HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted December 4, 2016 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted December 4, 2016 That is a clever idea Cara about having people leave you voice messages! Cara Mia and Megan L. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Megan L. Posted December 4, 2016 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted December 4, 2016 8 hours ago, Cara Mia said: Megan, like Kara, to restore my phone skills I used only the Telephone with Confidence app provided by Cochlear. But also, I asked several people to leave voice mails on my phone so I could reply their messages again and again until I can get it easily. I choose the people with whom I communicate regularly and whose voices are challenging for me (dull and soft, some particular accents, very fast manner of speaking, etc.). Some of them I asked to leave me longer messages something different each time until I leant to understand them. So, we can invent for our training whatever we like Cara - what a great idea! I never thought to have people leave voicemails. Another great way to build listening and phone skills. See, ideas like this are why I love to poll the audience ? Thank you for sharing Cara! I'm going to ask a few people to do this ? Cara Mia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted January 14, 2017 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 I haven't read all replies but another tip is to have a specific conversation. Write down two or three sentences on a piece of paper asking a question and giving a reply. Give one copy to another person and you keep one. Have the person call you they can ask the question over the phone while you read along. Then you reply ect. Reading along while they talk will really help (at least it did me) in learning to understand on the phone. I hope that make sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms_D Posted January 14, 2017 Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 Megan, I haven't read all the comments, so whatever I might suggest may have already been suggested. I used to practiced frequently using the telephone - before my husband and I got married in May 2015 (he's really the only one I talked to on a regular basis on the phone). After we got married, my practice using the phone declined, but I did (at times) practice talking on the phone to my mother-in-law. These days, when I have an important phone call to make, my husband tells me to make the call and he will just be beside me to help me if I have difficulty. This is his way of helping me to improve hearing on the phone. Despite not making much calls over the last year or so, hear lately, I have found that I actually hear quite well on the phone now. This is not to say that I never need help, but I am improving. I do use the speaker phone though. My husband will talk to his mother on the phone almost daily, and I can make out what she tells him a lot even when the phone is not really near me (he uses the speaker phone a lot). Just recently, my husband had been in our bedroom and he made a call. I was in the living room. He had his phone on speaker, and when I heard the voice, I immediately recognized who it was - even though I was not in the same room. It was a WOW! moment. Practice leads to improvement. You'll be amaze at how well you progress. :-) Megan L. and Mary Beth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 14, 2017 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 I love WOW moments! Megan L. and Ms_D 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Megan L. Posted January 14, 2017 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 2 hours ago, Adam said: I haven't read all replies but another tip is to have a specific conversation. Write down two or three sentences on a piece of paper asking a question and giving a reply. Give one copy to another person and you keep one. Have the person call you they can ask the question over the phone while you read along. Then you reply ect. Reading along while they talk will really help (at least it did me) in learning to understand on the phone. I hope that make sense Another great idea Adam! I don't think anyone mentioned this idea in previous comments ? Definitely a creative approach to the phone practice! Thanks for the idea ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Megan L. Posted January 14, 2017 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 1 hour ago, Ms_D said: Megan, I haven't read all the comments, so whatever I might suggest may have already been suggested. I used to practiced frequently using the telephone - before my husband and I got married in May 2015 (he's really the only one I talked to on a regular basis on the phone). After we got married, my practice using the phone declined, but I did (at times) practice talking on the phone to my mother-in-law. These days, when I have an important phone call to make, my husband tells me to make the call and he will just be beside me to help me if I have difficulty. This is his way of helping me to improve hearing on the phone. Despite not making much calls over the last year or so, hear lately, I have found that I actually hear quite well on the phone now. This is not to say that I never need help, but I am improving. I do use the speaker phone though. My husband will talk to his mother on the phone almost daily, and I can make out what she tells him a lot even when the phone is not really near me (he uses the speaker phone a lot). Just recently, my husband had been in our bedroom and he made a call. I was in the living room. He had his phone on speaker, and when I heard the voice, I immediately recognized who it was - even though I was not in the same room. It was a WOW! moment. Practice leads to improvement. You'll be amaze at how well you progress. :-) Hi Ms D ? Amazing! I'm so happy for you and your WOW moment ? That's awesome you were able to recognize the voice and you weren't even in the same room!! Do you have one implant or 2? I have one and at the moment not planning on getting two just because of the hard time I had recovering. I recently had a WOW moment too! I'm currently in the market for a new job and I talked to 2 recruiters this week and I understood majority of the conversation! I only needed 1 or 2 things repeated. I was so amazed at how easy it was!! The phone has never been like that...ever. I was so nervous to talk to the recruiters for the sole reason of worrying I might not understand them, now I feel some relief from that ? And yes practice defleads to improvement! Its nice to meet you by the way ? Ms_D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms_D Posted January 14, 2017 Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 Thank you! Congratulation on your WOW moment! It's always an amazing experience. I'm sure you will have lots more along the way. I have two implants. I got my second implant last June. It was more difficult recovery than the first, but definitely worth it. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted January 14, 2017 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 Megan please let us know how it works out for you. You can do the same thing with just conversations with somebody that might be a challenge to understand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Megan L. Posted January 14, 2017 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 4 hours ago, Ms_D said: Thank you! Congratulation on your WOW moment! It's always an amazing experience. I'm sure you will have lots more along the way. I have two implants. I got my second implant last June. It was more difficult recovery than the first, but definitely worth it. :-) ? thank you! It was such a nice surprise and big relief! Yes, it's definitely an amazing experience and journey. Glad the 2 implants are working out well for you ? Recovery is the worst. For now the one is doing the trick with the hearing aid. Maybe in a few years time I will feel differently! Ms_D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Megan L. Posted January 14, 2017 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 1 hour ago, Adam said: Megan please let us know how it works out for you. You can do the same thing with just conversations with somebody that might be a challenge to understand Will do Adam! Thanks again for the idea ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms_D Posted January 14, 2017 Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 10 minutes ago, Megan L. said: ? thank you! It was such a nice surprise and big relief! Yes, it's definitely an amazing experience and journey. Glad the 2 implants are working out well for you ? Recovery is the worst. For now the one is doing the trick with the hearing aid. Maybe in a few years time I will feel differently! Since I was doing so well with the implant in my right - I had wanted my left ear implanted. I waited awhile as we try to save money up for the deductible. When I started moving forward with the decision to try to get the left one implanted, my hearing test showed (they were testing my left ear with the hearing aid on) that the hearing aid was not helping me - sure it helped increased loudness, but it was not helping me to understand using that ear. I was certain that the implant would help me hear better than I ever have heard before. I was right. Another thing is, my inner ear is quite sensitive, and I used to get blisters often from the ear piece that goes in the ear. Now, I don't have to deal with that. I am glad that even one implant is doing the trick. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Megan L. Posted January 15, 2017 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 That's understandable you'd want to get the second one done. I guess for me, I learned to do well with just one good ear and its habit now. My right was always my "good" ear but now my left is ? I have no complaints ? Right now the hearing aid is bringing in a lot of info and helping...for how long? Who knows! But just gonna roll with it. I know exactly what you mean about sensitive ears! I'm allergic to the rubber material the ear molds are made out of so I have to get a very specific brand and material to lessen the allergy as much as possible. Otherwise I have red, wet, and extremely itchy ears ? I'm really happy for you both the implants are working out well! Where did you get your implants? I got mine at Johns Hopkins because Delaware doesn't have a we'll know department for that... Ms_D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 15, 2017 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 The cool thing is that there are all these options. Some people perform really well bimodally and stay with one CI and one HA. Others find that the HA is no longer helping at some point and choose to get a second CI. We are fortunate to live in a country that does bilateral CIs on adults. It is great to have options. Megan L. and Ms_D 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Megan L. Posted January 15, 2017 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 Thank goodness for a variety of options Mary Beth!! It's nice to know all the possible options especially if I lose more hearing out of my right ear or the hearing aid no longer brings in the same amount of info ? And very true, it's wonderful we live in a country where it's easier to go bilateral. Mary Beth and Ms_D 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms_D Posted January 15, 2017 Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 2 hours ago, Megan L. said: That's understandable you'd want to get the second one done. I guess for me, I learned to do well with just one good ear and its habit now. My right was always my "good" ear but now my left is ? I have no complaints ? Right now the hearing aid is bringing in a lot of info and helping...for how long? Who knows! But just gonna roll with it. I know exactly what you mean about sensitive ears! I'm allergic to the rubber material the ear molds are made out of so I have to get a very specific brand and material to lessen the allergy as much as possible. Otherwise I have red, wet, and extremely itchy ears ? I'm really happy for you both the implants are working out well! Where did you get your implants? I got mine at Johns Hopkins because Delaware doesn't have a we'll know department for that... I got my implants at Emory University Hospital - Midtown - in Atlanta, GA. It's good the hearing aid works for you. I hope it continues. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms_D Posted January 15, 2017 Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 2 hours ago, Mary Beth said: The cool thing is that there are all these options. Some people perform really well bimodally and stay with one CI and one HA. Others find that the HA is no longer helping at some point and choose to get a second CI. We are fortunate to live in a country that does bilateral CIs on adults. It is great to have options. Very true! Megan L. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Megan L. Posted January 15, 2017 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 10 minutes ago, Ms_D said: I got my implants at Emory University Hospital - Midtown - in Atlanta, GA. It's good the hearing aid works for you. I hope it continues. :-) I think hospitals associated with a university are always good ? Yes I'm happy too the HA is working ? I hope it continues as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted January 15, 2017 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 I agree Megan. I received mine at the Medical University of South Carolina. That said, there are many clinics out there with very skilled audiologists and surgeons to help people in our situation. I also checked out my doctor to see his track record, how many surgeries he has done, stuff like that. I'm a bit complicated so I wanted somebody that was pretty skilled and wouldn't get nervous with me medical history Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Megan L. Posted January 15, 2017 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 When it came to the implant, because it's so specific - I wanted to go with a well known place. And like you said one with skilled surgeons and audiologists. Agreed! I did extensive research on my surgeon and asked him how many implant surgeries he did as well as a ton other questions. I got my audiologist byword of mouth from other Johns Hopkins implant recipients. No regrets or second thoughts on either of them, in fact I say to myself, "man I did good picking them!" In your case, yes it was very important to have a doctor who was not nervous or intimidated by your track record. I'm glad everything worked out well for you with your doctor. Good ones can be hard to come by sometimes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted January 15, 2017 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 I agree 100% wouldnt change now no matter what. Megan L. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Kara of Canada Posted January 16, 2017 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 Very hard to come by! My history is complicated as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Megan L. Posted January 16, 2017 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 Thank goodness we were all able to find great doctors to help us ? How are things coming along for the second implant Kara? I thought I saw somewhere you were in the process of trying to get a second one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Kara of Canada Posted January 16, 2017 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 In on a waiting list. Hopefully in 2018. Thanks for asking. My left ear gives me no ususable sound really. (unimplanted ear) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Megan L. Posted January 16, 2017 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 It's a start and you got the process rolling! We'll all be here to celebrate with you when you get your new ear ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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