We went on vacation this last week and it was so nice to get away. We travelled four hours south. Normally, I hate being the passenger because I get bored. Haven't been able to listen to music or books on tape for years. I get sick if I read in the car. And let's just say entertaining bored toddlers while driving does not exactly help the time pass! But this trip was a little different. The kids were still bored and whiny. After entertaining them the best I could, I shut them off. Hahahaha. Don't you all wish you could do that? Evan was jealous. I hooked up my audio cable to the CI and listened to a book on tape. And I turned off the sound in the background. It was divine. I was understanding at least 80% of the book. That definitely helped the time go by!
We went to a national park and took the kids on a hike. Though I still can't eavesdrop (I am serious, that's really what I want to acheive) it was fun to hear voices of people in front of and behind us. At one point we were sitting down resting and some barely-dressed girls came down the trail. My 3 year old says "those girls are naked!" The girls were already several feet away and they started laughing their heads off. My daughter was really embarassed. But I heard them laughing the next several minutes. That was fun. It was also fun to hear the rush of the water no matter where we were in the park.
Noisy situations are still really really difficult. Like the grocery stores. Ugh! Just can't separate all the noise and make sense of it. And when people speak to me I get so lost. I do have a "noise" program on my CI. I use it at church and when grocery shopping or other loud places. It does help a bit. But I think it's just going to take a while for me to make sense of noise. When several people are talking at once, all human leaves and all mechanics comes back. Weird, huh? However, when I'm talking to just one or two people, I am doing really well. In the therapy office at work, I've only needed the amplification from my fm system for only about a third of the day. It's been really nice to just sit and listen without extra devices. I really think I'll get to the point at work where I won't need my assistive listening device hardly at all.
And, oh, last thing. We have begun the process for implant #2. This time, though, I am not doing anything but being tested and evaluated. The implant team is doing all the work with insurance. We suspect it will take about a year to get approval but the team is dedicated to making it happen.
1 comment:
Wait - the naked girls were laughing, and your daughter was embarrassed? Shouldn't it have been the OTHER way around?!
I have trouble hearing in a crowd too, and I consider myself to have excellent hearing. Get me in a restaurant, and I am saying "huh?" to the waiter over and over even though the person next to me can hear him. I know it's not what you're experiencing, but I get what you mean when you say you can't understand multiple people talking. It's just a hum of voices (maybe a mechanical hum for you?)
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