Last update on surgery recovery

Well, tomorrow will be one week since I had my implant surgery, and today I went without any pain meds. at all. I'm pleased with the progress, and have resumed driving and real light exercise (no sweat yet!). I'm trying to keep the steri-strips in place until my post-op check-up with Dr. Telian on the 23rd, but if they come off before then, I won't be too bothered. They are a little annoying, but serve to keep things clean from infection, so I put up with it.

My activation dates are now set with the audiologist: October 9th & 10th. The first day they give me the external speech processor to attach by magnet to the implant on the other side of my skin. The audiologist will take me through a series of beeps to set real basic volume comfort levels at various frequencies and pitches. The next day, I will come back for a more complete "mapping" session to set specific programming in place on the various program slots available for my use on the speech processor. Then I'll go home for a week and try it all out in different listening situations. I'll also start working on listening exercises, and reading and listening to unabridged audio books for more listening practice.

This morning while walking with Caleb to his bus stop, he asked me, "Mom, why don't you home-school me this year?" I told him that I have my own homework in having surgery and rehabilitation to get my hearing back so we can return to our work in Africa next year. Plus, he needs to make friends and have fun at school. I got the impression that he was a little down this morning, and he asked if I could pick him up from school rather than have to ride the bus home. Just then, we saw a little mouse hopping across the grass, and we were delighted by the creature. We told him he better stay outside; no-one wanted him inside their house.

We kept walking to the bus stop, and Caleb saw a deer in the back yard of the house across the street. I told him that God was giving him a little gift this morning to cheer him up; He was sharing His creation with us to say, "See, Caleb, I love you today!" And then we saw two more deer feeding under a fruit tree nearby. Many cars were whipping by on the road, never seeing what was mere feet from their windows, but Caleb and I had the pleasure of savoring these beautiful animals before the bus pulled up.

Aren't those the kind of moments to treasure for a lifetime? I'm so glad Caleb has worked hard at being able to communicate with me, even in my deafness. We really enjoy each other's company, and when I need a buddy to go somewhere with me, he's usually "game".

I told my other son, Ben, this afternoon, that when I get activated, he's one of the first people I want to sit down and have a conversation with. I miss him and not being able to have a "heart-to-heart" with this tender one. I also miss just hanging out with my husband, and he with me, so we'll have to plan some fun "together" time to make us for a few lost months. We have a required trip to Denver in January at mission HQ, so we're considering taking the train out there and getting a sleeping compartment and making a fun adventure out of it. Better than trying to drive out there in the middle of winter, and who knows how expensive or risky air travel will be then, so I think the train is a good option.

Anyone done train travel lately and want to share their experience?