Third week post activation

December 28, 2004

Hi guys...

Was out of town for Xmas to see my parents and my siblings down in

D.C. where I toured the new National Museum of the American Indian,

the WWII Memorial at the Mall, and Mt. Vernon over the weekend. Good

to be back and reading your messages... happy belated holidays one and

all!

My third MAPping: My programs are 3 ACE (720, 1200 and 1800 Hz) and

the CIS, programmed in my BWP. I change the programs every 4 to 6

hours, and taking notes on each one.

I remember someone asked in an earlier program why the 1800 Hz

couldn't be put on the BTE so I asked my audiologist -- my audiologist

said that the faster firing rate (1800 Hz) (Hz = Hertz, beats per

second) drains out the batteries.

He also said that a lower Hz firing rate allows for stimulation of

more electrodes simultaneously on the auditory nerve. For example,

the 720 and 1200 allows one to have 12 electrodes stimulated, and the

1800 only a maximum of 8.

He said that if I liked the 1800 Hz best of all the 4 Ps, I wouldn't

have that installed on my BTE, but I would probably have to live with

the 1200 Hz rather than the 1800 Hz. I do hear the difference between

1200 Hz and 1800 Hz, sounds appear more crisp and distinct. I don't

yet know if I like CIS better than ACE as I'm still learning, even

with three weeks' use.

Every day seems to get better and better... it is a lot of fun reading

lips on TV and guessing what they are saying (previously with HAs, it

was too much work so I didn't do that) and then confirming what I

thought I heard milliseconds later with the captions .

Two CI moments:

1. My parents' dog shaking his head after a walk outside -- the

flip-flopping of his ears! " thwap-thwap-thwap " !

2. When my friend and I lined up outside at the front portico of

Washington's Mt. Vernon house, admiring the view over the lawn

to the Potomac River, a bitter cold wind swept up some leaves into a

whirlwind on the grass in front of us. They made a rustling-crinkling

noise as they were dancing in a circle on the ground, and I turned to

my friend, , asking him: " do these leaves make a noise when

they dance like that? " YES!!!! OMG!

activated 12/8

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