Friday, June 29, 2018: TURNED ON AND TUNED IN!

    It has been an exciting couple of days since my CI was activated (@4 PM Wednesday)! I had no idea what to expect. After my audiologist turned on and did the initial programming, I was able to understand speech correctly and repeat the sounds she had me duplicate, although it has a “hollow” quality. I celebrated with my daughter immediately after with dinner at an Outback restaurant. We could converse at the table. I was aware of TV and conversations at other tables. I had a little trouble understanding our waiter, perhaps because of his voice quality? With the HA in opposite ear, the sound of my own chewing was amplified. With it out, that annoyance went away.

    Here is the astonishing surprise. While driving, I turned on the radio - something I have very rarely done since owning my car. I tuned into a classical instrumental station and actually heard music - actually heard it as MUSIC! I was able to hear melody, recognize the sound of distinctive instruments. What I was hearing had depth, not just the beat I have only been able to hear. Not perfect, I'm sure, compared to what it will become over time, but a true auditory revelation! I had forgotten what music sounded like. More than that, I had forgotten the Joy of being able to enjoy music! I was also aware of the sounds around me along with the music - car/traffic noise, the sound of windshield wipers - all at the same time. With time, my brain should begin to discriminate and “tune out” distracting noises???

    I am practicing listening. I have kept the TV on. By turning the volume on the TV to over 50%, up to 80%, depending on who or what, I can hear and understand without the HA. Add the HA, and its increased volume allows me to turn the TV down. I can hit TV mute and kill the CI leaving only HA. Or I can turn off the HA using the ComPiloit. All of these work. The HA adds volume and makes speech more understandable. (None of it has improved the programming - not even God can do that.)

    And now a new set of questions: I have always been blessed with the ability to relax and sleep no matter what is going on around me. You’ve seen those people nodding off sitting up or curled on the floor with their head on a rucksack in a noisy airport. That’s me. I fell asleep twice in the dental chair while having my teeth cleaned.

    There have been studies on “ Learn while sleeping.” Is it possible that I can do Listening Practice by keeping the TV or radio on while sleeping - deep state sleep- which I’m a Master at? Will it speed my journey toward normal?

    

Monday, June 25, TWO DAYS TILL TURN-ON
    Just ran my fingertip behind my ear. The stitches are gone! According to Science How Stuff Works: Dissolvable stitches are made from natural materials, such as processed collagen (animal intestines), silk and hair, as well as some synthetic materials that the body can break down. This allows the body to dissolve the stitches over time. Usually, by the time the stitches are dissolved, the wound is completely healed. For me, that means back in the swimming pool I think. But I'll wait for my doctor to comfirm on Wednesday.
    Stitches used to be made of Cat Gut. When I told this to House Cat George, he said “Me? - OWWWWW!” I think he understood. Although catgut sutures may actually be some of the oldest forms of sutures used in wound closures, there are still many applications that favor the use of this material. Catgut has changed in several ways since the earliest use which may date back as far as the early second century AD. It was an early medical practitioner named Aelius Galenus that is credited with the first use of catgut in suturing wounds and, as a personal physician to emperors, the practice quickly became well known.

    There are also other uses for cat gut because it is so strong, and George is not so happy about this one either. Here's an original limerick by Helen Meikle, a versifer in Australia:
    There once was a pussy named Dennis
    Whose hubris was truly a menace,
        Till his unseemly pride
        Blew a gasket inside
     And they salvaged his gut to play tennis.

JUNE 19 - 22, 2018 - AND SO IT GOES
    Not much going on here in Nokomis as I eagerly await Turn-On-Day, now just 5 moons away as Nokomis might say. Nokomis was Hiawatha's grandmother. As in:
        By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
        By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
        Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
        Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
    Thanks to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Lake Superior is The Shining Big Sea Water. I guess Nokomis got tired of the cold and white stuff. Like so many other Michiganders she headed south and ended up here. Good choice, Girl!
    I'm still following the First Two Weeks Post Op instructions even though I feel as if I could easily be on my usual schedule. I did phone the Hearing Center and asked one of the doctors if I could resume my exercise program - at least the Silver Sneakers three-days-a-week. Any of the exercises can be done sitting down, with or without hand weights or stretch bands. All the movements are in time to music, four/four time. I don't hear the words or music, just the beat. It will be a new experience for me to be able to catch the tune.
    The answer was No! And of course, the swimming pool is a No-No until stitches are out and incision healed.
    I'm following orders - kind of. Some of the restrictions are impossible. "No nose blowing for a minimum of two weeks." Oh - come on with that. Tulane University says that, on average, a person produces about 1.5 liters of mucus per day. 1.5 x 14 days equals twenty-one liters which is a little over five and a half gallons. Some of that has got to exit through the nose.
    When you gotta blow, you gotta blow. Just do it gently and press the little flap of flesh called the Targus against the opening into the ear. Stops the pressure out. I think that's what the instruction is all about.
    There are restrictions on lifting, bending stooping. Don't lift more than ten pounds for six weeks after surgery. Walking is good. Does that mean don't bend over to tie your shoes?
    I am walking, but doing it at the Y in the shallow end of the beautiful pool. The resistance walking in the water provides a plus. Then a relaxing soak in the luxurious hot-tub spa next to the fountain and coconut trees.

Following orders – kind of - is not so bad.

    Just inside from the pool, there is a comfortable seating area next to the snack bar. There are four profoundly inviting leather sofas there. After exercise, I often stop to read the newspaper. At least until the paper drops from my hand and I realize I've been reading with my eyes closed.

    It's also a favored place for students from The Sky Academy, a top rated, charter middle school operated by the Y, to relax between or after classes. Every kid from elementary school on has a "smarter" phone. Same as their parents carry - but "smarter" than the parents. I watched a couple of the young ones sitting silently on the lounge opposite, one at each end, each intent with phone in hand. No conversation except an occasional glance and smile if one of the other looked up from the phone.

    It was then I recognized there was a dialogue going on. They were sitting not quite a yard apart texting one another. No ears necessary. I think it should be called Anti-social Media, don't you?

Monday, June 18, 2018 – SERENDIPITY

    I got a nice surprise in the mail today! It was from Strache v. SCI Direct, Inc. Settlement Fund. What in the world can this be I thought as I eagerly ripped open the envelope? It was a check for $129.85!

    No idea who or what SCI Direct is or was, so I clicked on Google. It turns out The Neptune Society, Inc. is a national provider of cremation and pre-planning services, one of the largest publicly traded cremation companies in the United States.

The check is my share in a $15,000.000.00 settlement for a class action suit because the company made unsolicited robot telephone calls. I don't remember receiving those calls. I get lots of them like the one I described in the June 14 squib above. I just can't hear most of them. Thank God for small blessings.

Although I didn't use their services, I have done some pre-planning. If there is a memorial for me, I've thought of what it should look like and what it should say. I've actually drawn a design, which I'm sharing here. It's a nice little metal plaque about the size of a twopenny postal card

    (Oops! Now you see why I'm on the A-list.)

    Considering my age, I'm a prime candidate for cremation service. I had to be on their A - list of prospects. The calls must have been urgent appeals to take advantage of a "Grab it Now – Before it's Too Later" offer because the drop off rate for a phone number list like that has to be really steep.

    I think the check from The Neptune Society will cover the cost to have it engraved - with enough left over for a fine lunch.

As you see, I'm only a few days into my CI voyage and except for email contact, it's a solitary trip. But I do have "shipmates." For many years I've taken my cars to Walter, the best mechanic anywhere near here, whenever something didn't Seem right. For a time, before my hearing really deteriorated, I could say - didn't Sound right. Just a few of months ago as I was exploring whether I should consider an implant, I took my Mazda to Walter to have the brakes done. A lube tech had noted they were worn. A Mazda used to be a light bulb. I'm now driving what used to be a light bulb! How's that for progress?
    That was when I learned, to my surprise, that his wife, Kathleen, has a CI! She has a Cochlear device and took me to a Cochlear chapter meeting. Boy! Did I learn plenty there! Not just from the round table discussion, after some great pizza and salad, but there were mentors willing to help and share. Isn't it funny how God often puts the people you need in your path just when you need them?
    I've sent Kathleen this journal as it has progressed over the past few days and she just got back to me with some comments that have me sky-high about what the future holds.

     Here they are: "I'm very excited for you!! I'll be waiting to hear how things go after the 27th.
I've had my implant a little over a year now and it only gets better every day. I'm sure you will be enjoying your new experiences every day also! I won't be at all surprised if you come around here to have Walter listen to an odd noise in your car just to find out it's normal - you just never heard it.    Trust me, I know as I am still doing things like that. Heck! the refrigerator noise was strange at first, heard a noise in the motorhome that he said it has always been there for the many years we have been traveling in it- it's normal, and even in my car, that engine makes a humming noise I never heard. Anyway, continue to enjoy your journey and after the 27th, your hearing."