My own *@%# fault.

I got to Kansas City on a Friday Sunday, for an appellate argument on Monday morning. The circuit staff, as usual, was totally on top of my accommodation needs, and had the FM amplification system all rigged up for me. We tested it, it worked, end of story.

Except that when the judges came out of the robing room and called my case, first on the docket, I realized that I had no amplification. I asked the presiding judge for a moment to figure out the problem, and he moved the microphones closer to the judges. At first, I thought this solved the problem. In fact, I could hear the judges, though not nearly as well as amplified-usual. Not wanting to delay the proceedings further, I began my argument.

What followed was not even close to my best performance, and may well have been my worst. Straining to hear always makes me tense and awkward, and my answers seemed rambly and unfocused to me, not sharp and directly responsive, which Is what I strive for. The judges were very kind about repeating themselves when I requested, and seemed to be smiling at me throughout the argument. Still, I sat down feeling awful about my presentation, and wishing I could call a mulligan.

As soon as my opponent began arguing, I realized the problem - somehow, I'd dislodged the headset ever-so-slightly from the receiver. I clicked them together tightly, and voila! I could hear. Kicking myself inside for the error, I at least was able to hear all of my opposing counsel's points, and to enjoy the mincemeat the judges of made of them. And during my brief rebuttal, I was able to give direct and focused answers to the judges' final few questions.

I learned two lessons from this stressful experience: One, always double-check the equipment; and two, I'm hearing dramatically better un-amplified than I ever could have imagined. Pre-cochlear implant, I would never have been able to hear even a fraction of what I did on Monday without FM or infrared amplification. The very fact that I wasn't sure, for much of the argument, whether the system was working, but not quite right, or wasn't on at all, was a testament to the CI's success.

On that note, I'm thrilled to report that at yesterday's 9-month appointment, I scored 100% on the sentence recognition tests both in quiet and with background noise. My biggest gain over the last few months has been in louder background-noise situations - in my last round of testing, I got 49% of the sentences right when the speaker's voice was only 5 decibels louder than the background noise, and yesterday, I got 76% correct. That's a significant improvement, and a spectacular result, according to my audiologist.

Comments

We would expect nothing less! Congratulations!