Hearing Again - The First Week

I've been "activated" for a week now (my cochlear implant speech processor turned on) and have discovered sounds I didn't hear before, like the tumbling mechanism in doorknobs, the creak of the dinner table hinge, and the crunch of the carpet fibers.

Other sounds were a surprise to hear because I hadn't heard them in so long I'd forgotten they were there, like the ding of the car door and music in restaurants. Yesterday, after I'd ignored the phone ringing for fear of picking it up and being stuck not understanding whoever was on the other end, I noticed a regular, little buzz and asked my husband to look at the processor on my ear to see if any lights were flashing or something. He said no and then laughed as he realized what the pulsating buzz was...the message indicator on the answering machine in the office.

I did have a successful phone conversation with my mom, but not with some other people, so that was encouraging but also makes me want to keep working on hearing rehabilitation so that I can have complete functioning. We were involved in a busy 5-day missions conference this week, where I spoke several times in different "environments", and had to monitor our display table out in a busy lobby. The lobby time was a real challenge because of all the background noise and discussions going on around me. But I was pleased to be able to HAVE conversations! I felt like a butterfly coming out of her cocoon, being able to be ME again. I'm so thankful for this technology.

I was asked the other day, "What is your favorite sound?" I replied that it ISN'T loading and unloading the dishwasher...the clanking dishes and pots is so loud and annoying. I am really struggling to answer that question because nothing sounds as I know it should. My auditory memory tells me what I remember hearing from just 6 months ago and the bird calls and music coming in don't sound right yet. Don't get me wrong; I'm so glad to hear my husband's voice again, even though he sounds like Alvin of the Chipmunks. I guess my favorite sound is my sons' voices when they look me in the eye with something very important to tell me, and they're little chipmunk voices are so cute. I wish I could "bottle" them for later when they're all grown up and my speech processor has adjusted to sounding "right". I'll long to remember those little chipmunks in my house.

Just a side note: I had my third mapping (processor re-programming) at the audiologist's on Wednesday, and she was so pleased with my progress, she asked if I was planning on getting the other ear implanted. She had talked to my surgeon about my progress and felt that the processor was meeting my expectations and that I was adjusting well to my new "toy". She advised that if I thought I would ever do the other ear, I should do it sooner than later, since the more time that passes means a longer rehabilitation on the other end from lack of stimulation. And since I'm pushing to return to Africa next June, I should try to get it scheduled before the end of this year so I have enough time to do mappings with both ears. So, now we've gotten the go-ahead from our medical coverage to schedule the second surgery and are awaiting word from the audiologist about the next date.

My Cochlear Implant Activation Days

On Thursday, my husband and I drove down to Ann Arbor for an 8:00 am appointment with my audiologist, Rachel. On arriving at the office, I was sent for an x-ray, which I hadn't expected, but realized was a good idea to show that the implant was still in place and the electrode array was curled properly inside my cochlea from the outside high frequencies to the inside low frequencies.


Back in Rachel's office, we went through the box of parts and accessories that came with my speech processor, including earhooks, direct connect wires for MP3 players and the like, batteries and the charger, the dry aid case for storage, and the color covers I'd chosen. Then she connected my speech processor, which is the mini computer that hangs behind my ear, and the headpiece, which attaches magnetically to the side of my head and transmits the signals to the implant under my skin. The problem with the headpiece was that the magnet that came with the piece was too weak and wouldn't stay in place. So, she tried the next strongest magnet and that didn't hold either. So, the third magnet finally held, but I'll have to be careful that it doesn't create an irritation on my scalp that could provoke other problems.

We started with setting comfortable volume levels of beeps in the different frequencies served by the electrodes in the array. Day 1 actually grouped the 16 electrodes into 4 groups of 4 as the first step in finding a starting place for my hearing. After that, Rachel turned on the speech processor so that I could "hear"; that is what is captured on the YouTube video linked here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67cvw9McwIg Rachel said numbers, hiding her mouth from my view, and I repeated what I heard. I got about 6 out of 10 correct, but everything sounded like Alvin and the Chipmunks. I could distinguish between a man's voice and a woman's voice, and when an associate knocked on the door, I could hear it. Rachel said that these were encouraging signs that I was off to a good start, since my hearing loss was so recent. After answering our questions and showing us how to charge the batteries, Rachel sent us off for the day to practice listening and getting used to the processor.


In the car on the way home, we started with music on the radio to see how that sounded. Honestly, it sounded like a water fountain or a rushing stream, but when drumbeats were obvious, I could hear the difference between the beats, and the instruments and voices, even though nothing had a nice tone to it. Then we switched to talk radio to see how much of that I could pick up. Occasional words or phrases and several numbers were clear, but everything else was just chipmunk mumbo-jumbo. We stopped at a rest stop and attempted phone calls to our parents and our daughter in Senegal to give them the good news of my hearing success so far. I could understand some, others not. It's the same with lip-reading; some people are easier to understand for some reason. Part of it is talking a little slower and more intentionally with a deaf person, so they can catch all the sounds that might otherwise run together.

It was hard to pull out Tom's voice from the radio voices, and I found that I was still very dependent on the visual cues to understand him, but we were actually having a conversation without paper and pen or computer. This was worth celebrating, and we did; at Applebee's for lunch. At home, we tried to plug into my new MP3 player that Tom bought for me, but we couldn't seem to get it going. The rest of the day, I enjoyed talking with everyone possible trying out my new "toy".

Friday morning, we went back down to Ann Arbor for another 8:00 am mapping session, but this time, Rachel played with the individual electrode levels and trying a couple of different program settings. Then we went into the sound booth to see how well I was doing compared to my pre-implant results. First, she tested to see at what decibel level I could hear different frequencies. Pre-implant, I tested between 75-85 decibels, but today, I was between 20-30db across the board. Normal levels are 10-20 db, so I was just under normal. Then she tested my speech recognition in the sound booth listening to a man on a cd say simple sentences. Pre-implant with a loaner hearing aid, I tested at about 12%, but today I was at 70% ! This is just one day after getting my implant activated! What a great answer to many prayers for my hearing success.

We got the MP3 player working and I could pick out the rhythms of some familiar songs Tom had loaded on for me. Everyone still sounds like chipmunks. Rachel is sure that by my next appointment on Wednesday next week, I'll probably have changed significantly again. This is a process of actually training the auditory nerve to receive impulses again, but this time from a man-made source simulating what God created to happen deep inside our hearing apparatus. Then the brain takes the signals from the auditory nerve and makes sense of the "sound". Now I have to train my brain to make sense of these new impulses, so "practice, practice, practice" is the name of the game.

I tried playing some notes on the piano and could tell the differences in the notes as I went up and down the keyboard, but I wouldn't want to sing in church, yet! I tried the phone again today with little success, but one of these days, I'll be surprised by what I who I can talk to. The speech processor is heavy on my ear and causes some discomfort by the end of the day, but I bought some moleskin cushioning designed for feet comfort and that seems to help.

So, each day will be an exciting adventure in seeing what changes happen in my hearing, and in being able to connect with people again in a meaningful way. Caleb keeps saying how thankful he is that I can hear again. We all are thankful, I'm sure, and my abilities to connect with people will be put to the test right away as we begin a 5-day missions conference, where we are scheduled to speak and participate in classes, small group home meetings, meals in homes and restaurants, and meeting folks at our display. This would be totally overwhelming being deaf, as these are difficult hearing situations. It'll be a challenge to hear through the background noise in restaurants and lobbies, but I'm so excited to give it a try and hope it gives me some of that practice.

Road Repairs

This blog posting has nothing to do with deafness or cochlear implants, or the beauty of the morning, or my family or work. I just want to express my pet peeves about the condition of the roads around here, completely ignoring my past experiences on Malian roads which are many times worse, and realizing that I really should be appreciative for the work the road crews do to improve things.

However, Lansing road repair crews just finished doing a stretch of downtown highway patches at regular intervals that were sort of like seam expansions. In other words, they took where there was one crack and made it two with a new patch of concrete in the middle. Then they "caulked" the new seams with a black tar material to, I assume, weather proof the new seam from water and impact damage. What bugs me most about this is that you can see where the caulking is not on the crack. Is this because: 1) the workers who apply it can't see well enough or follow a straight line?, 2) the caulking moves after it's been applied, by wind or water, in which case, what good is it?, 3) they allowed people to drive on it too soon and the tires moved the caulking? (except that it's not squished flat...). I don't know what happens there, but it obviously is not weather-proofed anymore so the repairs won't last very long. Wouldn't it behoove the crews to do more careful work? Perhaps they should hire "perfectionists" who can fill in a crack completely.

And then there's the holes, grooves, crumbling asphalt, and crevasses that just need a bit of fill-in asphalt to make the roadway smoother and prevent further damage for the time being. I think the Department of Transportation ought to have on the payroll a three-man workcrew in an asphalt truck, just driving the streets and roadways of town, filling in the holes as they go. One guy drives, one guy puts out the orange safety cones, and one guy shovels the asphalt and pats it down. How hard would that be? It would protect some of the road edges and corners that get progressively torn up and would delay major repaving projects for years. It would also make for smoother and safer surfaces for cars and bikes to drive on.

Some of the holes and crevasses I've driven over are simply annoying, some are a potential damage-causer to my undercarriage or tires, but some are downright dangerous to the growing motorcycle and scooter population. Their tire base is not as large to absorb the impact and it's easier to get "thrown" by a good-sized crack.

I know I'm no expert in construction materials or methods. I'm just a driver who tries to swerve carefully and avoid damage to my vehicle, but I can blog my complaints here and see who else agrees...