A couple of recent CI Moments

[Guest guest]

Hi All !!

Just wanted to share a couple of recent CI moments - my first live

theater & live classical concert post activation.

All I really wanted out of my CI was to understand speech better.

What I have discovered is that while my CI has done that, it has

also opened up a whole new world of music and theater to me. I have

always enjoyed music (even though I play no instruments, and cannot

sing a note), even with my hearing aid. However, with my CI, music

is so much richer & clearer than I had ever known it to be. For

example, just this past weekend, we went to hear my daughter perform

with the band at UW Madison, and I not only listened to her band,

but stayed to listen to two other bands perform. These were

symphonic bands, with the full complement of instruments, from the

shrill notes of the picollo & flutes to the mellow woodwinds &

brassy trumpets and booming drums. I just closed my eyes and felt

each instrument section blend with the others to create the most

wonderful music I had ever heard !! While I was absorbed fully, I

thought I heard a bell chiming, so I opened up my eyes, and sure

enough - in the back of the percussion section, someone was playing

the chimes. I actually got a little misty eyed as I considered my

good fortune.

The evening before that, my wife & went to a play for the first time

in over 20 years. We saw " 42nd Street " , and that was also a lot of

fun. I not only followed the entire dialogue, but also understood

most of the lyrics to the songs. All in all, we were both very

pleased that I can once again enjoy theater.

What a blessing to have this wonderful thing we call the Cochlear

Implant !!

Best regards,

Jim S.

AB 90K/Auria

Activated 4-25-2006