I stepped on a sound!!!

For many years, I have hiked to LeConte Lodge in the Great Smoky Mountains in near silence. Once I wore hearing aids and had a frightening experience with a jet that sounded like a bear to me. My aids had over-amplified an already loud and too close jet (I was at 6,593 feet altitude - the jet, at maybe 6,800 feet (way to close)). The aids did nothing to very little, in the way of helping me understand my hiking buddies. After that, I gave up on hearing my friends when we hike. Once we arrived at the lodge I could face them and speech read until night fall; the rest of the evening would resemble scenes from the "Blair Witch Project". (I would have to have a flashlight shining on their mouths).

Ok, I understood I was missing out on conversation but I had no idea I was missing so many wonderful sounds of nature. I did two hikes to the lodge this summer, one week apart. The first trip was with Mark, Matt, the Whites, a bunch of Matt's friends and Hurricane Dennis. Dennis showed up for the last leg of our hike, the steepest 2 miles of a five mile trip. The hike was rich with new sound experiences; birds, mountain streams and water run-offs. I loved being a part of the chit-chat in our group as well as descending hikers. When the rain started I suited up to protect my processor (hat and poncho)then I heard the rain "splatting" on the brim of my rain hat. It sounded so great and I was washed in memories of my childhood.

My next trip was with "the girls", Beth joined me for her first stay at the lodge. The sound that stood out to me the most, was the sound of my own steps. The stones under my boots, the squash of the earth & water under my feet, no matter where I stepped.... I just kept stepping on sounds! :~) It's amazing to me how much I forgot about sound and what makes it. There is a rock cliff where red squirrels come for handouts and I was able to hear their chatter! Evening at the lodge is rich with sound, from the noisy dining room, the roll sounds of the wooden rocking chairs, to the slam of the screen door and the squeak of the swing. I am delighting in all this familiar newness.

After our hike, Beth and I stayed a night in Cobbley Nob. The next morning I was up early on the porch reading, when I heard what sounded like a snake moving over the ground and to my surprise my ear was right!

Another trip to New Orleans

I am still having so much fun hearing. I have the most wonderful big sister and brother-in-law, who open their home to me and the kids when ever we ask. This trip we brought along one of Matt's friends, Alex. The boys are so into their music and jazz that we had to show them the musical side of N.O. This gave me more practice with my ci and I have found the more distance I put between myself and the band the better. I am enjoying it a little more but still hoping for additional improvement.
Denise and I had the best time, talking and being girlfriends. We stayed up late whispering and telling secrets! There where a few times I was to soft for her to hear, the whole while I am hearing her beautifully. One night we were in the Quarters and stopped to see a street artist playing tunes on wine glasses. He played "When the Saints go marching in" and "Rocky Top" (for Alex our Vols fan!). Denise had to tell me what he was playing but I was able to hear the sounds even if I could not decipher the tune.

Star Wars

We just attended an opening day showing of the new Star Wars movie. It was so good to hear it, there is a animal in it that sounded like a sick turkey to me, when I asked Mark what it sounded like to him, he said the same.
This past weekend we went to a lake cabin and I really enjoyed all the sounds of nature, mostly the night sounds. I heard a few different frogs, crickets and many birds, it was a wonderful time. We stayed outside way past dark and I could still hear to converse. I also bought some CD's of old radio shows, "I love a mystery" and family classics, which we listened to. I understood some and hope to listen to them more as a form of auditory training.
Today I went to Maryville to have lunch with a new friend who is on the road toward getting herself a cochlear implant. Laurie is so excited and it's been fun to remember myself at that stage. I pray she does as well or better than I have, I know she will. She took me to the neatest little place for lunch and then a great knitting shop. Thanks for a pleasant time Laurie.

Great weekend

This past weekend I was in Nashville for the Country Music Marathon and had a great time. I discovered another really wonderful thing about being able to hear, you don't miss the elevators. Call me crazy but this has been so frustrating in the past. A few years ago, while in Atlanta, I was staying in a hotel that had lots of elevators. I think there was ten, five on each side of the hall. I of course could not hear the "ding" when the doors opened and was always turned in the wrong direction. Thanks to my ci I now know when the elevator arrives. I still have to search for which one it is, because I hear everything from the right, but that's ok. I am proud to say, I didn't miss a single elevator the whole weekend.
I was also very comfortable getting around, asking directions and staying in the room by myself. Before my ci I would have deadbolted myself in the room for fear of housekeeping coming in without me knowing. I did forget my alarm and was unable to get a wakeup call. When the processor is off I can't hear a thing, but boy I sleep good. Snore away - it's fine with me.

Now I must brag!! Beth and I started this venture back in Oct. Then, with the news of my approval for the implant I felt I would not have enough time to train and fund raise, so I dropped out. (Here comes the bragging part) Beth on the other hand, hit the ground running and has not stopped. She raised more than 1800.00 for the Leukemia Society, has lost over 55 pounds and finished her first half marathon. Way to go girl--We are all so proud of you!

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.

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.

I have been busy hearing

I have been so busy hearing there has been little time to post. I am still enjoying the birds. Mark bought me this hand held machine that has all kinds of birds and the sounds they make. I have had the best time talking with the birds on my deck. I will see a robin and do it's call with my sound machine and then he will answer me back, it's so cool. Then yesterday I took my shower and looked out the window to see a cardinal was visiting the feeder so I ran and got my sound machine to play with him and the darn thing was not working. I tried it, nothing, shook it and tried it again, nothing. Then I realized I had not put my processor back on. Oops! Sometimes I just get so lost in not hearing, I forget. But then when I put the processor back on, wow, boy it is so shocking when I take it off, it is like from all to nothing.
Last weekend we went to the mountains, my mom and brother where in the back of the van, an impossible setup for my hearing in the past. So I hooked up my mic that came with my processor and clipped it to the back of my seat and I could hear them so good. I even heard my mom on her cell phone talking to my sister. I did not understand Denise but I could make out when she was saying something. Seth was playing his gameboy in the far back and I could hear it too. Mark is always telling the boys to turn the sound off their toys, I would tell him to chill out and to let them hear their sounds. Well guess who's over all the nonsense toy sounds. LOL
Tonight it is storming, I thought it must be really bad out from the sound of it. I then went on the porch and it really was not that bad, I just have not heard a storm in all it's glory for so long.