§ ¶It's only been two months!
I just finished with the AG Bell convention. I attended an excellent session on self-directed aural rehab, talked to friends about their experiences, and got to meet the Advanced Bionics folks. The one question everyone asked me is, "How's the CI?" My answer was, "It's only been two months!" I usually added that I haven't been hearing anything new. This week, however, I noticed when using my Sidekick one morning that I could hear the physical clicks from the buttons. Another morning, I had to ask Aaron what noise I was hearing, only to find it was the toaster timer winding down. We've had this toaster a long time and I never commented on it before.It was encouraging to discover that for many people it seems to take at least six months to a year before they truly benefit from the implant. Everyone has an "Aha!" moment when they realize it's working for them. I haven't had mine yet...
I've been wearing a HA in my non-implanted ear so I'm more balanced and get the full benefit of sound. Some people caution against doing this, however. If I don't wear my HA, I can supposedly train my implanted ear better. I've heard, though, that it can be a tough adjustment once the HA is reintroduced. I might try a compromise and go for a period of time each day without the HA.
At my last mapping appointment, P3 was the loudest program and a bit too loud to use. Two days later, I was using it, and this past week, it's been too soft. At today's appointment, we punched up some of the frequencies and increased the volume. With the new P1, I tested a mild hearing loss across the board. Sharon was pleased, as I'm finally getting closer to where she wants me to be. She described the results as being "good" and "acceptable." P2 and P3 have small changes; if I can, I'll go back and forth with all three. When doing exercises with her, I was able to hear the sounds in the words more.
My friend Dave said he did daily aural rehab with his partner the first three months after his surgery. He puts me to shame! Hopefully after July 4th, things will settle down around here and I can put Aaron to work!
§ ¶Hey, I'm teaking to you!
Two mapping appointments ago, Sharon turned on the individual electrodes, planning to do some fine tuning. The volume levels were too uncomfortable, however, and I ended up regressing. She decided to cancel that strategy and just increase the P3 program I walked in with. So I walked out with the old P3 at P1, with P2 and P3 as louder versions. I had a hearing test at the new P2, but I still wasn't where Sharon wanted me to be.In the month since my last post, nothing changed. I didn't hear anything new. I've been trying to stay realistic, as I know that CI progress takes time, but it's hard not to be a little frustrated.
I did try to listen to books on tape, but that didn't work. I forgot that children's books tend to have music in the background, which is too distracting. Kris gave me the CD of James and the Giant Peach, so I went to the library this week to get the book. I also enlisted the librarian's help in finding a few children's books that shouldn't have music.
I've now had three rehab sessions. They've pretty much been the same. The exercises range from saying whether two words are the same or different, picking a sentence out of a group of four, and identifying open set (not having a list in front of me) words in a category, like fruit. Some activities are easy, but others are hard, like trying to comprehend something cold. Last week I asked if there was a way to practice identifying sounds and learning how to distinguish them, because that's where I have the most difficulty. I don't feel like I'm getting anything out of the exercises otherwise, but also don't presume to tell someone else how to do her job! I'm looking forward to next week's Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing convention, which will be in Pittsburgh. I'll be able to attend several sessions on aural rehab - including one for newly implanted adults - and talk to other implantees about their experiences.
Today I had another mapping appointment. The lowest frequency band was causing me some pain, so we had to turn it down. We actually had to take a break at one point, because my ear was really hurting. Then we had to figure out the cause of the pain. Two of the high frequency bands felt too soft, so we punched those up. They might be causing me a bit of pain as well, but if we lower them, I'll hear a lot less. The second lowest frequency band was really soft. We couldn't turn it up as much as I would have liked, as that would have thrown everything out of whack.
The result appears to be a good one. Sharon went over to the shelf to pull out the rehab manual. I whipped my head around quickly when I heard it slide out. Sharon said this was a big deal. Last time, I couldn't hear the phone in the room ring. This time, it was soft, but I heard it. In general, I seemed to be hearing a little more. She was also encouraged by my comment that the CI seemed louder than my HA.
We did some speech perception tests, and I passed the first two levels of comprehension - another good sign. The first one was syllables, picking out which word was said out of one, two or three syllables. The second level of comprehension was picking out which sentence was read out of four. The third level was distinguishing vowel sounds, which of course I had a lot of trouble with. I couldn't tell whether the word at the end of the sentence was teak or talk. Lipreading the word, it's obvious which one is said, but just hearing it - well, they sound the same to me!
The hearing test we conducted showed a mild hearing loss in some of the high frequencies (instead of the profound loss I've had until now), which is exciting. I had a dip in the lower frequencies, though, which isn't good - I should be going up, if anything. The hearing test's mixed results were a bit puzzling, but since we were out of time and I had already experienced pain in my ear, we kept the programs as is. I'll go back in a couple of weeks.
So while I've made some progress, I still have a ways to go. I can't keep increasing the volume on the CI, either. I asked Sharon how she knows when to stop, and she said when she's comfortable with the hearing test results.
And now I'm going to lie my ears down and rest. As if the pain during the appointment wasn't enough, tonight I finally took the CI off when I couldn't take it anymore. The volume knob was turned all the way up!!
