Easter was the 1st Holiday with my Cochlear Implant

I cant even explain how amazing this new hearing journey has been. I wouldn't trade it for a thing!! It amazing how im picking up on all these new sounds so fast. Its AWESOME! I am less stressed too.

Easter was my first holiday with my implant. So much noise and alot of conversations going all at once. This year we had easter at my house. There was about 13 of my family members here. I did pretty well with conversations at the kitchen table. I have been on program 4 for the past few days and it seems LOUDER and much BETTER as far as conversations go. There was so much noise going on in the kitchen while my sisters cooked sometimes I did miss a few words. Mostly I got 97% of the conversation. I feel more comfortable talking to people now. I was able to hear my little cousin who is shy for the first time. I was so happy to hear his voice. I always tell him "Can you speak up because I cant hear you" but hes only ten so he still doesnt understand for the first time I didn't have to tell him to SPEAK UP. I was so proud. I still get nervous telling people that I cant hear or I just pretend to HEAR. I think that habit will always be part of me because at times when my sisters or my parents are talking to me I still wont get the 100% of what they are saying. I dont think they understand that yet either. It takes time but I'm doing very well.

On April 30th, I went to my best friends house for " pasta dinner night" it was the day before her run. She has NF2 and is profoundly deaf. We are all hoping for a cure one day for this AWFUL DISEASE. She has raised $10,000! this year so proud of her and I was so glad she wanted me part of it. There was many family members and new faces. I felt comfortable for some reason with my implant. At first I was nervous because I didnt think I would do well at a large gathering. I got meet a few of her friends that have NF2 that came to support her as well as a few friends she graduated college with. I had a good time. So happy it was a success. Conversations were pretty easy we sat outside used ASL because all of them were deaf. I was able to hold a conversation well with one of her relatives even in a crowded kitchen!

In about a week on May 12th, I go back to the city for another mapping. Im excited have so much to tell her. I feel like it needs to be a little bit louder and hopefully that will be the program I use for awhile since I'm comfortable w the program.


On Sunday May 1st my niece and I were outside and I heard her running or walking.. PRICELESS . I also heard a woodpecker and I didnt understand why or what that was at first making a noise for so long at least 20 minutes. Finally my niece said Bird Bird and we found it! I enjoy having conversations with my niece shes talking more and more.. She loves to talk. She is so smart and getting to big way to fast for me! She runs so fast and I cant keep up lol. Everday I love hearing " Hi... D " haha I love it! For easter I also gave her a mickey and minnie mouse cd that has all kid songs on it so everyday we dance and listen to music. It nice to hear music at such low volume usually I have music blasting at 50 but it was only on volume 10 w my implant on. The best thing is when im in the front of the car and my niece is watching tv I hear the tv in the back all the words when she watches her shows. Its amazing... The one thing that is annoying to hear is the SIGNAL in the car. Its just something im not used to :) yet.


Have a great week..

HLAA WASHINGTON DC CONVENTION

I wanted to share with you some great news...In June I will be attending my first Hearing Loss convention. I am so excited and cant wait to meet so many people that read my blog and meet new friends as well. I am so honored that I won the scholarship for this convention. I will definitely be blogging about the convention and taking lots of pictures. The convention is 4 days its from June 16th-19,2011 this is the Hearing Loss Association of America convention that is going to be held in Washington D.C. at the Hyatt Regency Crystal Hotel. Plus, I never been to Washington DC before so this is so exciting.


Have a great weekend!

Just a little Update...

I am doing really well. I started using program 2 a few days ago. It is louder and I feel comfortable being on this program. On Wednesday I heard the birds outside chirping what I heard what ch ch ch ch or tweet tweet and an airplane. Then at night I was walking down the block to put mail in the mailbox and all sudden I heard BEEP BEEP BEEP in my implant. SILENCE it just shut off. So I realized the battery went dead of course. It doesn't give me a chance so It felt awkward being in Silence because I was just hearing noises around me. Today I heard the wash machine, the tea pot on the stove boiling water was so cool took me awhile to figure out where the noise was coming from but I heard it.I also heard music coming from my den which isn't to far from my kitchen but I was glad I heard almost all the words! Today I used to phone again and I did very well. I cant believe how well I'm doing and Im calmer because its so frustrating not be able to hear around people you love or being isolated most of my life because of my hearing impairment. Now I'm around everyone more because I can hear. I cant hear yet with a kitchen table full of people unless im starting right at you but I'm getting there. One of the things I don't like hearing is the VACUUM ITS SO LOUD and annoying. Something I have to get used to LOL. I didn't hear that noise with my hearing aid. Now I realized how much i have been missing out on all these years. I seriously wouldn't change this for the world my implant is becoming part of who i am now. I cant believe it more than a month with my implant. Time flies. I'm very happy with my progress. I love my audiologist office in the city they are awesome there.

I love the sounds outside its so noisy and I also heard the cars passing by (shhh) noise that what it sounded like. Once again I never heard that with my hearing aid. I love listening to my pond outside so I sat outside for a little today just listening to that sound was nice and the wind chimes on the porch.

Truthfully, So much is happening here so I haven't had a moment to use the Sound & Way beyond program I love. Im going to try and fit that in tomorrow.

On Saturday I'm going to the movies WITHOUT CAPTIONS.It will be my first time with my implant, I'm excited. I know it will be weird without captioning on the screen but I want to try it being that I'm doing pretty well. Why not give it a shot it cant hurt right?

Thanks for stopping by!

Mapping #3 April 7, 2011

On April 7th I had my 3rd mapping. I am doing really really well with my implant. So thankfully I am one of the lucky ones. First my scar is perfectly fine my hair grew back so fast you cant even see it. Im happy about that. So I met with my audi she saids im doing very well. I showed her my results from the SOUND & WAY BEYOND cd rom that came with my kit that is amazing. I practice almost everyday. My audiologist saids that she hasnt seen such amazing results in awhile. I did tell her when I got 80% I was a little upset because I wanted a 100% you know but she did remind me that is amazing how much im hearing and it has only been 1 month! It feels longer no? I am on a new program. She has blocked the sensitivity. I finally understand what the sensitivity level means. I couldn't figure it out it means that when I raise the sensitivity level up the further I will hear. Thats so cool. I did hear someone talking the other day with the doors shut in the other room. She blocked it because I have to focus on the programs. So this new program im comfortable with much louder I can hear myself BETTER and people around me. I am still having a little trouble with conversations. Im getting 98% of what people are saying but if for instance someone is talking the background it just cuts me off guard and i have trouble. My implant is AMAZING and I would never go back to wearing an aid in my Left ear. I cant get over how much noise there is and sounds and I heard the letter " s" for shhhh or " f" Ffffff for fish. Those are the two letters I never was able to hear with my hearing aids. I am on program 1 for 1 week then i have to switch to program 2 if im comfortable I leave it alone. So we are still working on finding out what program is best for me. I love my remote control with my NUC 5.

Yesterday around 9pm all sudden I HEARD " BOOM" my heart was racing turns out it was FIREWORK. That was LOUD! I have heard fireworks before when I had my mod-severe loss but this was LOUD! Pretty neat. I also heard my dog drinking water from her bowl. I couldnt figure it out but now I know and that so cool!

Im hearing new things everyday and I love it. I have amazing support and All my CI buddies you are all amazing. I am doing well the cell phone although I dont really use my Cell that much I prefer text but I heard most of the sounds on the phone.

I go back for my 4th mapping in about 4 weeks. I am comfortable with my Audi. I like her alot shes very educated and she answers all my questions and I dont feel rushed either. So I am glad I'm comfortable with working with her.

Next week should be in the mid 70's so I plan on going to the beach to walk on the broad walk and LISTEN TO THE OCEAN for the first time so I will be back because I heard its amazing and that is ONE of the MANY sounds I never heard before. Im looking forward to this.

Have a good week!! :)