After the surgery, I plan to go home to Sheboygan, Wisconsin with my parents to recover for the week. If any of you are in town, feel free to stop by. I don't think the recovery will be that bad. It will definitely be better than everything I went through for months after my jaw surgery.

I greatly appreciate all of the support, thoughts and prayers; especially my loving family who mean the world to me. I posted their photos above, you know how much I love photos!

Photo #1 My brother Scotty (who was implanted six years ago) and my sister-in-law along with my favorite little kids in the world...Ava, Ethan & Emma

Photo # 2 My parents and my brother David who all seemed to love the color blue that day, ha.

Two More Weeks! The countdown begins!

It just occurred to me that I will have my surgery in exactly two weeks! I have been so busy with work, grad school and life that it hasn't hit me that it is coming up so quickly.

Once in a while when I am driving in my car, I turn off the left hearing aid of my better ear to see if I can understand the radio. It is amazing how very little I can hear on that side. It is all garble and very dull. I guess I am just checking to see if the hearing magically came back, ha.

Next Wednesday, I leave for Rochester, New York, it's funny to be hitting both Rochesters within a week of each other, ha. I will be joining friends to drive across the border to Ottawa, Canada for my friend Andie's wedding. I am curious to see my friend Scot who was just implanted on May 31st. I plan to get all the information I can from him about the surgery, recovery and hook-up!

I want to say thank you all for your support. I appreciate all the e-mails and messages of well wishes. Also, a special thank you to my teaching team along with my audiologist, Claudia and supervisor Paula for the surprise package full of goodies! What a great team to work with!

I attached photos of them (you know how much I LOVE pictures!).

Photo #1: Taken at our last Statewide Deaf and Hard of Hearing Track and Field Day. From the top left, Amy V. Luanne (transliterator), Terri, Amy, Chris (all sign language interpreters), Holli, Kristin. From bottom left, Wendy, Tiffany, Myself, Sharon, Amy E. Nancy

Photo #2: Taken three years ago at Claudia's lake home, she is the one in the red sunglasses

Photo #3: My supervisor Paula :)

What is a Cochlear Implant?

Some of you have asked for more information on what a cochlear implant is, I probably should have started with this post so you all knew what I was referring to this whole time :). First, I will explain how a person hears normally (refer to labeled ear diagram above, you can click on any picture to enlarge it):

• Sound waves enter the ear canal and travel to the eardrum
• The sound waves cause the eardrum to vibrate, then it sends the three smallest bones in the body (Hammer, Anvil, Stirrip) into motion
• The motion is converted into electric impulses by the tiny hair cells (thousands) found in the cochlea
• The electric impulses are sent to the hearing nerve to the brain, where they are perceived as sound for the listener
  

For my ears, everything is working except for the hair cells within the cochlea. I have a sensorineural hearing loss which means the source of my hearing loss is within the inner ear (cochlea). I have abnormal hair cells, they are weak or not there at all. Most definitely the case for my high frequency sounds which I have always had difficulty hearing.

A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that gives a person with a hearing loss a sense of sound (see implant above). The individual has to be profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing. Where hearing aids only amplify sounds, cochlear implants directly stimulate any functioning auditory nerves with electrical impulses within the cochlea. My audiologist Claudia, explained it the best for me...cochlear implants are to contact lenses as hearing aids are to glasses. It goes directly to the source of sound or sight.

How a cochlear implant works (see numbered ear diagram above):

1. Sounds are captured by the sound processor (see above) which is worn on the outside of the body. It looks like a hearing aid with a magnet attached to connect to the internal implant. (So, if I were to get too close to a refrigerator, my implant could go flying on the fridge :), this has happened to my brother a couple of times, I will train myself to not get too close to a fridge, ha).

2. The sound processor synthesizes the sounds into digital information then sent to the internal implant through the magnet.

3. The internal implant changes the digital information into electrical signals. Then, they are sent to the electrode (looks like a wire, see photo above) that is inside of the cochlea.

4. Signals from the electrode bypass the damaged hair cells to stimulate the hearing nerve, which allows the brain to receive sound.

That's it, that is how I will be able to hear! Simple enough huh? Ha, yeah right! I will be implanted with the Nucleus Freedom by Cochlear (www.cochlear.com).

If you want more specific information, the following websites are helpful:

www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/coch.asp
www.fda.gov/cdrh/cochlear/index.html

Pre-Operation Appointment - July 2nd

I arrived into Rochester an hour and half early! I feel like I am turning into my brother David who is always obnoxiously early for everything :). I went to my first appointment, which was the CT Scan. I told them about the screws I had in my jaw from my previous surgery and they said that a CT Scan would be fine, but not a MRI. I laid on a platform with my head secured by a band across my forehead. They marked the right ear by taping a thin object to my cheek.

The CT Scan took about five minutes. I just had to lay still while my head was moved into a center of a large donut looking machine. Then a camera inside spun around to take pictures. Afterwards, I walked back down to the Mayo Clinic Atrium and heard a man singing at the top of his lungs. When I looked down from the balcony, there were people standing around listening. He sang songs like Amazing Grace, America the Beautiful, The Rose while someone played on a black grand piano. He asked the crowd to join in and people did, it was pretty powerful, of course I got tears in my eyes being the sap that I am. I found out later that people come on a daily basis to sing for the crowd. It is really uplifting. I continue to be impressed with the services here especially the wireless Internet which I am currently reporting from.

My second appointment was for my preoperative evaluation. I arrived at the check-in counter for my appointment. I could not understand the woman at the desk and asked her to repeat and explained that I was hard of hearing. She then, started talking VERY loud, slow, enunciating every word! I stopped her after a few words to explain that she can just use her regular voice. I thought it was a little funny. I have actually presented to younger students and adults about this very behavior, ha.

Anyways, I had all the usual check ups with weight, height, blood pressure and oxygen levels. They are VERY thorough, I had a nurse and a physician ask me about my health, medical and surgical histories as well as my daily habits. They asked who would be with me on the day of the surgery. They got both of my parents names and the hotel they are staying at. Then, she asked for their cell phone number. I laughed since my parents "own" a cell phone, but they never use it, not sure if they know how to! I guess both the nurse and physician will submit their own reports on my health history to make sure nothing was missed from the interview. Next, the anesthesiologist came in to do his evaluation. He checked my lungs and asked more questions about my medical history. It looks like I will be given the anesthesia through an IV. After his evaluation, I was declared as healthy to have the surgery! Yay!

Alright, I am back at home ready to report about the rest of the day. When I arrived home, I took an hour and half nap (I was planning to only sleep 20 minutes!), I was so exhausted! Imagine that, an hour nap at 6:30 pm! Nuts! Okay, back to the Mayo visit...

For my third appointment, I met with Ann Peterson for my Cochlear Implant Consultation. We picked out colors for my behind the ear speech processor and the magnet (I will be posting a blog soon explaining cochlear implants). I picked the same color that is used for my hearing aid. It comes in a variety of colors like pink and blue, but I thought that would be a bit much :). My implant is the Nucleus Freedom by Cochlear, same as my brother's implant. I received a DVD and manual on how to use my speech processor. Also, I got an identification card to keep with me in case I am in an accident to be sure they are aware that I have an implant.

I found out that patients can be hooked up the day after surgery if they wish. I have decided to wait a few weeks so I am feeling 100%. I will have an appointment 2 – 3 weeks after surgery once the swelling has gone down to put the magnet on. I will have a two day appointment with 2-4 hours of sound mapping (identifying sounds that I recognize) on each day. Depending on how I do at those appointments, I may need come back a week or a month later. Most of my appointments for sound mapping will be within the first 3 – 6 months. People have shown success with the bimodal method which is when two modes are used, the hearing aid and the cochlear implant. Ann suggested that I use both my hearing aid and implant during the work day and in the evenings use the implant to train my brain to the new sounds in my environment.

Finally, my last appointment of the day was with Dr. Neff. He explained the major risks that come with surgery such as jaw pain, bruising (one of his patients got a black eye!) facial injury which is 1 out of 1,000 cases and meningitis. None one of Dr. Neff's patients has yet gotten meningitis after surgery. He has performed a couple of hundreds of surgeries and has not had to remove an implant yet. Dr. Neff explained that he had one patient who had a head injury after implantation and the implant was damaged. Then Dr. Neff said my CT scan looked good and there was enough room to insert the implant in the cochlea. He showed me on his computer monitor the cochlea of both of my ears with the normal formation of two and half turns.

Prior to surgery I will have 4 inches shaved behind the ear. I am happy that I am getting shaved so there is no mistake on which ear should be implanted on. I have heard the horror stories of people getting the wrong knee operated on or kidney taken out! The surgery will take about 2 -3 hours. The night before the surgery I need to call a phone line between 8:30 – midnight to get my scheduled surgery date, so I will not know until the day before.Depending on when the surgery is scheduled, I may be able to go home that day. If it is later in the evening, then I may stay overnight at the hospital. Dr. Neff said it is probably good to go home so I am not exposed to other patients in the hospital.

A follow-up appointment will occur about three weeks later. I asked about motion sickness after implantation, my brother Scotty had a bad case of it. Dr Neff said it does not happen often with his patients. I am planning to go home to Sheboygan with my parents after the surgery to recover. Hopefully I will be up for the six hour car ride! Then, I got another informational brochure on the implant.

That was it! I am all set for this surgery! I don't think it has really hit me that I am actually doing this. I think as time gets closer it will become more real. I am excited and very nervous at the same time. Thanks to my family and friends for reading and all of your support!

Meeting Dr. Neff

My last stop of the day was at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology to meet Dr. Neff, the cochlear implant surgeon. Amy and I arrived at the waiting room, it was massive! The largest one I have ever seen. I was given a pager to let me know when I should report to the front desk for the appointment. Once the pager went off, I went to a very small office within the clinic. The first doctor came in, asked me a few questions, looked in my ear, felt the bones behind my ears. It turned out he was not my doctor, he was working on his residency.

Next, three more people came into the tiny room. It was crowded! Dr. Neff introduced himself and I had no idea who the others were (it turned out that it was a nurse and an audiologist in case I had any questions). Dr. Neff was all business and explained things with a lot of facts. Amy and I asked many questions and he answered them confidently. One thing I remember is that Mayo does 100 cochlear implants within a year. Dr. Neff explained the process and then asked when I wanted to schedule the surgery. WHOA! I haven't even decided if I am going through with it! Yikes! I was not expecting that at all. It was odd having four people look at me while I fumbled with the question. I told him I needed to think about it. He suggested that we set a date in case I was interested. So the date was set for May 28th.

Dr. Neff explained that I needed to get the Pneumococcal (PPV23) vaccine prior to the surgery to prevent Meningitis after the surgery (I got the vaccine the following week at my clinic). Also, he explained that I needed a CT Scan to make sure my cochlea is formed correctly with two and a half turns. Fun fact for you...the cochlea is found in the inner ear, it is a spiraled hollow bone. Cochlea comes from the Latin term for snail. If my cochlea turns only one and a half or one turn, then it becomes a little bit more risky. I would stay overnight one night after the surgery. For two weeks, I am to take it easy and not lift anything more than 10 pounds due to all the muscles connected to the ear. After my incision is healed, I will be able to get "hooked up" to a speech processor. This is anywhere from 3 - 7 weeks after surgery. Oh, the whole process costs a whopping $55,000!! Agh! Luckily my new insurance, Health Partners will cover most of it, otherwise I was going to do car wash fundraisers or benefits. My mom had just recently quit smoking after 50 years, I am so proud of her, anyways, my parents agreed that whatever they saved from buying the cigarettes would go to the surgery. I thought that was very sweet of them.

Anyways back to the Mayo visit... Amy and I headed back to the Twin Cities. I called my family and told them that I was a candidate. My Dad told me that it is ultimately my decision that he will support me either way. Then, Amy called our personal audiologist, Claudia to give her an update on the visit. During that time, I told Amy and Claudia that I am pretty much considering the implant. I surprised myself of my decision, but I thought why not try it, since my right ear is not providing huge auditory benefit for me and it has been a frustrating year hearing my students. Wow, a huge chapter has just opened in my life. Hopefully, this is the right decision!

Am I a Candidate?

My first hearing evaluation with the audiologist produced an audiogram (chart that documents your hearing, see attached photo) that was very similar to what my personal audiologist had for me. For those of you who may not be familiar with audiograms, I will try my best to explain it to you. Decibels demonstrate how loud or soft a sound is with 120 being the loudest like a jackhammer or an airplane engine and 0 being soft like leaves rustling. The top of the audiogram shows the frequencies, 125 Hertz are low (z, v, j, m, d, b) and 8000 Hertz are high (f, s, th). Normal range of hearing between 0 to 20 decibels. The x's indicate the left ear and the o's for the right ear. So according to the audiogram, I continue to have a bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss.

Next, Amy and I tackle the incredible maze of tunnels in the lower level of the massive complex to locate the Mayo Hearing Clinic for my hearing aid evaluation. It was a quick evaluation of my hearing aids. Tiny plastic probes were put inside of my ear canals, then my hearing aids were inserted with the probe inside. Then auditory signals were sent from a speaker in the room. The probes measured how my hearing aids responded to the signals. After that was completed, it was declared that I have fabulous working hearing aids (thanks Claudia!) and I can move onto the next step!

Then, I meet with cochlear implant audiologist again for the big test to see if I am indeed a candidate for the implant. The set up for the sound booths are very high tech. The sound booth I was in, had a lot of small rectangular speakers along the wall. I had to face the speakers with a video camera on me. It was kind of weird having others watch me and not be able to see them. In Ann's sound booth there was a lot of technology with a computer documenting all my responses and a monitor for the video camera.

For all the tests, I was able to wear my hearing aids, which is probably why it was important they were working properly :). I was given three separate speech recognition tests with sentences, words and sentences with background noise. The tests were administered through the computer then through the speakers in my booth. Each item on the test was given with a variety of voices, male, female, high, low, children and adults. The sentences came from different directions in the sound booth. It was truly a realistic measure of how I hear in everyday conversation. For each individual test, I was tested with each ear individually and then together. So, basically I had to do nine speech recognition tests. My job was to repeat as much as I could of what I had heard. I felt like I was talking in gibberish most of the time. I believe the computer accepted the phonemes (smallest unit of language) that I repeated.

By the time I was done, I was completely exhausted, mentally and physically. It took a lot of energy to give my best effort to listen intently. The most difficult test was the one that included the random background noises, I could not recognize many voices except for the deep male voices. Throughout the evaluations, the audiologist told me to shut off a hearing aid for the individual ear tests, which I did. A few times after the test started, I would reach up to fiddle with the hearing aid to make sure it was shut off and the other hearing aid was turned on to the right volume. The audiologist had to stop the test and come into my booth to make sure I wasn't turning the other hearing aid on. I wasn't trying to cheat, I swear! :)

My friend, Amy was also in the booth with the audiologist and noticed my percentages go up and down rapidly throughout the tests. It was hard to tell what the outcome would be until the very last sentence was given on the last test. Are you ready to find out my score? Drum roll please... I scored a 58%! So, I made it for the cutoff, but just barely! It took a little bit to sink in. I felt a little better knowing I am near the border of becoming a candidate and that my hearing loss is not that drastic.

The audiologist explained the results more visually on paper and stated that my percentage of 10.5% for understanding with the background noise present was within the average range of someone with a cochlear implant. So potentially, there is a possibility that I would be able to have more understanding with an implant on in a noisy environment. She recommended that I have the cochlear implant on the worse ear, right and continue to use the hearing aid on my left ear. High frequency sounds with a cochlear implant, sound "ugly and squeaky", so the left hearing aid would pick up those high frequency sounds. Together with the hearing aid and implant the gaps of language would be filled in. Lastly, she stated three reasons why I am a good candidate for the implant: I've had good hearing with my hearing aids for most of my life, I have usable hearing after 4000 Hertz and the time period between losing my hearing to getting an implant is not too long. My auditory nerve is still good and my memory of hearing will be strong as well. She gave me information packets of two cochlear implants to choose from: Nucleus Freedom by Cochlear and Harmony by Advanced Bionics. My brother Scotty was implanted with a Cochlear brand implant and has had great success with it. At this point I am feeling very overwhelmed and not yet 100% committed to implant surgery. Next, we meet with the cochlear implant surgeon, Dr. Neff.

First Visit to Mayo Clinic

My first appointment at Mayo Clinic was on February 27th. I had mixed feelings about going through the process. I was nervous and unsure of what to expect. At the same time, I was excited to see the "Mecca of the Medical World". I was very fortunate to have my co-worker and friend, Amy Erickson join me for trip, it made the whole experience more exciting and bearable. We stayed at the famous Kahler Hotel, which was undergoing much needed renovations. Our room appeared to have not been touched since it opened in the 1920's. I wish I could say I was joking, but I am not. It had mirrors on the walls with paneling on the opposite walls and two twin beds. It smelled very stale and musty. Needless to say, we did not sleep very well.

Anyways, enough about the accommodations :). My first appointment was at 8:00 am for the cochlear implant consultation. I met with the audiologist, Ann Peterson. We did an informal interview. She asked me to describe my hearing loss, history of loss in the family and how I function with my hearing loss. Ann explained the process of qualifying for an implant. I would get a hearing evaluation, then go to the hearing aid clinic to be sure my hearing aids were working properly. I guess sometimes people arrive at Mayo and discover that they had inadequate hearing aids for their hearing loss and that is why they do not hear well! I was positive my hearing aids were appropriate for my loss because I have the best audiologist around :).

Next step, if I pass hearing aid check, I would do more hearing evaluations with the audiologist. On the evaluations, I would need to score 60% or worse to qualify for the implant. Then the audiologist mentioned that there may be a possibility that I do not qualify due to how much I can hear with my hearing aids. I thought to myself, "Great! All of this effort and I may not qualify!" I was a little nervous knowing that I may not even have an option of improving my hearing and that I might need to adjust to the way I currently hear. I wish there was a powerful hearing aid out there to just plop on my head. I am a little scared to have something drilled into my skull. Luckily, I had my upper jaw surgery three years ago which they broke the jaw into three pieces then screwed it back together, so this surgery should a breeze. Okay, back to the process of qualifying... Once all my hearing evaluations are completed and done, if I scored 60% or worse, then I can move onto the next step to meet with the cochlear implant surgeon later. If I score 60% or better, then I would return home without going any further.