Re: CI Moment/Encouragement

[Guest guest]

Newbies - Take heart.....

Well - my first implant was in 2002. It was reimplanted in 2005 and I also

went bilateral in 2005. So let's say it's just 3 years that I've been

implanted - ok - say 6 years! Whatever! LOL I can't believe what happened to

me

Monday night.

We very rarely go to the movies. For me, I hear some parts but it's mostly

noise, even though one on one in quiet I've done very well with my CI's. Our

friends really wanted to go and I didn't want to be a " party pooper " . The

" boys " wanted to see the Tom Cruise action film and we girls wanted to see Meryl

Streep in " Doubt " . (multi picture theater) Well. I heard EVERY word AND I got

every nuance, so much so that I explained parts of the movie that my friend

missed! Granted, this film didn't have the loud background music that action

films do, but it had intimate settings that I have never been able to catch

without captions.

SO - just a word to the newbies when things look bleak - it comes around!

This miracle of technology works - though it may take time for it to be as we

like it. I am also doing better on the telephone these days - all of a sudden

things seem to have kicked in, " kicked up a notch " and it's been months since

my last mapping. So go figure - you never know.

Hope this is encouraging to those who may be struggling. Jackie )

**************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making

headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)

[Guest guest]

In case you missed it on the other list. LOL.

Jacquie, I'm not a newbie and I'm not struggling, but I really,

really want to see " Doubt. " Thanks for the heads up. I will go and

surely enjoy it. Double delight is Meryl Streep. For Christmas I

received a DVD of the 7-1/2 hour 1978 television movie " Holocaust "

in which she had a major part. Mesmerizing. THEN, January 7th

" Damages " with Glenn Close begins. Will my joy never end?

Judy in Jax

>

> Newbies - Take heart.....

> Well - my first implant was in 2002. It was reimplanted in 2005 and I also

> went bilateral in 2005. So let's say it's just 3 years that I've been

> implanted - ok - say 6 years! Whatever! LOL I can't believe what happened

to me

> Monday night.

> We very rarely go to the movies. For me, I hear some parts but it's mostly

> noise, even though one on one in quiet I've done very well with my CI's. Our

> friends really wanted to go and I didn't want to be a " party pooper " . The

> " boys " wanted to see the Tom Cruise action film and we girls wanted to see

Meryl

> Streep in " Doubt " . (multi picture theater) Well. I heard EVERY word AND I got

> every nuance, so much so that I explained parts of the movie that my friend

> missed! Granted, this film didn't have the loud background music that action

> films do, but it had intimate settings that I have never been able to catch

> without captions.

> SO - just a word to the newbies when things look bleak - it comes around!

> This miracle of technology works - though it may take time for it to be as we

> like it. I am also doing better on the telephone these days - all of a sudden

> things seem to have kicked in, " kicked up a notch " and it's been months since

> my last mapping. So go figure - you never know.

> Hope this is encouraging to those who may be struggling. Jackie )

> **************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making

> headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Uh..... Jackie..... I remember you when......

phhtttt..... I told ya so..... LOL

You have no idea how happy I am for you.

Happy Hearing!

Carol

Boca Raton, FL

N24C - Sprint then 3G left ear -12/11/01-upgraded to Freedom on 2/19/08

N Freedom- right ear- implanted 3/01/06 activated 4/6/06

Re: CI Moment/Encouragement

Newbies - Take heart.....

Well - my first implant was in 2002. It was reimplanted in 2005 and I also

went bilateral in 2005. So let's say it's just 3 years that I've been

implanted - ok - say 6 years! Whatever! LOL I can't believe what happened to me

Monday night.

We very rarely go to the movies. For me, I hear some parts but it's mostly

noise, even though one on one in quiet I've done very well with my CI's. Our

friends really wanted to go and I didn't want to be a " party pooper " . The

" boys " wanted to see the Tom Cruise action film and we girls wanted to see Meryl

Streep in " Doubt " . (multi picture theater) Well. I heard EVERY word AND I got

every nuance, so much so that I explained parts of the movie that my friend

missed! Granted, this film didn't have the loud background music that action

films do, but it had intimate settings that I have never been able to catch

without captions.

SO - just a word to the newbies when things look bleak - it comes around!

This miracle of technology works - though it may take time for it to be as we

like it. I am also doing better on the telephone these days - all of a sudden

things seem to have kicked in, " kicked up a notch " and it's been months since

my last mapping. So go figure - you never know.

Hope this is encouraging to those who may be struggling. Jackie )

**************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making

headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)

[Guest guest]

Hey, Judi,

I hope you get to see Doubt. It is a pretty " heavy " - not lighthearted

fare - really makes you think. Jackie )

**************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making

headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)

[Guest guest]

Ahh, Carol - and I remember you when you were doing so well with one CI and I

had to remind you to speak up cause I wasn't! Here we are, bilateral and

loving it. I only wish to do as well as you some day, but I'll take what I've

got! Jackie )

**************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making

headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)

[Guest guest]

Jackie,

I do believe you hear better than you realize that you do.

And yes, for all of us, we have to figure out what we need to hear best. It

takes time and patience but if we are willing, we can surpass our expectations.

Before I received my first CI, I really didn't expect much. After all, hearing

aids did nothing for me so why should a CI work? Fortunately I was so WRONG!

The implant worked so well and I had the good fortune of having a very skilled

and patient audiologist [thank you ] who was willing to try anything and

everything to help me hear as best as possible.

I do believe that most people can hear better with a CI than may be expected.

However, to achieve that one must have a combination of a skilled audiologist

and a patient who is willing to try anything and everything.

Now.... off my soap box.......

Happy New Year everyone. May this year bring better hearing for us all.

Happy Hearing!

Carol

Boca Raton, FL

N24C - Sprint then 3G left ear -12/11/01-upgraded to Freedom on 2/19/08

N Freedom- right ear- implanted 3/01/06 activated 4/6/06

Re: CI Moment/Encouragement

Ahh, Carol - and I remember you when you were doing so well with one CI and I

had to remind you to speak up cause I wasn't! Here we are, bilateral and

loving it. I only wish to do as well as you some day, but I'll take what I've

got! Jackie )

**************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making

headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)

[Guest guest]

I have a friend who just received a cohlear implant.He has had it

since 11/08. He is a musician and is still having trouble

hearing.Everything is sounding like Duck. How long does this

take to improve? Will hearing be like " normal " when it is tweaked

correctly?? He is really discouraged. Thank you.

>

> Jackie,

> I do believe you hear better than you realize that you do.

> And yes, for all of us, we have to figure out what we need to hear

best. It takes time and patience but if we are willing, we can

surpass our expectations.

> Before I received my first CI, I really didn't expect much. After

all, hearing aids did nothing for me so why should a CI work?

Fortunately I was so WRONG! The implant worked so well and I had the

good fortune of having a very skilled and patient audiologist [thank

you ] who was willing to try anything and everything to help

me hear as best as possible.

> I do believe that most people can hear better with a CI than may be

expected. However, to achieve that one must have a combination of a

skilled audiologist and a patient who is willing to try anything and

everything.

> Now.... off my soap box.......

> Happy New Year everyone. May this year bring better hearing for us

all.

> Happy Hearing!

> Carol

> Boca Raton, FL

> N24C - Sprint then 3G left ear -12/11/01-upgraded to Freedom on

2/19/08

> N Freedom- right ear- implanted 3/01/06 activated 4/6/06

>

>

> Re: CI Moment/Encouragement

>

>

> Ahh, Carol - and I remember you when you were doing so well with

one CI and I

> had to remind you to speak up cause I wasn't! Here we are,

bilateral and

> loving it. I only wish to do as well as you some day, but I'll take

what I've

> got! Jackie )

> **************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is

making

> headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)

>

>

[Guest guest]

I wore HA's in both ears for over 35 years(did I just say that?! ouch!). I

was implanted this past summer and I had my CI activated 9/08 in my left

ear. I was frustrated too and still have my moments. Is hearing normal?

No. Is it better than it was with the HA? Definitely yes. I find myself

hearing more environmental sounds than ever before and sometimes too much.

Understanding speech with the CI is still a work in progress. I practice

daily watching tv with my right HA off. I call Cochlear's 800 # to listen

to their word lists and passages daily.

Music is something I have always loved listening too...blues, jazz, classic

rock, just about anything except Rap & Top 40 stuff. I was told to be

patient about listening to music but I was still disappointed. I would play

CD's in my car even if I didn't understand what music it was. Slowly but

surely things are coming into focus. Suddenly I was realizing that I was

hearing things in music I didn't hear before with my HA's. In listening to

old favorites, I am hearing cymbals now so it's actually changing my

perception of what the songs normally sounded like. The cymbals were

actually driving me crazy for a bit.

I have to remind myself that it's only been 3 months since activation but

I'm making a lot of progress. Speech will come along with practice. In the

beginning, I had to constantly adjust the sensitivity & volume down because

I'd be overwhelmed with noise. Now I'm turning it up above the normal

ranges so that tells me I need to see my audi for a new mapping. I have a

followup with my doctor this month. I'm probably going to ask about having

my right ear implanted. Scary prospect since I've been relying on my right

HA to help with speech. Once in a while I'll shut off the CI just to see

what I hear with my HA. It's amazing how quiet things get and how much I am

not hearing in that ear. I'm confident that I'll reach a point where speech

and music will no longer be a struggle to understand.

Larry

_____

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of

ewfnp

Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2009 10:00 AM

Subject: Re: CI Moment/Encouragement

I have a friend who just received a cohlear implant.He has had it

since 11/08. He is a musician and is still having trouble

hearing.Everything is sounding like Duck. How long does this

take to improve? Will hearing be like " normal " when it is tweaked

correctly?? He is really discouraged. Thank you.

>

> Jackie,

> I do believe you hear better than you realize that you do.

> And yes, for all of us, we have to figure out what we need to hear

best. It takes time and patience but if we are willing, we can

surpass our expectations.

> Before I received my first CI, I really didn't expect much. After

all, hearing aids did nothing for me so why should a CI work?

Fortunately I was so WRONG! The implant worked so well and I had the

good fortune of having a very skilled and patient audiologist [thank

you ] who was willing to try anything and everything to help

me hear as best as possible.

> I do believe that most people can hear better with a CI than may be

expected. However, to achieve that one must have a combination of a

skilled audiologist and a patient who is willing to try anything and

everything.

> Now.... off my soap box.......

> Happy New Year everyone. May this year bring better hearing for us

all.

> Happy Hearing!

> Carol

> Boca Raton, FL

> N24C - Sprint then 3G left ear -12/11/01-upgraded to Freedom on

2/19/08

> N Freedom- right ear- implanted 3/01/06 activated 4/6/06

>

>

> Re: CI Moment/Encouragement

>

>

> Ahh, Carol - and I remember you when you were doing so well with

one CI and I

> had to remind you to speak up cause I wasn't! Here we are,

bilateral and

> loving it. I only wish to do as well as you some day, but I'll take

what I've

> got! Jackie )

> **************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is

making

> headlines. (http://www.aol.

<http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026>

com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)

>

>

[Guest guest]

>I have a friend who just received a cohlear implant.He has had it

> since 11/08. He is a musician and is still having trouble

> hearing.Everything is sounding like Duck. How long does this

> take to improve? Will hearing be like " normal " when it is tweaked

> correctly?? He is really discouraged. Thank you.

It's too early to be discouraged. My implant was activated on Oct. 6th and

I'm not fully tweaked yet. My audi said my next mapping (my 4th on Jan.

12th) she'd specifically tweak to make music sound better. I'm already

hearing more than I have in decades, so each tweak gives me a little more

than I had before. Yes, voices sound like Duck in the beginning, but

it does get better as time goes on and you get more mappings under your

belt.

[Guest guest]

Tell him not to be discouraged. Different people adapt at different

rates. His brain is hearing sounds it either hasnt heard in a long

time, or sounds he has never heard before. His brain has to process

all these strange sounds and eventually sort out what its good for him

to hear and what can be regarded as background noise. The C.I.'s

primary purpose is to make hearing speech and participating in

conversation better, but as technology has progressed and as we get

some time under our belts, music gets better too. Right from the

getgo, most people can say that they are better off and hear more than

they were able to, with hearing aids. So its a win-win situation as

time and new mappings improve what he can hear.

You are a good friend to be trying to find out things for him. But you

would be an even better friend, if you invite him along to this group

and he can " talk " first hand with people from all hearing or non

hearing backgrounds and professions. Music isnt the first thing that

most of us expect to hear with our C.I.'s, but a lot of us can hear

music, just like it " used to " sound.

It would be helpful to his audiologist, if he wrote notes about things

that he thinks can be improved on. Then at his next mapping session,

his audie can work with him, on those things. He would have been told

not to let his expectations get too high, too soon. But he would also

have been told, what sort of an outcome they expected for him.

Its still very early days for your friend and I would like to hear

whether he is disappointed with his progress, or whether other people

expected more from him, too soon. You can still help your friend, by

trying to talk to him face to face, because he will still be able to

use the skills he developed in lip reading. Then, before he realises

it, he will be able to understand what you are saying when you are

standing behind him. This is usually a very special moment for us deaf

people, when we can actually hear something that we could have only

heard and understood, because of our cochlear implants.

Ted F.

>

> I have a friend who just received a cohlear implant.He has had it

> since 11/08. He is a musician and is still having trouble

> hearing.Everything is sounding like Duck. How long does this

> take to improve? Will hearing be like " normal " when it is tweaked

> correctly?? He is really discouraged. Thank you.

>

[Guest guest]

I am going to try to get him hooked up with this group. Thank you.

I hope he will do it 

________________________________

From: Ted F. <ted.fletcher@...>

Sent: Sunday, January 4, 2009 1:01:31 PM

Subject: Re: CI Moment/Encouragement

Tell him not to be discouraged. Different people adapt at different

rates. His brain is hearing sounds it either hasnt heard in a long

time, or sounds he has never heard before. His brain has to process

all these strange sounds and eventually sort out what its good for him

to hear and what can be regarded as background noise. The C.I.'s

primary purpose is to make hearing speech and participating in

conversation better, but as technology has progressed and as we get

some time under our belts, music gets better too. Right from the

getgo, most people can say that they are better off and hear more than

they were able to, with hearing aids. So its a win-win situation as

time and new mappings improve what he can hear.

You are a good friend to be trying to find out things for him. But you

would be an even better friend, if you invite him along to this group

and he can " talk " first hand with people from all hearing or non

hearing backgrounds and professions. Music isnt the first thing that

most of us expect to hear with our C.I.'s, but a lot of us can hear

music, just like it " used to " sound.

It would be helpful to his audiologist, if he wrote notes about things

that he thinks can be improved on. Then at his next mapping session,

his audie can work with him, on those things. He would have been told

not to let his expectations get too high, too soon. But he would also

have been told, what sort of an outcome they expected for him.

Its still very early days for your friend and I would like to hear

whether he is disappointed with his progress, or whether other people

expected more from him, too soon. You can still help your friend, by

trying to talk to him face to face, because he will still be able to

use the skills he developed in lip reading. Then, before he realises

it, he will be able to understand what you are saying when you are

standing behind him. This is usually a very special moment for us deaf

people, when we can actually hear something that we could have only

heard and understood, because of our cochlear implants.

Ted F.

>

> I have a friend who just received a cohlear implant.He has had it

> since 11/08. He is a musician and is still having trouble

> hearing.Everything is sounding like Duck. How long does this

> take to improve? Will hearing be like " normal " when it is tweaked

> correctly?? He is really discouraged. Thank you.

>

[Guest guest]

Itr took me a full 3 months to hear the way I do now, and I was only

without hearing completely for 6 months. So, your friend needs to put

the processor on first thing upon getting up and leave it on all day.

Because your brain has to interpret these sounds as speec. It can take

up to 3 months or longer. Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Everyone progresses at his/her own speed. Some people put it on and hear

immediately, understand completely, and go on like nothing drastic

happened. I want to slap those people upside the head. Because it makes

the rest of us look like we're NOT trying hard enough, not doing

something right, etc. Fact of the matter is, it takes your brain a while

to adjust to the sound, and as frustrating as it is at first, one day the

brain figures this out, and you have a voila' moment, and can hear, and

understand what is being said.

My voila moment happened in a classroom. I was sitting up front

speechreading the teacher, had someone else write notes because I

coudln't look down to write and speechread at the same time. Someone in

the back of the class asked a question, and I didn't bother turning

around to hear what it was. But I HEARD and understood every word she

said. It was like my brain suddenly clicked on and said, " So THIS is

what speech sounds like now "

Encourage your friend to wear the processor daily. Because when the

voila' moment comes you must be wearing the processor. It doesn't

happen overnight for the majority of us, it is a gradual process, and

then you don't even realize how much you are hearing, and hearing without

lipreading. It's that gradual. But you must wear the processor during

the process or you will never learn.

With my first couple of mappings, I was thinking, 'Did I go through all

this to have annoying noises in my head? " So tell your friend to hang

in there, time and more mappings will make things better. She is

hearing, so tweaking the maps (and they may well be set for low dynamic

range at this point,) will make things better.

Hang in there, it gets LOTS better.

____________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

> My voila moment happened in a classroom. I was sitting up front

> speechreading the teacher, had someone else write notes because I

> coudln't look down to write and speechread at the same time. Someone in

> the back of the class asked a question, and I didn't bother turning

> around to hear what it was. But I HEARD and understood every word she

> said. It was like my brain suddenly clicked on and said, " So THIS is

> what speech sounds like now "

What an AWESOME CI moment!!!

Rhonda

[Guest guest]

Indeed it was an awesome CI moment. And once that happened, it all fell

into place and I was able to hear and understand without looking at a

person and lipreading (in quiet). And do very well in noise if I can see

their faces and read lips. So, just have to be wearing the processor

when the voila' moment comes and be ready for it.

What an AWESOME CI moment!!!

____________________________________________________________

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