Feeling Better!
Oops – haven’t written in a couple of days! :o0 ... My day Thursday was very LONG and I was very TIRED! And then my poor baby Jenda Kitty has been sick! :O(
My appointment with Jennifer went really well. She first took me into the soundbooth and tested my hearing with my CI . My understanding, from the chart she gave me, is that people with normal hearing can hear tones that range between 0-25dB and up. With my CI, I’m able to hear tones from 30dB and up – so, I’m hearing sounds at the level of only a mild hearing loss! :O) ... Normal conversational speech tones, Jennifer explained, are between 50-60dB – which means I have full access to all of the sounds of speech – all my brain has to do is learn to put them together and interpret them so they make sense! ... She spoke the words and phrases to me again (with her mouth covered), and I got them all right – I needed to ask her to repeat a few of them, but I got them right the second time around! :O)
Jennifer helped me understand that hearing speech and understanding it aren’t the same thing. I’m so used to turning the volume up so the sound is loud, because it was easier for me to understand people that way with my hearing aids. With the CI, especially, having the volume too loud actually distorts the clarity of the words. ... So, she re-mapped my CI with three new programs ... fine-tuning the one I liked best from before and using it as the starting program. I’m to try each program for at least a week, then go on to the next one if I’m ready. Each program, again, is a little louder than the one before, so I’ll switch if/when they become too quiet. If I don’t get to try all three, that’s okay, too.
She agreed with me that I’m at a slight disadvantage because I live alone and have no one with me most of the time to converse with or help me identify the different sounds. So, she’s going to set me up with a rehabilitation specialist (speech therapist?), who will evaluate me and set me up with an individualized rehabilitation program. They will contact me soon for an appointment, and hopefully we can get started within the next month. In the meantime, she gave me a handout with suggestions and websites and etc. that I can try out to practice listening/hearing. She warned me that it may be too early for me with most of them, and if they’re too complicated/confusing/overwhelming, I should wait for a week or so and go back and try them again.
Yesterday during Mass I noticed I was hearing a slight fluctuation in tones during the ceremonial songs – whereas before it was just monotone! :O)
I probably won’t be posting every day, now – just when something changes or something new happens. But ya never know when that’ll be! What fun! :O)
My appointment with Jennifer went really well. She first took me into the soundbooth and tested my hearing with my CI . My understanding, from the chart she gave me, is that people with normal hearing can hear tones that range between 0-25dB and up. With my CI, I’m able to hear tones from 30dB and up – so, I’m hearing sounds at the level of only a mild hearing loss! :O) ... Normal conversational speech tones, Jennifer explained, are between 50-60dB – which means I have full access to all of the sounds of speech – all my brain has to do is learn to put them together and interpret them so they make sense! ... She spoke the words and phrases to me again (with her mouth covered), and I got them all right – I needed to ask her to repeat a few of them, but I got them right the second time around! :O)
Jennifer helped me understand that hearing speech and understanding it aren’t the same thing. I’m so used to turning the volume up so the sound is loud, because it was easier for me to understand people that way with my hearing aids. With the CI, especially, having the volume too loud actually distorts the clarity of the words. ... So, she re-mapped my CI with three new programs ... fine-tuning the one I liked best from before and using it as the starting program. I’m to try each program for at least a week, then go on to the next one if I’m ready. Each program, again, is a little louder than the one before, so I’ll switch if/when they become too quiet. If I don’t get to try all three, that’s okay, too.
She agreed with me that I’m at a slight disadvantage because I live alone and have no one with me most of the time to converse with or help me identify the different sounds. So, she’s going to set me up with a rehabilitation specialist (speech therapist?), who will evaluate me and set me up with an individualized rehabilitation program. They will contact me soon for an appointment, and hopefully we can get started within the next month. In the meantime, she gave me a handout with suggestions and websites and etc. that I can try out to practice listening/hearing. She warned me that it may be too early for me with most of them, and if they’re too complicated/confusing/overwhelming, I should wait for a week or so and go back and try them again.
Yesterday during Mass I noticed I was hearing a slight fluctuation in tones during the ceremonial songs – whereas before it was just monotone! :O)
I probably won’t be posting every day, now – just when something changes or something new happens. But ya never know when that’ll be! What fun! :O)
posted by Shel @ 10:45 PM
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