Today was the big day!  We arrived a few minutes early and my hearing test was the first appointment of the day.  It didn’t take long.  They checked my hearing levels but did not do the full blown testing with word comprehension.  The first good news of the day – I did not lose all of the residual hearing in  my implanted right ear!  The hearing levels are lower than before surgery but I can still hear some sounds there.  Truthfully, it’s not useful sound so it doesn’t make much difference, but it is something they will continue to monitor.  Engineers are working on technology that won’t damage residual hearing when you receive an implant and that will be able to work with whatever is left someday.  The information could be helpful for future technology.  The other bit of good news – my hearing on the left side has improved!  No one knows why or when, but there is some improvement since my last hearing test in April!  It could mean that the hearing aid/cochlear implant combo for me might really be best.  I know I could lose more hearing at any point in time, so we’ll have to see how it goes.  They told me again today that the earliest we would likely even consider looking at a second implant would be 6 months from now.  

Appointment number two was a post-op followup with my surgeon. She and another resident who also operated on my checked out my incision.  There was one small “crusty” spot on my scalp where they found a part of one of the inside stitches (there were none on the outside) had worked its way out.  They said this is common.  They snipped it and looked over the rest and told me that the swelling I have is also quite normal.  It will go away over time.  The inside of my newly implanted ear looks perfect.  They also checked on the left ear since I had an infection last visit and although it doesn’t look infected now, the ear canal was damp again.  They said it is from wearing my hearing aid – my molded earpiece completely fills the canal, so air doesn’t circulate.  I asked when I can start swimming again.  That is by far my favorite workout activity.  She told me that I need to wait one more week, then I can go for it.  Because she suspects my ear is going to continue to be susceptible to infections if I swim, she gave me a syringe to use for flushing out my ear with vinegar!  After I swim, she wants me to rinse the ear out with a water and vinegar solution, then use a blow dryer to dry it out!!!  She warned me that it is important for the water to be a little warm or at least room temperature.  If it is cold she said that it will probably make me dizzy!  She also gave me another prescription for antibiotic drops while I’m on vacation.  She thought it would be a good idea to use them then since I will be away and will be swimming in the ocean.  All great news at that appointment.  I got the thumbs up for activation!

The last appointment was the big one!  It was wildly successful!!!  My audiologist took some time to explain to me what was going to take place and then reminded me that about what I should expect to ear.  She started out by explaining a few features of my new processor, and then she worked on getting the correct strenghth of battery.  You want it to be strong enough to stay put, but not so strong that it causes headaches or irritation to the skin.  It needs to be able to come off fairly easily.  I ended up needing the strongest one for now.  Once more of the swelling goes down I might be able to use one that is less powerful. Next, she did some testing with her equipment while I was wearing the processor, but that didn’t require any input from me.  She had me fill out some paperwork while she worked on that.  Next she went through some beeps and had a chart that had dots to represent how loud the sounds were to me.  I literally pointed my finger to the dot by the words “Very soft – barely perceptible” and then followed them up to “very soft” “soft” “comfortable but still soft” and then “comfortable.”  We did this several times with different groups of tones.  That was basically how she mapped the first program.  She then did all of it again for a second program.  I’m not sure what is different about the two.  It is something technical on her end.  She wants me to use one of the programs today and then the other tomorrow to see if I favor one over the other.  The first sounds I heard were kind of like muffled thumping sounds but also tinny or mechanical.  Hard to describe.  During the course of the session they became a little more distinct.  Each of the sets of tones sounded different.  The big news was that I could understand speech right away.  That is highly unusual and bodes very well for me!  It sounds very mechanical and tinney still, maybe also a little echo, but it was understandable!  I still need to lip read with normal volume and speed of speech.  As an experiment, she held something over her mouth and spoke to me and I could understand it!!!  It took a second for me to kind of process what I heard, but I did get it right!  Do you know how long it has been since I’ve understood speech without lip reading?  A while!  Very exciting.  I honestly felt pretty calm and matter of fact at the beginning of the session.  It was cool to hear sound on this side after so long, but it got really really exciting as I realized just how well I was doing!  I’m so thankful!  God answered our prayers with a big fat yes!!!!!  Once again, His plan is always the best by far!!!!!  She saved those programs and loaded them onto my processor, and the rest of the time we spent going over some of the parts of my equipment and how to use them.  Then she had me practice putting it on a couple of times.  It takes  a little practice to figure out where to put the magnet.  Also, it was a little hard to tell if the behind the ear part of my processor was sitting correctly behind my ear because the nerves are not completely back to normal yet and the feeling of having it in place was not obvious.  

We left the clinic with hugs and honestly just feeling on Cloud Nine!  I got a really nice and BIG backpack full of stuff that goes with my equipment!  Cool!  It was pretty heavy!  There is a lot of stuff!  Tools, spare parts, drying equipment, storage equipment, the bluetooth device, lots of instructional material (including some websites where I can go for listening practice/training, etc.  What a thrilling day!!!!!

As we headed out to meet up with Kinsey for a celebratory lunch, I heard a repetitive ticking noise.  It was the turn signal!!!  That is something I haven’t heard in years, even with my hearing aid!  I found that it was actually still somewhat difficult to follow conversation in the car and at lunch.  I do still need to lip read in those situations right now.  I’m not complaining!  I am so much further along already than I ever expected to be.  I think audiologist speak more clearly and distinctly than the average person because they work with hard of hearing and deaf people all the time. 

I am supposed to wear my device as much as I can tolerate even when I am home alone.  I am supposed to go without my hearing aid on the other side most of the time.  She did tell me that it is ok for me to wear it occasionally if needed.  That was another little bit of good news!  When I am on my family trip later this month, I could opt to wear it once in a while if I need it.  Maybe I won’t if I progress rapidly from this point!

Overall, I am feeling incredibly blessed and incredibly thankful!  It has been an amazing day!!!!!