Six Months

[Lauren]

Hard to believe its just about been six months. As the actual "half-heariversary" falls right on the holidays, gonna reflect/celebrate a little early.

My most recent appointment/MAP was two days ago. For the first time it was predominantly grins and good news. There were always glimmers of hope that kept us cautiously optimistic but from slow healing to the implant slipping down, to overstimulation, to a fantastically bad MAP (or two), its been a rocky road filled with disappointment and setbacks, among other difficulties. What kept us going is that from day one I was able to hear speech. Not necessarily always understand it, but at least identify it as [human] speech.

Got boothed and the test had us both going WOW. I am finally having the desired results. Still have areas to work on and things to keep tabs on but for the first time I couldn't stop grinning during the testing, even when it switched to single words. Another first, my audiologist had a hard time remaining neutral as well. We were that excited. No doubt I'm on the right track, the CI was a good idea, and it'll only improve from here.

A few questions finally asked of me: 

•  How do I feel about my CI now vs at the start vs a few months ago? Do I feel better with left CI than left HA?
  • Didn't think it was going too well at first but stuck with it due to the promising moments. Was a dismal start despite those moments. Better off with left CI than left HA (now), would have declined to answer if asked before. Tried to focus on the good results/outcome before.
• How would I have functioned pre-CI if I lost my left HA? Right HA?
  • Would only be able to function if I had my right HA.
• How would I do now if I lost my right HA? What about the CI?
  • Fessed up that I'd focused so hard on the CI that I let maintenance slip on my HA and 11/22/21 survived a workday with just the CI. Other than a phone call towards the end I did somewhat OK, but had gone to bed at 6:30pm. I'd be OK if I lost the CI as I could function OK with just my HA. Right now I'm not terribly confident with just the CI outside the house. Will only try it with close family/friends.

I suspect my audiologist had been waiting for a day like that to ask.

Rondo 3/Sonnet 2 EAS: One interesting revelation. All the overstimulation seems to come from the CI portion with the EAS balancing it out, making it more tolerable. Without EAS, I cannot handle/tolerate as much power or sounds. This is a bummer as I really like the Rondo 3 and want to use it more. Plus, the CI that I can tolerate sounds perfectly fine and I'd be ecstatic to lose the earmold. Another lesson learned is to not go too fast in MAP appointments, so this one was 2 hours. One of the longest yet. Spent more time trying to make things "brighter" with both CI processors. 

Anyways to wrap up, I can now follow the typical MAP schedule and the next will be in six months. Far enough out that I was able to leave without first scheduling a follow-up! And with the new MAP, there's more power and features of the CI being used for the first time. Looking forward to the next six months!

[Mary Beth]

You are on your way now @Lauren!  Looking forward to what your journey brings your way.