This afternoon I finally had my appointment at Hearts for Hearing, originally scheduled for December 12th (one week following activation of my cochlear implant), one day shy of five weeks late. The first reschedule was due to COVID; the second due to a winter storm that shut traffic down in Oklahoma City. Today was frigid! It was 7° when we left Norman to head into OKC – but the roads were clear and the traffic was not bad, due I suppose to the intense cold and the fact that today is a federal holiday (MLK Day).
The most significant part of today’s appointment was the first mapping of the implant. I wasn’t at all sure what to expect. The audiologist completed a couple of computerized sets of measurements, in order to map two extremes of sound – the quietest I could hear and the loudest I could stand. By the time that was done and the CI was turned back on, I was quite amazed at the difference in sound and sound quality.
For the first time since activation, I am able to understand speech! It’s a bit scratchy, but I can understand it! I’ll have a second mapping session in a couple of months, near the end of March. A problem with my hearing aid was resolved, so once again, I have the use of that device. Together, they are providing better hearing than I have enjoyed since before my surgery, December 5th.
The beeping sounds are still there a bit, but they have become more of a background noise – a persistent one, certainly – than before today’s adjustment.
Another audiologist successfully paired the CI to my phone,
then added two additional devices that use the phone’s Bluetooth capability.
One is a mini-microphone that can be attached to a lapel or laid on a table or
lectern. The second is a phone device that can be worn around my neck and used
to answer any incoming phone calls simply by pressing a button on the device. I
will probably use the mini-microphone quite a bit, at least initially, until my
brain reaches its ‘comfort zone’ with the new settings for the CI.
Honestly, I don’t think I will use the phone app much, as I tend to not answer my phone these days. So many calls now are pleas for donations from politicians, or commercial advertisements, or scams of one sort or another. I’ve long since decided that if a phone call is important, the caller will leave a message. I do answer calls from friends, but only if their name appears on the Caller ID screen on my phone. All that said, I have been delaying several things lately because I need to use the phone to make appointments. I feel like I can do that now.
The audiologist showed me how to use the phone app to adjust the balance of sound between the CI and the hearing aid, which may prove useful in certain listening situations (for example, I could turn down the CI while turning up the hearing aid, in order to better hear my wife as we are driving).
I believe that an order will be placed for a new hearing aid to replace the one I accidentally threw in the trash just before Christmas. It was still in the warranty period, so the one-time replacement option is still in force.
I have another appointment at the clinic tomorrow morning. I’ll meet with a speech pathologist, who will get me started on a series of aural rehabilitation exercises. I’ll show her (him?) my own lists of words and sentences that I have been reading aloud to myself periodically. In fact, I plan to read through those items again this evening, just to hear the difference in sound!
For the first time since activation of the implant, I feel like I am finally on the road to recovery of my hearing. Today was a first step – well, the second, I guess (activation day was the first step!) – and I have a long way to go in rehabilitation. But I no longer feel like I’m ‘deaf in one ear and can’t hear out of the other.’ Well, until bedtime, that is, when I remove the electronic devices. When I’m disconnected, I don’t hear anything!
I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s speech pathology appointment.
