Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Day 70

70 days of sound! Still surprised by the things I am hearing. I went to my first not captioned movie, I went to see "A Lot Like Love" and I was able to hear most of it. I am having trouble with missing things because the processor does not recover fast enough after loud sounds cause the compression to kick in.

Today I have had a dull throb ear ache, nothing bad, I just feel a little off.
I watched "Ray" this evening and I enjoyed music for the first time. Music is one of the few things I have found I don't like through the ci. It just isn't very good, let's hope it gets better.
Oh! And the taste bud thing :o( NOTHING taste right. This is because they cut through one of the five taste bud nerves during surgery. I am shocked at how hard this part has been. Everyone told me I would get use to it. Well it's not happening for me. I am even gaining weight because of it! I just keep eating hoping that I will find something that taste normal. ;~) (Are you buying it?) Sound was, by all means, worth the deranged taste, it's just a part of my journey that I felt I should share. It is a blah taste, like you drank milk an hour ago. (I hate milk!) I still love my green tea and chi tea, things with lots of flavor taste best to me. Water with lime taste better to me than plain or lemon.

Friday, April 08, 2005

Life is good!!!

I am loving my ci!!!! I have done so much and have had so many wonderful ci moments, this might take awhile. A few weeks ago I attended a two day class on advanced esthetics and it was so great to see some of my old classmates. The best part was how well I did keeping up with the lectures. We even watched an instructional video (which was not captioned) and I understood every word! There were a few times when people in the back of the room would ask questions that I could not understand but overall I did very well. With hearing aids I would not have understood as much, and I would have had a splitting headache by the middle of the day.

Soon after, me and the boys went to New Orleans for spring break and had the best time. We acted like tourist to experience as much as my ears could stand. We went fishing deep in the bayou, where I listen to all kinds of birds and the sun was so bright I believe I heard it too. (Thank you spf 30) We went to and had our own crawfish boil which is always fun, but this time I was listening to everything. From the kids exciting crawfish races to the gurgle of those delicious mud bugs. ;-)

One evening after dark we went on a ghost tour with a female guide. There was lots of street noise, horses and cars passing, people talking, but I still understood almost everything! I placed myself close to the guide, but I did not have to speech read. My sister and I went walking one morning and it was great to keep my eyes on the path instead of having to watch her talk. My nephew was still very hard for me to understand. He talks very soft and fast. We went to his Easter Parade and they played some of the music way to loud. It bothered everyone but me, my wonderful ci lets the volume get just so loud, then it holds it. There's a perk! :)
The day we went fishing, the noise of the motor when we were at high speeds and the sound of the wind, I did not like, so I turned my processor off. Hearing people can't do that!!We went to my childhood church for Easter and I hated the music. They had a trumpet that I got over real quick.

Many people have commented on the changes in my personality. Friends and family are noticing the old Susan coming back to life. Many have also noticed a change in my speech. They never admitted that my speech was suffering, but now they say the change has made them realize that it had.

Lastly, enjoyed the road trip more then usual. I felt safer when I talked to them because I could keep my eyes on the road. I listened to books-on-tape, the kids could sleep because I did not need them to help me stay awake. It seemed to go so much faster for me. It's just so good-- LIFE IS GOOD.