Good Morning !!

[Guest guest]

Good Morning and Happy Mother's Day!!!

These last few days have been a whirlwind. I am just now getting to

the forum to read posts and post about my hookup/activation.

We were just on time getting to the Audie's office in Nashville, Tn

(2 hrs 15 min ) from homeon Thursday. My appt was for 1 pm that

afternoon. After , the audie set my T anc C levels and repeated

a few beeps and asked a couple of questions, she said out of the

blue, ''How does this sound?''....I answered it sounds pretty good, a

little static but was ok with it. She, my husband and I talked for a

minute or so and they were asking if I could hear them and the

typical questions that take place at hookup. The audie then

suggested to take a walk outside and listen to sounds ...birds,

traffic, footsteps, the usual. I could hear all the birds, the

traffic had a lot to be desired, but I was hanging in there. At that

point, I asked my husband to talk to me with my back turned. He

asked 3 questions, mostly pretaining to dinner and what choice of

restaurant, etc. I heard him perfectly well and repeated back to him

his exact questions. I was thinking I'll try turning my aid off...I

still wear an aid in my left ear...and see what I can hear with my

implant alone. As I reached up to turn my aid off, I realized it was

NOT in my ear. My immediate first thought was..where is my aid?

(LOST?) Then it dawned on me I was hearing just through my implant.

I was shocked, floored and speechless. I yelled out to my

husband...My aid isn't in!! (Smiling) I guess this was the moment

that most people in the room experience when they first hear sound

thru a CI...I was just not aware that my aid was not in at the time.

We headed back to 's office and she did another program which I

liked better and still using that program now. Within an hour of

activating my CI, she did a torture chamber test and my hearing was

30 to 40 db, meaning I'm in the mild loss range. She said this was

great one hour after activation.

Now on the flip side of this. Wow...lots of static type noise. I

can communicate very well with robots. I've never tried to

communiate with them, but just know I'd understand everything they

have to say. LOL It's a lot of adjustment, plastic bags and paper

are horrible. Hangers sliding across the closet bar...ouch. The

toilet....eeeekkkk. LOL I know you all have experienced this

same ''noise'' and know what I'm talking about here. Bluejays, must

be some reason why the Lord wanted us to hear that screech....just

haven't figured it out yet tho. I can't say all is perfect here,

but it's improving each day. I'm becoming more used to the sounds

and at times, some sound very normal as I remembered them back in my

hearing days. One example, after dinner out at a restaurant, I had

my back turned to a guy who started up his Harley. He was revving up

the motor (not doubt to impress everyone, me, for one...smiles) and

it was exactly as I remembered Harley's sounding 25-30 yrs ago.

These CI's are a marvelous wonder!!!

Day two of hookup went well. I had to turn down and tone down

some of the volume and sensitivity on my maps. This seemed to help

quite a bit and not as bothersome for me as the previous day. That

afternoon, Sharon..twin_sharon, from this forum, a dear friend, met

us at our hotel and she gave me loads of tips to using my CI. An

hour later, 17 people were at the hotel, all SHHH Nashers, as we like

to call ourselves...members of the Nashville Chapter of SHHH. Some

brought extended family members and we all went out ot dinner and had

a grand time. Just a note here...off topic..lol..if you have a local

chapter of SHHH and not already a member of it...FIND IT. It's a

wonderful group of people who support you all the way!!! Dinner was

noisy, but I was hanging in there, doing a lot of lipreading and also

had my aid in my left ear on very, very low volume. This seemed to

help me understand better at the table with conversation on my left

side.

I know this is a long post, but wanted to share it with all of you.

It's been an exciting 4 days and we're back home now. With all new

CI'ers, I find this extraordinary...from no hearing in my ear to

being able to use it. Sure it's ''different'' and takes an

adjustment, but it worth it as each day gets better and better. I'm

still on my same 3 batteries the audie put in my processor on Thurs.

I'm waiting till they go out and know I've put in lots of mileage on

them to this point wearing my CI to late at night. Anyway, thanks

for letting me share this experience with you all. I've got a long

way to go on rehab with my robot and know it takes a lot of patience

and determination.

Good Luck to everyone, Evel, , Ron and your wife, Wayne and

all. Catching up on posts and thanks to everyone who had me in your

thoughts.

Hugs,

Dixie