March Updates

I just wanted to post a quick update to the blog as it has been a while.  I am still doing awesomely amazing considering how deaf I was a year and a half ago.  My life has changed so very much.  Some of my recent successes:

-Hearing a speech given in a microphone in the church gym while I was in the back.  I also was turned away from the speaker and helping myself to seconds on the food table.  I heard every word.

-Being able to successfully eavesdrop on a conversation happening down the hall from me.  It was a very boring subject, office computers, but still I could hear them!!

-Hearing some song lyrics without needing to follow the words.  Though this is still rare, I occassionaly hear a song very clearly and it MAKES my day.  I am really loving Maroon 5 and Christina Perri for this reason.

-I'm successfully using the phone to call doctors, make appointments, talk to clients, etc.  Wow, has this made my life a zillion times easier.  I still use an ALD and maybe always will but still am super happy about it.

-Successfully navigating the public school world as I am learning how to register my daughter for kindergarten, arranging assessments and becoming familiar with school staff.

All in all, just fantastic.  But I'm still hard of hearing.  I still miss things.  I still have challenges.  I'm nowhere near as anxious about them but just keep trying to work on them.  My biggest challenge continues to be the volunteer work I do for church.  I work with the teenage girls and my oh my do they have soft voices.  I'm hoping my constant request that they repeat themselves helps give them the courage and confidence to let themselves be heard.

And by the way, I'm pregnant.  I'm having a boy and we are all super thrilled about it.  He should be coming in mid August :)

One Year Anniversary

On January 5, 2013, it was my one year activation anniversary.  I had the best of intentions to write an entire post about the year's journey.  Not going to happen!  Instead I am just going to put links of the journey so that anyone interested can just click and read on what they want to read.

Surgery

Activation Day

My husband's version of activation day

The hardest phase of being newly activated

Back to work

Hearing human again

Hearing test at 2 months post activation

3 months out

8 months post activation

The benefits of a CI to a mom

The Holidays

Here are the lovely 17 people I had in my home for three weeks over the holidays.  I know it's already February but I just barely feel like I am starting to catch up!

First, my successes.  I first picked up my older brother and his family from the airport.  They flew in from Italy.  I understood my brother and his wife very well.  Their kids, not so much because their accents are so thick.  However, I did well enough that I probably heard at least ten times that night "I can't believe you just heard me say that!"  Score!  Next I picked up my younger brother and his family from the aiport.  They also commented several times they could not believe how well I was hearing them.  The true test came home on the way home from the aiport.  It was 12:30 at night.  We were all tired.  My sister in law, Anyi, talked to me from the seat behind me most of the trip back.  She would ask me a question and I could respond correctly.  I asked her questions and could hear a response.  She did have to repeat herself a couple of different times but overall, we were able to converse pretty freely.  One reason why this is so amazing is because I never once could read her lips or facial expressions as I was driving and she was behind me.  Another reason why this is so amazing is because she is from the Dominican Republic and has a very strong accent.  (I have a very international family, I am the only one who married an American, though marriage to a man from Rexburg, Idaho certainly feels like I married a foriegner sometimes!)

I'll admit it.  I absolutely loved how much they complimented my new hearing abilities.  It was so fun.  Surprisingly, all the background noise of 9 kids did not take away from my ability to take part in conversations.  I felt so connected to my family and so much more invested in the happenings around me.

After everyone went home, the clean up process and room restoration process began.  Within a coule of days, the kids got sick.  Very sick.  They just had the flu (Influenza B if you want to get technical) but it was a horrible version of the flu and it knocked them out for days and days and days!  They are now back to normal and we are now starting to resume and get back to normal again.  So now it's time to do some catch up on the blog.

Erin

I have a dear niece who I rarely see, Erin.  She lives in Italy.  The last time my brother (her dad) and his family came to visit was about two and a half years ago.  I distinctly remember standing at the sink doing the dishes and my niece, Erin, trying to talk to me.  I was struggling trying to hear her.  She sighed (I don't have to hear THE sigh to know THE sigh, I've gotten it from many many people).  She said "Aunt Kristel, I wish you could hear me."  I responded "I know Erin, I wish I could to."  And then I cried.

My brother is coming for Christmas.  They are staying with us for three weeks and are flying in this Thursday.  I can't stop thinking about Erin.  She's 9 now.  I do not know if she remembers how bad my hearing was.  But I hope that she still wants to talk to me and I hope that I can hear her!!

Both of my brothers and their families have not seen me since getting the implant.  They and their families are so excited to see me in person and see how well I am doing.  But it makes me nervous, I hope they are not disappointed!

Regardless of how well I do, after three weeks of 17 people in my house, we'll see if I still want my CI. Hahaha!

Pandora is my Friend!

Music is so complicated.  I seriously don't understand how people can hear it clearly.  Especially when there are multiple instruments and/or voices.  It just might take the rest of my life to train my ear to music.  Good thing I've got a long life ahead of me ;)

I've learned some things about myself on this music journey.  I don't have the patience for slow songs.  I want a beat and I want the words to come fast.  Haha.  You likely would not believe it, but I have been caught listening to rap a time or two.  Pandora is AWESOME because I can follow the lyrics along with the song.  Don't worry, I skip the inappropriate ones.  I like country because it is simple.  One voice (usually) with few instruments and the songs are always about love or breakups of some sort.  I also really like Maroon 5 and Matchbox something or other.  I don't even know what genre they are.  Yep, I'm that clueless when it comes to music!  I like Taylor Swift but can only handle a couple of songs at a time.

As I type this, I'm listening to Nat King Cole Holiday station on Pandora.  I know a lot of Christmas music but the same conditions apply.  I like simple, clear lyrics that are not made complicated with a lot of instruments.  Maybe I'll be able to expand one day but for now I'm thrilled :)

If anyone out there can suggest groups that often sing with a fast beat AND clean lyrics, I would love to hear about them!

Gratitude

Tis the Season to be grateful.  Honestly, I feel grateful every day.  I remember well this time last year how isolated and anxious I felt each day.  So much has changed in the last year for me.  I rarely feel lonely.  I rarely feel anxious about communicating.  I am sooooo lucky!!!  The greatest benefit to my hearing abilities is understanding my children.  Here's just a few examples:

The other night while I was sitting on the couch in the living room talking with Evan, I heard the sweet voice of Joshua (my three year old) singing from the bathroom "I better watch out, I better not shout, SANTA CLAUS is coming to TOWN!"

While Aleah (my four year old) and I were watching a movie, Joshua was helping Evan make dinner.  I heard Joshua say "I love you daddy" but Evan was not paying attention and didn't respond to him.  Because I heard Joshua, I prompted Evan to respond.

At dinner the other night, Joshua was saying the prayer.  He expressed thanks to Heavenly Father for himself, his daddy, his mommy, grandma, Aleah, plates, cups, spoons, bowls, rice, olives, lettuce, meat, chips and water.  Then he repeated himself three times.  I heard the whole thing.  It was adorable.  The only thing he wasn't grateful for were the tomatoes.  :)

Yesterday I was downstairs sewing and I heard Aleah upstairs calling to me from her bedroom, which is upstairs.  She needed help and I was able to quickly respond.

I overheard Aleah and Joshua telling their dinosaurs "you are being naughty and have to go to time out!"  Hahahaha.

Whenever we go outside and there is snow, the kids immediately run away from me yelling "let's make snow angels" and then throw themselves down in the snow.  What I love is that I can hear them as they are running away from me.  It's amazing to hear without having to lipread.

This is a special Thanksgiving for me.  My heart is so full of thanks for all of those who helped make my journey back to hearing possible.  I'm grateful for the gift of being hard of hearing again. 

Success!

Walk day was so much fun!  I only got a couple of pictures so I will try to post some more when I get them from my fellow planners.  Above is k's krew!  We were a small team this year but we were a mighty one :)

Evan sponsored the walk.  He has been working on his own business part time.  Check him out: www.evanscoresby.com

We had over 300 walkers come and participate.  There was such a positive energy at the park.  We had a fun program with a professional entertainer-- Marky the funny guy who does tricks.  And of course we had good food :)  We had several teams, including large teams that were named after one baby in a family born deaf.  The walk unifies group from all across the hearing loss spectrum.  So fun!  We raised about $20,000.  Whoo hoo!!  Half of it goes to National HLAA for their programs and advocacy (they are the ones that got cell phones and tv's accessible to us).  The rest goes for walk expenses and local needs.  We provide assistive listening devices to those who can not afford them (those little suckers are pricey!) and other ways to help people remain connected to the hearing world.  Thanks to everyone for your support!!