My Tenth Week
Mom, cheryl and I went shopping
when all of a sudden I started to feel a drain inside my
head...this always means a dead battery. It's always really
amazing how my voice changes when I can't hear it. It makes
me embarrassed to talk out loud without hearing the sounds.
I felt lost and empty in the world. Hearing is so important!
I think its my only addiction!! Now I understand more about
hearing people who become deaf and it's very hard for them
to adjust to not hearing their own voice. I called to surprise my 86 year old
grandmother and sing happy birthday to her....but she hardly
understood me.. She understood me saying bye bye only.. I
look forward to talking with her in person soon. Recently I was driving down the
road - it is very hot here in Texas in August, and I had my
AC on really high. Usually I can't hear traffic or road
sounds above the AC sounds. But I heard something really
loud and it was becoming louder. It was a strange sound and
I looked in all my mirrors and found that an ambulance was
speeding my way with it's sirens on. Wow! I heard it even
over the sound of my AC! It is very great to hear emergency
sounds now. I also heard something loud and whirring and I
looked up and a helicopter was flying past my home checking
on traffic. This week - my music stopped
playing on the computer, I was so upset. I really missed
hearing my music so much. A Coworker, Sam came in to check
it out...the volume was off. I was very relieved it was so
easy to fix. I didn't want to go back to no music in my
workdays. My friend and I went to the First
Annual Cochlear Implant Picnic. It was sponsored by the
Otology Group in San Antonio. I met lots of people with
CI's. It was very interesting to hear about their experience
with their CI's. One woman mentioned that her husband's CI
enabled him to finally hear words... after 40 years of being
deaf. She told me I will understand words too. I need to
just be patient! I am reminded of what my doctor said. He
said it would be a lengthy process, with approximately a two
year recovery/rehab expected. I didnt go to speech therapy
for one week, so I did some homework by myself. This week at
my work, there was a newsletter article about my ci
experience. Lots of people have congratulated me
since....smile My Audiology Team, Allison and
Kim. There were about 100 people there.
It was nice. Dr. Krueger and I at the
picnic. New Friends! Charles and Me and Marks - new CI
recipients too! The three-legged race was cute. A
lot of CI people are kids!
