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!