Thanks for taking a look at my journal. The only reason I'm keeping this
record of the changes taking place in my hearing is the hope that it
may encourage others to consider a Cochlear Implant. The technology is
truly amazing! From what I've been able to learn from others, no matter
which company's implant you choose your hearing will be improved, but it
will take place over time as your brain relearns what "normal" sounds
like.
Older post, back to a couple of days before my implant surgery are on the right side, along with some information about me on a separate page - top right.
Monday, July 30, 2018
Sunday, July 22, 2018
July 23, 2018, THEN SINGS MY SOUL!
If you look back at the post for July 2 - 3, you will see that I began to hear music for the first time in years, not just the rhythm and percussion. Each day since, I've spent time - sometimes hours - listening to music on my car radio and computer, allowing my brain to relearn what music sounds like. Every day has been better. The real "breakthrough" has just occurred!
Last Thursday my Audiologist made program adjustments to my CI and hearing aid. I turned on my radio to my favorite Classical station and felt immediately that I was hearing a more vibrant sound.
When I could hear and enjoy music - thirty-five years ago - I became friends with an exceptional family. The Ditchfields were members of the church I began to attend soon after I made the life-changing decision to become a Christian. They were outstanding Christians as well as exceptional musicians.
Stan, the "patriarch" of the family, although not a musician, was also a talented painter who over time became my best friend and a bestselling artist in the art business I was starting after my income and "early retirement" disappeared.
Today, Stan's son, Steve, is the "patriarch" of The Ditchfield Family Singers, now numbering nine virtuoso members - all family - and not including a non-singing daughter, Christin, the author of more than sixty books! There are, besides, six grandchildren.
Just goes to show what can be accomplished when you really set your mind to building your own choir!
The Ditchfield Family Singers are renowned from coast to coast for their close harmony and unique family blend, highlighted in the mastery of their a capella repertoire.
As the years progressed, along with my hearing loss, I could no longer hear the amazing harmonies that characterized their many appearances throughout the country and on TV, but the visual beauty and energy in each show still made attending worthwhile.
I watched their performance schedule, which you can see on their website, and knew they would be presenting a production: And Sings My Soul on Saturday, July 21st, three days after the programming appointment with my Audiologist - and four days before my eighty-seven birthday on the 25th.
What if the new programming allowed me to experience a concert in the way I remembered - able to hear every word and every note? Would that be too much to ask - even of a loving and attentive Lord and Savior?
The new programming went well. I knew as soon as I left the office. Over the next three days, my hearing improved by leaps and bounds!
On Saturday, thirty-five years of hearing loss was pealed away! I not only saw my friends - my brothers and sisters In Christ - I heard them in the glory I remembered!
O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
And when I think of God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
- Carrie Underwood
My God just keeps piling on the blessings! What more desirable birthday gift could I have wished for, or received, than to hear again?
The technology that, day-by-day, is opening my forgotten worlds is truly amazing. It's the result of work by many gifted scientists, researchers and technicians working independently and together = human intuition, ingenuity at genius levels.
In my device, there are eighteen electrodes extending from the receiver implant just behind my ear into the cochlea. They can be programmed individually as I watch my Audiologist manipulate the digital "sliders" on her computer.
Sounds are picked up by the microphone in the audio processor which analyzes and codes them into a unique pattern of digital information. The implant interprets the code and sends electrical pulses to the tiny, inch long, electrodes in the cochlea. The auditory nerve picks up the signals an sends them to the auditory center in the brain. All of this happens instantaneously.
That's when my supernatural God takes over! The brain He "implanted" in each of us recognize these signals as natural sound.
As miraculous and life-changing as this technological gift is for me there is a more excellent gift available to "whosoever will" accept. It is recognition and submission to the Creator of all human intelligence - the one and only God. It is not a religion. It is a relationship - not one that will only last a lifetime, as my CI, but one that is eternal with infinite benefits for all who accept the free gift.
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
If you look back at the post for July 2 - 3, you will see that I began to hear music for the first time in years, not just the rhythm and percussion. Each day since, I've spent time - sometimes hours - listening to music on my car radio and computer, allowing my brain to relearn what music sounds like. Every day has been better. The real "breakthrough" has just occurred!
Last Thursday my Audiologist made program adjustments to my CI and hearing aid. I turned on my radio to my favorite Classical station and felt immediately that I was hearing a more vibrant sound.
When I could hear and enjoy music - thirty-five years ago - I became friends with an exceptional family. The Ditchfields were members of the church I began to attend soon after I made the life-changing decision to become a Christian. They were outstanding Christians as well as exceptional musicians.
Stan, the "patriarch" of the family, although not a musician, was also a talented painter who over time became my best friend and a bestselling artist in the art business I was starting after my income and "early retirement" disappeared.
Today, Stan's son, Steve, is the "patriarch" of The Ditchfield Family Singers, now numbering nine virtuoso members - all family - and not including a non-singing daughter, Christin, the author of more than sixty books! There are, besides, six grandchildren.
Just goes to show what can be accomplished when you really set your mind to building your own choir!
The Ditchfield Family Singers are renowned from coast to coast for their close harmony and unique family blend, highlighted in the mastery of their a capella repertoire.
As the years progressed, along with my hearing loss, I could no longer hear the amazing harmonies that characterized their many appearances throughout the country and on TV, but the visual beauty and energy in each show still made attending worthwhile.
I watched their performance schedule, which you can see on their website, and knew they would be presenting a production: And Sings My Soul on Saturday, July 21st, three days after the programming appointment with my Audiologist - and four days before my eighty-seven birthday on the 25th.
What if the new programming allowed me to experience a concert in the way I remembered - able to hear every word and every note? Would that be too much to ask - even of a loving and attentive Lord and Savior?
The new programming went well. I knew as soon as I left the office. Over the next three days, my hearing improved by leaps and bounds!
On Saturday, thirty-five years of hearing loss was pealed away! I not only saw my friends - my brothers and sisters In Christ - I heard them in the glory I remembered!
O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
And when I think of God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
- Carrie Underwood
The technology that, day-by-day, is opening my forgotten worlds is truly amazing. It's the result of work by many gifted scientists, researchers and technicians working independently and together = human intuition, ingenuity at genius levels.
In my device, there are eighteen electrodes extending from the receiver implant just behind my ear into the cochlea. They can be programmed individually as I watch my Audiologist manipulate the digital "sliders" on her computer.
Sounds are picked up by the microphone in the audio processor which analyzes and codes them into a unique pattern of digital information. The implant interprets the code and sends electrical pulses to the tiny, inch long, electrodes in the cochlea. The auditory nerve picks up the signals an sends them to the auditory center in the brain. All of this happens instantaneously.
That's when my supernatural God takes over! The brain He "implanted" in each of us recognize these signals as natural sound.
As miraculous and life-changing as this technological gift is for me there is a more excellent gift available to "whosoever will" accept. It is recognition and submission to the Creator of all human intelligence - the one and only God. It is not a religion. It is a relationship - not one that will only last a lifetime, as my CI, but one that is eternal with infinite benefits for all who accept the free gift.
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Saturday, July 14, 2018
July 14, 2018 - GOOD THINGS CONTINUE
I've been practicing "listening" every day - exercising my ears, brain, and each of the three different volume modes my Audiologist programmed into my CI on July 5th. I listen to a variety of sources - TV, Internet PC, Magic Jack Phone and my cell phone.
One of the apps on my smartphone is the Bible. Every day I receive an email with the Verse of the Day. It's usually the first thing I see after waking up and turning on my phone. Great way to start the day! I can choose to read any one of hundreds of Bible translations from King James, to the Amplified, to the latest paraphrase. My current favorite is the New Living Translation - unambiguous contemporary language. But more than this, my smartphone speaks the words. Then with a click, I can listen to the entire chapter. I can choose to follow the words on the screen as a narrator reads the Scriptures with excellent expression, or I can just listen. Today, I listened to the entire book of Ezekiel. The volume on my cell phone was excellent! It was as if the reader was right there beside me - an entirely "natural" sound.
Face-to-face conversation with real people is improving. My own voice still has a deeper and somewhat "hollow" sound to me. Some voices are more difficult to understand than others, but that is improving, too, I think. I can carry on a conversation with just my CI and no HA, as I did today while relaxing in the Spa at the YMCA after my Deep Water Aerobics exercise class. My CI is held in place with the magnet. It's also under the cap I wear to shade my eyes so there's little chance I can lose it. Not so for the HA in my right ear. I take that out and leave it in the locker.
Next Thursday is my next programming session with my Audiologist. The Technology is amazing. Each of the 18 electrodes that go to my Cochlea can be programmed individually. I can watch as she adjusts "sliders" arrayed across the bottom of her computer desktop. When I'm satisfied that what I am hearing is an improvement, that program is saved, and can be modified at the next programming appointment based on my progress.
I've been practicing "listening" every day - exercising my ears, brain, and each of the three different volume modes my Audiologist programmed into my CI on July 5th. I listen to a variety of sources - TV, Internet PC, Magic Jack Phone and my cell phone.
One of the apps on my smartphone is the Bible. Every day I receive an email with the Verse of the Day. It's usually the first thing I see after waking up and turning on my phone. Great way to start the day! I can choose to read any one of hundreds of Bible translations from King James, to the Amplified, to the latest paraphrase. My current favorite is the New Living Translation - unambiguous contemporary language. But more than this, my smartphone speaks the words. Then with a click, I can listen to the entire chapter. I can choose to follow the words on the screen as a narrator reads the Scriptures with excellent expression, or I can just listen. Today, I listened to the entire book of Ezekiel. The volume on my cell phone was excellent! It was as if the reader was right there beside me - an entirely "natural" sound.
Face-to-face conversation with real people is improving. My own voice still has a deeper and somewhat "hollow" sound to me. Some voices are more difficult to understand than others, but that is improving, too, I think. I can carry on a conversation with just my CI and no HA, as I did today while relaxing in the Spa at the YMCA after my Deep Water Aerobics exercise class. My CI is held in place with the magnet. It's also under the cap I wear to shade my eyes so there's little chance I can lose it. Not so for the HA in my right ear. I take that out and leave it in the locker.
Next Thursday is my next programming session with my Audiologist. The Technology is amazing. Each of the 18 electrodes that go to my Cochlea can be programmed individually. I can watch as she adjusts "sliders" arrayed across the bottom of her computer desktop. When I'm satisfied that what I am hearing is an improvement, that program is saved, and can be modified at the next programming appointment based on my progress.
Monday, July 9, 2018
July 9, 2018 - PROGRESS EVERY DAY!
The surprise has been how rapidly my hearing is returning to normal. Part of the reason has been because my Audiologist continued programming my CI last Thursday, July 5th. She added the T Loop setting in Mode 2 and volume settings in Modes 3 and 4. I can switch between these by pressing the mode button on my behind-the-ear CI.
I was able to test this at church yesterday - first setting my CI to the T-Loop, and then clicking my ComPilot to T-Loop setting. This worked just fine, and I could hear every word, and the music as well!
If I'm approved by the VA for a Naida™ Link to replace the HA in my right ear, I'll be able to switch modes for both ears using a new ComPilot paired with the Link. Right now, the ComPilot I wear controls just the HA not my CI.
Here's what AB says: "The Phonak Naída™ Link, is the world’s first hearing aid offering full-bandwidth, bidirectional audio streaming with the Naída CI sound processor. Using shared technology co-developed by AB and Phonak, the Naída™ devices are able to communicate with each other in a way no other hearing aid and cochlear implant combination can match."
Each day I've practiced listening to a variety of sound sources. I've spent time watching and hearing fascinating lectures on The World's Great Inventions on my Apple computer, tuned to a variety of channels on TV, enjoying music on my car radio and Internet radio using my PC. I've been able to make and receive phone calls on my cell phone and Magic Jack. I'm missing very little.
Each of the major manufacturers of CI equipment has websites with practice exercises designed to enhance and test specific hearing challenges such as word recognition, sentence comprehension, understanding a story, vowel discrimination and more.
This is "brain-training," and I've found the exercises both interesting and helpful.
The surprise has been how rapidly my hearing is returning to normal. Part of the reason has been because my Audiologist continued programming my CI last Thursday, July 5th. She added the T Loop setting in Mode 2 and volume settings in Modes 3 and 4. I can switch between these by pressing the mode button on my behind-the-ear CI.
I was able to test this at church yesterday - first setting my CI to the T-Loop, and then clicking my ComPilot to T-Loop setting. This worked just fine, and I could hear every word, and the music as well!
If I'm approved by the VA for a Naida™ Link to replace the HA in my right ear, I'll be able to switch modes for both ears using a new ComPilot paired with the Link. Right now, the ComPilot I wear controls just the HA not my CI.
Here's what AB says: "The Phonak Naída™ Link, is the world’s first hearing aid offering full-bandwidth, bidirectional audio streaming with the Naída CI sound processor. Using shared technology co-developed by AB and Phonak, the Naída™ devices are able to communicate with each other in a way no other hearing aid and cochlear implant combination can match."
Each day I've practiced listening to a variety of sound sources. I've spent time watching and hearing fascinating lectures on The World's Great Inventions on my Apple computer, tuned to a variety of channels on TV, enjoying music on my car radio and Internet radio using my PC. I've been able to make and receive phone calls on my cell phone and Magic Jack. I'm missing very little.
Each of the major manufacturers of CI equipment has websites with practice exercises designed to enhance and test specific hearing challenges such as word recognition, sentence comprehension, understanding a story, vowel discrimination and more.
This is "brain-training," and I've found the exercises both interesting and helpful.
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
July 2 -3, 2018 WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
I'm using what I call my "Default Setting" - something as close to "set and forget" as I can make it. The CI is set on Mode One, only mode my audiologist has programmed, I am listening to TV tuned to a "talking heads" panel show. Kind of like a small group discussion except all voices coming from one direction. I can hear all clearly without seeing the screen, except that it is very loud and hollow. It is on as I type this. My own voice, even if I whisper, sneeze, or blow my nose is HUGE. I'm sure I could hear a pin drop, but it would sound like a railroad spike. Face to face conversation is clear and understandable but same hollow sound as TV.
I've tuned into local classical radio WSMR using my Apple PC speakers. Wonderful clarity! Even better than on car radio. I can Mute TV or leave on. If both, I can distinguish between the two. I can tune either up or down.
I've just subscribed to Great Courses Plus for on-going hearing practice with the added benefit of choosing from thousands of courses on every subject imaginable taught by outstanding lecturers. I've watched the first three lectures for Inventions that Changed the World on my Apple Desktop. Sound and pictures are excellent!
Driving is a new experience. I'm hearing everything, inside and outside. I had been aware of a "flapping noise," outside, right front, as soon as I accelerated to around 60 mph and a "ticking sound" inside. I was sure the "flap" was a loose underside plastic tray. It had happened before, and I'd had it fixed. But now back.
I took my car to Walter, left it with my list of stuff that I felt needed looking at. The vehicle just back and quiet. Walter was smiling like a Cheshire Cat when I asked if he had put a new bolt in the plastic under-tray up front so it wouldn't make such a racket. "No. Both noises were coming from the stuff you have piled in the rear. I just rearranged it."
I'm using what I call my "Default Setting" - something as close to "set and forget" as I can make it. The CI is set on Mode One, only mode my audiologist has programmed, I am listening to TV tuned to a "talking heads" panel show. Kind of like a small group discussion except all voices coming from one direction. I can hear all clearly without seeing the screen, except that it is very loud and hollow. It is on as I type this. My own voice, even if I whisper, sneeze, or blow my nose is HUGE. I'm sure I could hear a pin drop, but it would sound like a railroad spike. Face to face conversation is clear and understandable but same hollow sound as TV.
I've tuned into local classical radio WSMR using my Apple PC speakers. Wonderful clarity! Even better than on car radio. I can Mute TV or leave on. If both, I can distinguish between the two. I can tune either up or down.
I've just subscribed to Great Courses Plus for on-going hearing practice with the added benefit of choosing from thousands of courses on every subject imaginable taught by outstanding lecturers. I've watched the first three lectures for Inventions that Changed the World on my Apple Desktop. Sound and pictures are excellent!
Driving is a new experience. I'm hearing everything, inside and outside. I had been aware of a "flapping noise," outside, right front, as soon as I accelerated to around 60 mph and a "ticking sound" inside. I was sure the "flap" was a loose underside plastic tray. It had happened before, and I'd had it fixed. But now back.
I took my car to Walter, left it with my list of stuff that I felt needed looking at. The vehicle just back and quiet. Walter was smiling like a Cheshire Cat when I asked if he had put a new bolt in the plastic under-tray up front so it wouldn't make such a racket. "No. Both noises were coming from the stuff you have piled in the rear. I just rearranged it."
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