3rd year anniversary

[Guest guest]

<http://hearingelmo.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/3rd-year-008.jpg> Today I

went for my 3rd year mapping at s Hopkins. I haven't been to ,

my audiologist, for one full year. One of the first things she asked me was

" How is everything going, ? I guess since it's been a year, things are

good? "

I hadn't thought of it in quite that perspective before, but I guess I have

had a very good year since I've not emailed nor called her begging for a new

" map " ! Actually, it is a little unsettling to go in to have your cochlear

implant checked and " tweaked " when you feel like you are doing great! I

always remind myself that doesn't push me to change anything if I

don't like the new maps.

First stop... the sound booth. (a.k.a. " the torture chamber " if you listen

to some late-deafened folks!) The orientation of " the chair " was different

this time, and I had Chloe (my hearing/balance assist dog) with me. I got

kinda tickled a couple of times, as my audi would sometimes " pop in " with

her voice and say, " ... this time we are going to... " Chloe's head

would jerk around and stare at the speaker. I could tell she was trying to

see if my name was repeated for a genuine " name call alert " . One of the

tests (my favorite - NOT!) is a man who says... " Ready? and then a word " It

goes on for what seems like FOREVER, but actually I'm sure it's only several

minutes. I missed " when " , as I thought it was " whim " , and I missed " nice "

thinking it was " mice " . As there is a " white noise " as well, I was pretty

proud I only missed two! The sentences given are harder, but they are more

indicative of actual conversation I believe. I didn't miss any of these!

(patting self on back...) The only thing I would change about these tests is

that I believe two more options of " noise " should be used as well as the

" white noise " . I think " traffic noise " and " restaurant noise " would be

wonderful options for the audiologist to track how well their patients are

hearing in " real life " situations.

My audi then took me back to her office and showed me a printout of the test

results. I'm always amazed to see the scale, as it seems such a short time

ago I could hear very little. Below is an audiogram from a couple of months

before my surgery in 2005 (on the top), and below it is one of today. The

up-to-date audiogram is labeled with " M's " for the implant and " S's " for

both the implant (on my left side) and hearing aid (in my right).

<http://hearingelmo.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/audiogram3.jpg>

<http://hearingelmo.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/audiogram21.jpg>

She then hooked me up to her computer and gave me four new maps, carefully

explaining what each were. We then " sat and talked " so that I could

" listen " to the new maps and be able to give her feedback.

When I got home, my plan had been to go right out to Wal-mart. The list from

my family had gotten longer and longer over the past week. However, the

sound of the rain, had me lingering at home. For over a year now I have

enjoyed the sound of the rain on the roof of the van, or on the roof of the

house. Funny how something you now think sounds TOTALLY GRAND, was something

you don't remember registering as " sound " prior to becoming deaf. It most

certainly wasn't something I thought was a spectacular sound! The map I am

now using as my primary, mixes both ADRO and ASC. (That probably only means

something to folks with the Nucleus Freedom!) I am amazed at how wonderful

the rain sounds with my new map! And it sounds... different than it did

twenty-four hours ago! (It's been raining for four days, so I very easily

recall what rain sounded like yesterday!)

All thoughts I had of rushing off to Wal-mart with shopping list in hand

went right out of my mind! I couldn't help but pulling up a seat and just

listening. It's amazing how the rain sounds as it hits the wood on our deck.

It's amazing... when you are " hearing again " . Wal-mart? It can wait until

tomorrow!

Portis

©2008 Hearing Loss Diary