HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 25, 2023 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 We have several HP members who are getting activated at about the same time! Let’s cheer them on here. Wishing everyone the best and looking forward to following your journeys. @Caroline @Scoots @Tim @Theo @Anne N Did I miss anyone? Dianna 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tim Posted January 25, 2023 Members Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 Missing @Carol. She just got activated yesterday. Mine is tomorrow! Tim Dianna 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 25, 2023 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 Thanks @Tim I added @Caroline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tim Posted January 25, 2023 Members Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 Oops. Meant @Caroline , not Carol. Sorry for the confusion. By the way, just got an email from Caroline saying that her activation went well! We've been having a long email thread as back to back activations from the opposite sides of the world. Dianna and Mary Beth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 Thank kyou so much for the good wishes. I was beyond nervous and wishing I could turn the clock back and not go down this road at all. Anyway the activation was not in any way what I expected and the audiologist was beyond fantastic. The whole process just blew me away and am so excited as lhad some hearing at each level could even make out voices . A simply brilliant experience watching my first mapping being done - now understand what that is. I am so encouraged and start my homework today. Good luck to everybody else hope that their experience is as good as mine. Kylie, Mary Beth, Mary Featherston and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 25, 2023 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 I am so happy for you @Caroline!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoots Posted January 26, 2023 Report Share Posted January 26, 2023 Thank you @Mary Beth Mary Beth and Dianna 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 26, 2023 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 26, 2023 Sharing two links on aural rehab that helped me so much after activation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 26, 2023 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 26, 2023 This pdf is free and is available to download. Just follow the above link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 26, 2023 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 26, 2023 And this link should take you to our HearPeers REHAB topic full of great ways to help train your brain after activation https://forum.hearpeers.com/forum/27-rehab/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 26, 2023 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 26, 2023 And this captioned video is where I shared my experiences after activation https://youtu.be/uAG0fCgafqk Scoots 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 26, 2023 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 26, 2023 @Caroline @Scoots @Tim @Theo @Anne N scroll up to see posts about training our brains after activation. It helped me so much. Wishing you all the very best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tim Posted January 27, 2023 Members Report Share Posted January 27, 2023 Fellow recent implantees, just thought that I would share where I am now on the journey. It is now 17 days after surgery and I was activated yesterday (23 hours ago.) All 12 electrodes are implanted, have good impedances, and are being used. Everything is too garbled to even separate words. Right now I'm just aiming to wear it all day long every day until things start to make sense. Periodically trying a direct connection in one way or another just to see if there is any improvement. (phone call, computer, audio streaming.) What a contrast to the bone conduction system where I essentially got near 100% benefit I would ever get at the end of my first appointment. I knew this would be the case that a CI is much more of a journey. I have magnet strength 3 on both the R3 and S2. The R3 is so loose that I can barely get it to magnetically latch on and I feel nervous about wearing it at all outside the house right now. Even using a cable for the R3 feel unproductive right now as I would just be constantly trying to get it reconnected. My Audi felt the magnet connections for both the R3 and S2 were sufficient for now. Likely to get better with continued decrease in swelling. I'm conservative on upping the magnet strength early on since I had such skin issues around my bone conduction abutment and eczema issues around the ear. I'm going to be patient and let the "angry" skin settle down. The surgeon said that I had normal skin flap thickness and that wasn't an issue. Maybe I'll go get a hair cut this weekend so there is less hair in the way. For the time being I'm going to focus on the S2. I'm sure I'll get more familiar and skilled at getting the magnet latched on for both the R3 and S2 over time. I set up the AudioLink rather than using the wifi connector with the battery. As with all new users - I am swimming among the boxes, packaging, and more. Today I have 3 hours of Zoom meetings and 3 hours of in-person meetings. I'll keep the S2 on for the whole time but it will be a while before it starts helping. Nothing unexpected and I know everyone's journey is different. Kylie and Mary Beth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tim Posted January 29, 2023 Members Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 Fellow recent implantees, I tried the Angelsounds app on my Windows computer. Installed fine but it got stuck on auditory assessment test #19 of 60 for me. After spending a little time fiddling around, decided to switch over to another app. My Med-El rep recommended SpeechID 2 or HEARoes. I could not find the SpeechID 2 app on the Android App store so I went with HEARoes. I tried searching HearPeers Forum for comments on "Hearoes" and ran across a great thread that ended up having the developer jump in! Very nice. He is a CI recipient himself and is actively maintaining it. In fact, it was just updated on the day of my activation - Jan 26, 2023 (2 days ago.) It is now at version 1.2.65. I'm using the HEARoes app on an Android tablet. Nice thing on the tablet is that I have an audio headphone jack so I can do a wired connection. This is connected to the input port on my AudioLink which is then connected to my Sonnet 2. As for the app, I like how polished it is! Very well done. Doing it on a tablet screen is nice rather than the small phone screen. Right now I'm struggling - I tried to do the modules without a preview and could not really recognize any sounds. I feel like I'm cheating by doing a preview of every sound, sometimes multiple times. Sometimes I can tell the difference by the pattern of the noise rather than actually recognizing the sound. Doing it all in the easiest way possible, no background noise. I have been getting scores of 6, 7, or 8 out of 10 but don't feel like I'm doing anywhere this good as it seems like it is more based on ruling out a few options and taking a best guess. On Intro to Vowels (Female) I was guess between two words - I got 6/10, just better than blind luck. One little tip is by unplugging the head phone jack from the tablet, I can hear what the actual sounds are with my good ear in preview as well. This is particularly helpful with the environmental sounds. I might run through the previews both on my CI and with my good ear. Maybe that will help me in better associating the CI sound to what it should be. Hearing rehab is a journey! Mo M, Rickymark and Dianna 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 29, 2023 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 @Tim First step in speech discrimination is to recognize number of syllables. Word Success (free app) level 1 presents this listening skill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Featherston Posted January 29, 2023 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 On 1/25/2023 at 2:26 PM, Caroline said: Thank kyou so much for the good wishes. I was beyond nervous and wishing I could turn the clock back and not go down this road at all. Anyway the activation was not in any way what I expected and the audiologist was beyond fantastic. The whole process just blew me away and am so excited as lhad some hearing at each level could even make out voices . A simply brilliant experience watching my first mapping being done - now understand what that is. I am so encouraged and start my homework today. Good luck to everybody else hope that their experience is as good as mine. Awesome, Caroline! It's going to be great. Dianna 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tim Posted January 29, 2023 Members Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 @Mary BethThanks. I just gave Word Success a try. All over the place on Test exercise from 20% to 100%. I usually had to have it repeat the word at least 3 times. Sometime more than a half dozen times. Then I did Exercise 1 and got a 95%. Guess I'm not doing as badly as I thought. Long road to go. Nice that AB does not lock it down to just AB recipients. See you in the morning on the video call. Dianna 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 Hi Tim what is word success woud love to try it? Is it just an app? Maybe it is something i have to get thru med el. I woud love to be o the video call what time is the call with you as I have worked out that you seem to be 16 hours behind us, so if it is a time that I would be awake if I can work out how to do it could perhaps join in or have I left it too late? I signed up for something but am not sure how I log into it I think I am doing pretty well with my homework but gosh my brain seems to get tired suddenly and not want to listen any more but that is probably normal. Had the radio on this morning and blocked the other ear and could work out about half the words. Not sure how that compares but see my Audi on Thursday so will see how he thinks I am going. . How did you go with all your meetings? Forget first question have just found post from Mary Beth and see it is an app. I can download. Here goes….. Dianna 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 29, 2023 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 @Tim Sorry I forgot to mention to skip the Word Success test and go straight to level 1. Try all the level one boxes (they are below each other). When those scores are 80% or above, add in level 2 but keep working on level 1. Eventual goal is 100% in every box. Repeated success trains our brains so immediately stop and go to a lower level when things are too hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 29, 2023 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 After experiencing the neuroplasticity of my brain with my first CI activation, I became very interested in our brains ability to change. I read books about this remarkable power. One story stuck with me and guided my own approach to aural rehab. You are first to the hill after a huge snowstorm. No sled tracks on the hill yet and plenty of fresh deep snow. The first sled run down the hill goes rather slowly. As you repeatedly use the same sled tracks, each run becomes faster and faster as the track gets packed down and slick. That is how our brains build new neural pathways. REPEATED SUCCESS. Have fun on your CI journeys @Caroline @Scoots @Theo @Tim @Anne N Dianna 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddy Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 Happy for Tim and Caroline on activation. Today is Day 6 for me. As advised, I'm not using right HA at all right now, and things seem to be going well. The audiologist gave me a list of rehab sites to try, and I'm trying to do 4-5 hours a day. I listen to NPR (public radio) when I'm in the car so that counts, right? A good starting point for me was newsineasyenglish.com but unfortunately it seems it will be gone February. At Mary Beth's suggestion I switched to WordSuccess which gave me a lot of confidence. I am almost finished with an audio book (at 90% speed). At first I read a print book along with it, but now I find I rarely check the print edition. (I do remind myself that these are professionals and have very clear diction which probably helps.) At next appointment, I hope to deal with the extremely loud sounds of water running, paper crinkling, etc. Tinnitus is still there, but not as loud and, oddly, slightly different tones. Go figure. As in most things, everyone's brain processes differently. Good luck everyone. Take joy in the successes and hang in there. Planning to be at MedEl Monday tomorrow. Theo Dianna and Mary Beth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne N Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 Although I do not get activated until Thursday I will be at Med El Monday tomorrow. My med el rep said I can go before activation so I will see you there. Mary Beth and Dianna 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianna Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 Qow, lots of activations so new wow stories coming up, i love them so much. I used AB on my phone at first cuz i could do it anywhere! I loved it but started to find i could get high scores by guessing! Lol. So i also have angel sounds on my laptop! I love using it because you can do lessons and it compares and repeats incorrect responses. When i first started rehab, so many notes sounded identical, so i repeated until i was tired. I have limited time where internet share in my house, so when i get time i rehab with apps. Repeating and recognising is key!!! Good luck with the water and plastic bag sounds!!! They are worse in the beginning but will get better! Welcome and enjoy!!!! Di Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 29, 2023 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 @Caroline @Scoots @Tim @Theo @Anne N This pic/pdf has links to how to get support from Med-El . In the US, notice that you can connect with your regional Consumer Engagement Manager (CEM) and ask to be connected to a volunteer Med-El mentor. Click on pic for clearer view and ability to zoom in Med-El helpful links.pages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tim Posted January 30, 2023 Members Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 I'm hosting a little Zoom for us newly activated people. Not to displace or substitute for Mary Beth's but just a nice little one during the week. Chance to share experiences and commiserate with our CI journeys. Seems like a lot of the newcomers are SSD or just a single implant to start. Date and Time: Thursday, Feb 9, 2023 05:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Done via Zoom. Send me a message via Hearpeers or respond here in this thread if you want the zoom invite or a google calendar invitation. So far we have: @Caroline @Anne N @Tim Happy to do it with just us three but the more the merrier. (Veterans are also welcome!) Feel free to bring your dinner (or lunch for our Caroline in Australia!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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