HEARING IN STEREO!!

Getting ready to start the process!

Hello family and friends,

Today was an exciting as well as a little emotional day for me. I was not expecting to be emotional, but I guess I didn't realize how much I missed hearing sound with both ears. Also, it was really exciting to hear some of the new sounds I first heard with my first implant now on my newly implanted left ear. Lastly, it feels like this process was a long one, starting from my appointment last August where I learned my speech recognition score has dropped to 18% from 85% in five years to finally having the implant successfully activated today. I am feeling very blessed to be able to have a chance to hear again in my left ear. This will make my life easier with my current job of interacting with a variety of staff, parents, students and hearing in situations with people who do use sign language.

The day started with picking up my amazing friend and co-worker Sarah Trudeau. It was really awesome that she could join me again for the activation. I greatly appreciate you being there both times, really cool to experience that with you.

The first appointment was with the audiologist, Ann Peterson for two hours. She was very patient and walked me through the mapping process. First, she tried different magnet strengths on me. My right ear has a strength of two and I needed a three for the left ear, it may still be swollen. Next, I was connected to the computer, all 22 electrodes lit up in green, so all were still in good working condition. For the next hour, I had to listen very carefully to beeping noises at 22 frequencies. I needed to count the beeps and let her know how many I heard to set my levels. I had to let her know the softest sounds and the loudest sounds that were comfortable to hear. This is kind of tiring to do, then I needed to go through all of them again to be sure all 22 electrodes sounded the same based on the softness and loudness. This can be a little tricky because it's hard to tell if a sound has the same loudest with another sound because they had different pitches. I was pretty exhausted after listening for an hour.

Now, it was time to turn it all on! Sarah videotaped me, which I will post later. It was a much different experience getting hooked up for the second time. I was a little nervous, but knew what to expect. The electronical sounds were not there, but more of a crackling / beeping sound, but not for long, I was able to hear the audiologist's and Sarah's voices. It was when I turned off my right cochlear implant that I noticed that my left ear was really working! This was a little emotional. I feel lucky because I know this is not the case for many people who are hooked up for the first time. I've worn hearing aids for most of my life, so does make this process easier. It was really amazing to hear sounds for the first time on my left ear that I have not heard using only hearing aids. I was able to recognize the sounds because my right ear has already identified them years ago.

My audiologist suggested I continue to wear both speech processors when I need to hear people, but I should take off old processor when by myself to have my new processor / implant be trained. Right now I as I have been writing this, I have Pandora turned on my laptop to listen to music using only my new implant. It feels like I have earphones on and the sound is in my ears when really I am hearing music from the laptop's speakers. Funny, just now, I saw a sales person walk up to my door, normally I would not answer the door, but he saw me in the window, so I thought I would give it a try and see if I could hear him with only the new implant. He sounded kind of far away with a British accent, I noticed this earlier as well when I was listened to a voice mail.

Anyways, back to my appointment, the biggest challenge was putting on my implant on the left side, I am right handed! The cool thing is my surgeon lined up both implants perfectly, so they are evenly placed on the head in the same location. We wrapped up the appointment with the audiologist showing me how to use the speech processor and turning on the remote, etc. The remote is kind of cool, better than having to take off the speech processor or trying to fiddle with it while it is on my head to make adjustments. 

My next appointment was with my doctor. While I was sitting in the waiting room, I was very fascinated with the sounds around me. I could notice a woman on my left was unzipping her bag and then a couple on my right was having a conversation. It was neat to be able to recognize the direction of the sounds. I do hear a constant ring noise which seems to happen after every mapping appointment that I have, then it slowly fades or I am able to tune it out (hopefully soon!).

One thing that was really interesting was my newly activated ear was much louder than my right ear. My right ear has been at maximum volume for months and I haven't had a mapping (adjustment) since last August, so it made me realize how quiet sounds have been for me. With my left ear being so loud, I could hear my flip flops squeaking as I walked to the bathroom. I could not believe how loud the bathroom was with the toilet flushing, water pouring out of the faucet and the fans! I remember my past experiences in the bathroom with my first implant. It was happening all over again!

I hope tomorrow,  the audiologist will be able to program my right ear and increase the volume with the new speech processor, so it sounds more even on both sides. Right now, it's weird that right ear is much quieter than my left, when it has been the other way around. I actually had Sarah walk on my left side instead on my usual right to hear her. I am lucky my insurance covers a back-up processor, so I am able upgrade my five year old processor on the right side with the Nucleus 5 processor. If I am reading the itemized statement of charges correctly, my cochlear implant with equipment costs, $23, 673! It's like a new car on my head!

Next, I met with Dr. Beatty. He looked in both of my ears with a scope that projected the images on a screen. He reported that both ears looked well and the incision healed very nicely. I asked about my restrictions and he said I could return to doing my normal activities, which means exercising again!!  Yay! I've put on a few pounds since all I could do was walk! He said that the hole he made in the cochlea is so minimal that everything should be secure and in place by now. I asked about the nose blowing because when I have done it accidentally, I hear a crackling or popping noise. He said this is normal and will get better with time once the fluid build-up from surgery drains naturally from the ear. The area of the incision will continue to feel a little tender and numb for a few months. He seemed pleased with it all and said that he wanted to follow-up in six months and then again in a year to see how things are going.

After the doctor appointments, Sarah and I met her mom and nephew at City Cafe in Downtown Rochester. This is the same place we met after my first activation with my other implant. This time the experience was different, I was not learning new sounds for the first time, but being able to hear the sounds on both ears. I was a little overwhelmed with how loud some sounds were, I knew I could turn down the implant, but I really wanted to experience hearing bilaterally again.

Once lunch was over, Sarah and I walked to the parking ramp. Many loud environmental sounds such as construction, trucks, elevator beeps, etc. We seriously live in a noisy world! I know with time, I will be able to tune some of this out and it won't seem as loud. I told Sarah that my brother David wanted me to listen to Holiday by Madonna for my first song in the car. It's one of our favorite songs, so she found the song on the CD and hit play. I was not expecting my reaction...I was overwhelmed with emotion which was probably not the best time as I was driving us out of the parking ramp. I have forgotten how much I enjoy hearing music especially in the car because I am always taking road trips to Wisconsin. I had tears of happiness as I could hear the sounds from both sides of the car and it all sounded so much more fuller, like "hearing in stereo!"

Thanks for your support!