I am experiencing a vicious cycle, in which I am too busy to post, so I have too much to post about, which makes me procrastinate posting, which results in even more to post about, which . . . Oy.
Recapping briefly, the CI has successfully survived airport screening (no stopping, no metal-detector triggering, and no issues) and two plane flights. I spent both flights with the hearing aid off, and was delighted that I was able to hear and understand most of the pilot's announcements, as well as the flight attendants' drink queries. The CI also survived three days in New York, despite steam-room conditions and periodic downpours. I did, however, leave it in my hotel room when I went running in Central Park, as I was afraid to test the limits of its water-resistance.
The New York trip was fantastic. We saw lots of people we love, ate amazing food, and even wandered aimlessly a little - something we never seem to have on our purpose-driven NYC jaunts.
I noticed that it was a bit easier for me to understand my nephew's voice with the CI. But, on the other hand, when we were working him into a tizzy by chasing him around the hotel room, I had to periodically catch a glimpse of his face to make sure that the sounds I was hearing were happy giggles rather than meltdown shrieks. I also discovered that in really loud settings, such as an uber-hip New York restaurant or a gathering of my extended family, turning the sensitivity level way, way down brings the immediate conversation into dramatically sharper focus. Very cool.
Other than the fact that I'm finishing the second of two Supreme Court petitions that really should be granted (which is not to say that either has a snowball's chance in hell of BEING granted), that brings us to the present moment.
Today, I had my one-month mapping session. We began by repeating the standard hearing tests I did in February, when we initially determined that I was a CI candidate. At the time, my right-ear sentence recognition was at 4%; binaurally, I scored 43%. Today, with both hearing aid and CI on, I scored a whopping 91% (NINETY. ONE. PERCENT!!!!!!) on the sentence-recognition test. And 80% (EIGHTY FRIGGIN PERCENT) with just the CI. Yowza!
Even with background noise added into the mix, with both ears in action, I correctly heard 78% of the sentences. My word- and phoneme-identification scores also increased exponentially over February.
In fact, particularly with the new map I received today, I am no longer noticing any real difference in my ability to hear and understand with just the CI versus just the hearing aid. The hearing aid sound still seems "better" to me - prettier, more familiar, less electronic - but even with the CI, voices are starting to sound more as I expect them to.
However, with both devices active, I still hear the sound in two different ways, simultaneously. Blending them will be my next big challenge, and simply takes lots of time and listening practice. My audiologist seems to think it will happen by the time my three-month appointment, and the next round of testing, comes up in August.
I now have four different programs in my CI. Program One is my "every day" program; Program Two is like One, but with a louder volume range, should I decide I need it (my guess is that I won't, but I wanted the option). Program Three is "Beam," which does not zap me into the Starship Enterprise, but does limit my sound-perception to an area very close to my microphones, and is for use in especially background-noisy settings. And Program Four is for the phone, with sensitivity and frequency adjustments to maximize the clarity of the telephone, and with the t-coil activated.
Yes, the phone! I hadn't used the phone with my right ear in (hm. I dunno. 25 years? ever?). But on Tuesday, I had a short phone conversation with Steve, using the CI. I didn't turn on the t-coil, but was still able to hear somewhat. As long as I had some general context, and he didn't mumble, I was able to follow a very simple conversation. (Except, of course, for the following exchange: Steve - "It's so awesome that you can hear on the phone." Me - "What?")
But this afternoon, I had a ten-minute phone conversation with my mom, about random stuff, using P-4, and I heard her almost flawlessly! I can't wait to try my cell phone, and my office phone, and to see if I can hear clients better with the CI than I can with my hearing aid (the prison phone systems are so terrible that I often can barely hear the guys when they call).
So, that's where things stand, one month out. My next update won't be until after July 8, when we return from a weeklong houseboat trip with Steve's family. Hopefully, it won't be entitled How My Cochlear Implant Landed In The Bottom Of Rainy Lake.