Still Small Improvements Here and There :)

Hello everyone,

It has been a long time since I have posted a blog. Things are still going well. I had another mapping appointment on January 5th. It went well, I was able to get a boost in volume and now have room to grow with the volume until my next appointment in July. My audiologist tested me again in the sound booth. She was amazed how much I significantly improved with my speech understanding in noisy environments. At my last mapping appointment, it showed that my hearing aid helped in noisy environments, so at the current appointment I reached that level with cochlear implant only and then improved past that point with both the hearing aid and implant. I appreciate that I do have the hearing aid, even though sounds can seem dull on that side. Just to think that used to be my better ear!

I discovered another new sound the other day. I was pouring Diet Coke into a glass of ice and I heard the loud fizzling sound! At first I looked around confused at what that noise could be coming from, then I saw the glass in front of me. I poured more pop and sure enough it was coming from the glass. I could not believe how loud it was!

Recently, I had a dentist appointment and had not been into the dentist since right before my implant surgery. I was able to clearly hear and understand the dentist with the mask covering her lips. It felt weird to talk this way when most of my life, my dentist have taken off their mask to talk with me. Along the same lines, I went to my chiropractor on Monday and when I was faced down on the table. I was able to carry a conversation while getting adjusted. One more situation...on a weekly basis my teaching team meets with the Reading Specialist to go through a manual to learn new strategies. Normally, I would have to look up at the speaker while she talked and not be able to follow along in the book. I have been able to look at the book and still hear what she is saying without looking at her. Sometimes I forget how much I used to struggle in situations like these, trying to read lips to get information. What I am finding now is that I am losing my skill of reading lips, so that has been hard at times, but I just learn to adjust like I do with everything else.

So small improvements still happening here and there.

Thanks for reading!

Kristine