Let There Be Sound

How did I feel on the way to the doctor’s office for hook up? Nothing. It was as if we were dropping off a kid or running an errand. Just didn’t want to have expectations and let things happen as they go.
Pam (the person working with me) talked a few minutes about the CI and other things. She put the receiver where the magnet is located just above my ear to the right. It took a few moments to get it to connect with all the hair in the way. She easily put the microphone behind my ear.
Here comes the fun. I probably looked like a nervous person having one leg propped on the chair and a finger on my lips. I’m so tired after all the vertigo and nausea I’ve experienced for three weeks that I was on guard for noisy sounds.
She ran a series of tests on different channels on the internal processor (the mic was not turned on, therefore I couldn’t hear any outside noise) asking me to let her know when I heard something. It sounded like cloudy noise or tunnel noise with a heartbeat fluttering in the ear… thump thump thump. A couple of sounds had me flinching because they were uncomfortable and new. We finished the internal test and moved on to the external component.
Pam warned me to be ready for static that lasts a few minutes. I braced myself as I didn’t know what to expect and my poor head had been so abused. She turned it on and it was noisy, but I tolerated it fine. No one spoke during this time, thankfully.
She started talking and I could hear different sounds reflecting her voice. But it doesn’t sound like the typical voice. More like a sound that appeared when she spoke and she spoke softly to help me get used to it. Time passed and I adapted to her voice. My mom started talking and I could hear her. While this may be an exciting moment for some, it isn’t exciting for me yet because I heard her voice far better with my hearing aids than the CI. Then, Paul started talking but I couldn’t hear him at all. Of course, we made the joke that I’ve learned to tune out the husband.
The baby cried during the session because he was in the middle of his feeding being burped. He doesn’t like it when he has to take a burp break and cries. I didn’t hear him and haven’t been able to hear him well enough to define it’s him.
After the jam session on my poor ear, Pam showed me how to use the processor. I’ll be glad when I move to the behind the ear processor. Right now, I have the processor on my shorts, but when I go to the bathroom I have to adjust it or take my ear down with the shorts.
We left. In the car, I recognized music and Paul’s voice. After we got going on the road, I couldn’t hear Paul or my voice anymore. I played with the processor and couldn’t get it working. I gave up and waited till we got home. Sure enough, as soon as we turned off the car, I could hear voices again. I figured out that most of the sounds drowned out as we hit the highway.
I’m tired and feel headachy. The sounds have been different and noisy. But I am going to keep the CI turned on because the more it’s on, the faster my brain can adjust to the new way of hearing.
I promise to get excited once I get used to the hearing and it’s better than the hearing aids. The hearing aids did a lot of good for me, so it’ll take time. In fact, I am more comfortable with it now than I was this morning. It’ll improve each day. Time for Tylenol and ginger tea.