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.
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