<Deep breath> Whew. Found out today that I should get hooked up the week of August 11. What a week that’s going to be considering my oldest starts school that week. Still waiting for the phone call about the time of the surgery.
It’s lucky that I am doing this while on maternity leave. The stress of the surgery leaves me unable to think straight right now. Plus, after the surgery … I don’t know how well I’ll be able to understand people without sound. Yes, I can wear one hearing aid, but my left ear is unreliable and doesn’t handle being the only ear hearing. That’s why the right ear is getting the honor of the implant.
Though I do lipread, hearing aids enable me to understand more than if I didn’t have them on. Just ask Paul. He can tell you I understand him less with my hearing aids off than when I have them on. It was fun (not) in the past month when I had to have each hearing aid repaired. The back up hearing aid is just not as good. Figures — I spend my last month as a dual-hearing aid wearer with uncomfortable and lopsided hearing. It’s back to normal now, but I’m trying to swim a lot this weekend since I won’t be able to swim for a few weeks.
It’s a good thing I am doing this now while I have a young baby. It’ll be an opportunity to hear the baby in a new way. But it also means not really hearing the baby for at least a month. Hate to miss his coos and laughs. I just hope I will be able to hear normally before the baby is one-year-old. Don’t know how long it’ll take before I can hear comfortably with the CI.
So nervous. I’ve got a life long history of dizziness that has gotten worse as I get older. Some have said the CI made it worse while others saw improvement.
Those who know me… know I hate the unknown. 2003 has been the year of the unknown.
2 comments
Meryl,
Remember that FEAR is false evidence appearing real. Reality is there are more successes than failures for this technology and you will be in the majority rather the minority! Can’t wait to have a private telephone conversation with you!!!! (Not that I have anything that Paul can’t hear but just want to share in your joy!)
I have a friend who also had problems with dizziness and after she got an implant, she found that wearing a hearing aid on one ear with the implant on the other helped. Very unorthodox as I understand it but doesn’t hurt to have additional options to try out.