On December 8,2010 I had my cochlear implant turned on. This is my continuing story of how I am learning to hear again
Spring Sprint
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thursday
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
wedenesday night..
Tonight we went to dinner at my sisters. What a delicious meal and I was able to talk with my brother in law by listening to his voice sounds and reading his lips ----have not been able to do that for many years. There was just the 4 of us so that was really nice and if someone spoke directly to me I could usually follow it -- when they were talking among them selves , I knew they were talking and most times I knew who was talking but could not understand what was being said ....Funny thing is that I am not frustrated like I used to be .I feel really calm most of the time . Not sure if Rhonda has noticed a difference but I know that I feel a difference .
Okay some quiet time for me .................
one more thing , today Rhonda said those birds are awful noisy today and I said , honestly , they are always noisy so now I hardly even notice the sound but I do notice the quiet when they are not being noisy ... Sleep well
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Tuesday Night
" Hello Hello" ...Yup CI is on ---- all is okay -- I take a quick look up and down the isle again to make sure no one is there watching me --hahhah I am thinking what would they say about a guy saying --hello hello all to himself hahhahhahha ...so I stood there and figured out that the cooler motors on the milk cooler must have reached their temp and they shut off so that was why it was soo quiet --- LOL .
Now the rest of the day and evening have been pretty normal ..... tomorrow I go to Kentville Hospital for a minor procedure but it will be interesting to see if I can answer all the questions that they ask without asking for Rhonda's help ........... sleep well ...........................
Tuesday am
This morning I decided to put CI on the next level ...OMG it is that much louder again --I was totally in a comfort zone with the other level and this one is now back to echo and I tried for an hour at same volumne setting as yesterday but too loud so turned down a bit . I need to keep the brain moving so gotta keep up the challenge --- I am just totally amazed at how much change happens every few days ..........I still say that This is a Miracle !!!!
Later gators ............................
Monday, December 27, 2010
Dec 27th evening
Went out for my walk by myself --- been a few days since I walked --- walking along and I hear something ..... swooooshhh ... car goes by ----- but I heard it behind me --- again no idea what it was but 10 minutes later when I hear this sound again I know a car is coming ............................ wow .........I am just soooo happy with all of this ---
Rhonda was out for a while with her friends . I am in the kitchen when she come home when she enters the house she says --Hello !! Hello !!! and Yes I heard her voice and know that she is home .....
Thank You God !!!! amen ............ have a good night .............
1st snow fall......
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Boxing day evening .......
We went to Porter's lake to visit John &Pam , Jack & Isaac .... Isaac is 3 and I can tell when he talks but his voice is so high -- he sounds like the birds except that he is saying words and I know if I spent some major time with him that we could get it all together .. Jack is 5 .Jack's voice is deeper but still hard to understand plus Jack is always moving around so reading his words is harder but again I could tell easily when Jack was talking and that is something I could never do before . John 's voice is ok and I can get most of what he says . When Pam talks to me she is still whispering as she has ever since she knew me and again I become so aware of how people adjusted to accommodate me in the past and that just blows me away . We had a wonderful visit and got home before the storm, Mark was with us today so that was good .
My special story for today is that I forgot to take extra batteries with me today . PTL that the CI stayed on till our drive home but I drove almost 45 minutes totally deaf and I could not talk with Rhonda , that iritating road noise was not there ----I did not like it ..... so I am sure that I will never forget my batteries again and I really hope that nothing ever happens to this CI because it is like a " Life Line " .... okay a "Sound Line" and I really need it ----- LOL ......
I really started this Blog for my son Nick and then thought it was like a great diary for me and I do go back and reread where I was a few days ago with my hearing but it is also become for many people that read this an appreciation of all that they hear and take for granted so that really inspires me too .... Cheers
Boxing Day
After we had the house all cleaned up we sat down to watch a movie last night .
My first movie with a CI --well movie was stupid and I did fall asleep before it was over but the important thing for me was how difficult it was to have all the sounds coming at me and then having to read the closed captioning on the TV. It was quite confusing and I was very good at reading the CC on TV in the past. So that was interesting and it was neat that I could tell when there was music ot talking in the movie but most music does not sound like music , maybe in the future .
Today we are going to Porters lake to my son John's place and I cannot wait to spend some time with the kids when there are not 50 people around. Hopefully I will hear them a little better.
I hope everyone has a great Boxing day ........ Enjoy your family !!!!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas Eve
Last night was an evening with friends at their home and there were about 20 of us and it was so great to see and hear everyone ... I did ok but when all talking the noise level was high but 1 on 1 worked great .
Today was super store and let me tell you --if any man out there like hugs & Kisses --- get a C I ...
hahhah everyone is so happy they "Hug & Kiss Me " !!! I am loving it ..
Tonight all family and friends are here and tomorrow the grand kids prsent opening then dinner here so lots of happy good things going on ......
One quick story , today I am working in the kitchen and my niece is here helping --she goes out the front door to take something to green bin for me --all of a sudden a hear a noise --that is a knocking --I look up and my niece is 2 feet away on the outside knocking on the Windows ---- yahoo I heard her !!!!
I am wishing all of you a very Happy Christmas eve and day ........... Love to you all ... Chris
Thursday, December 23, 2010
thursday am
Okay , that is your chuckle to start the day ..we have Aidan ( 3) and Lara (+1) today so that should be a lot of fun and then a pre christmas eve get together at friends .... hope you all have a great day .... Hears to All !!!!!!!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday evening
Quick note
And Yes I do feel pretty proud of myself. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday am
Here is what I noticed yesterday as some of the family and a good friend was here . When they talk to me they change how they talk , they slow down , they use no voice and talk in short sentences. This is very touching to me as I now see exactly how they changed to adjust to my past hearing and it is so wonderful but now I say to them --- " Speak Up" I cannot hear you and they laugh at me because they have not had me say that to them for soooo long ................. Wonderful -- have a great day ,,
ps -- I put the coffee on and no one is up yet and the birds are covered so they are quiet and I just heard the motor on the coffee machine -- 1st time --- loving these firsts .............
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Tuesday morning ..
Okay , I had to set up a new fax machine and we sent off a fax but the place it was going did not have any power so machine went on re-dial . It is right beside my ear ... after an hour I hear this LOUD noise --- OMG what is that ???? look all around --the new fax machine is printing out a report --hahhahha sounded like an army tank coming at me ---
Okay , I do have some work to get done but wanted to jot down a few thoughts while they are fresh in my mind.
Have a great afternoon .................
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday,
Our 1st stop as we walked thru a field I could hear the twigs snap . the frozen grass crunch --- amazing wonderful sounds -- then a loud noise and ken tells me it is an airplane -- I heard it but no idea what it was ..At one point Ken was behind me and spoke and I knew that he was talking and was able to answer back ---that surprised him .
We walked over two brooks , one small and one quite big and I could not hear anything but noise when I was standing right over them but on the way back the 2nd one was bubbling around some rocks and it did seem a bit more clear but I really did not know what it was.
We were in woods looking for a cache and I heard ken talking to someone -- no idea who but I looked around and there was a man approaching us. It was the cache owner and it was interesting I could tell when he and ken talked but no idea what they said but when I asked ken and he told me , I did understand him . then all of a sudden a sound ,a loud noise like a mix master -- What is that noise Ken ??? It was a helicopter hahahha
Man it was loud ......................
One more thing we are in the car and I hear Ken say something and I said --what did u say and ken said --that was the GPS talking not me .. LOL ....
So it was a super day to be out on trails and we had fun ... Have a good night ...........
Sunday, December 19, 2010
a quick note on Sunday
Okay if the weather co-operates tomorrow ,a day out on the trails , Geo caching and I am looking fwd to that and seeing just what sounds I may hear.
Have a good week ..............................................
Saturday recap
Off early this am to get a few things at mall then a swimming party for my Grand son's birthday ... it looks like another beautiful day so I hope all enjoy it ................
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Saturday am
Last night at the pub when we arrived it was very noisy and band was playing ... I describe the hearing sensation. as .. the noise was like a rock crusher operating and I could not hear the band at all ..... later in the evening as it got a bit more quiet and the band played when they sang I could tell some one was singing but it was very very far off and a very high voice --- but I think the back ground noise had a lot to do with it ..
I am going to confess that at one point last night I said to myself - I am going to turn this CI off and then I said -- why ?? are you going to be selective in what you hear ?? and at that point I did realize that I need to wear this 100% of the time to train my brain and in all honesty ...I did not wanna give up the noise even though it was not comfortable . So today I have turned the CI down just a bit and it is more comfortable and I am betting that I will do fine ...You know why cuz the birds are singing and I still hear them but now it is background noise and not a magnified sound that overrides everything else . we will see .....
So off to the mall to finish a little shopping and then tonight a birthday get together for a good friend so that will be another new experience ......
Happy Saturday to all .....................................................
Friday, December 17, 2010
Friday supper time
Tonight a good friend who has a 3 piece music group is playing at the local pub in Windsor and so we are going to go for a few hours so more new sounds .....................................
Have a great Friday night ...........................................
Friday
Well this new setting is quite loud and this morning went to put laundry on in basement and I said what is running as I could hear something and it was the furance. This is 10 years old so I never heard it before.
Off to see another Dr this am. Nothing to serious but I do get to see how I do talking with him.
Gotta jet so later
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Thursday evening
then headed to Halifax --w ell the road noise in my car that I was hearing was so loud that after 5 minutes I unhooked the CI -- could not stand it ... once into Dartmouth I pulled over and hooked it all up ,,, and then I flipped on the radio --- I knew that someone was talking -- no idea what they said but talk then music and Yes I could get a beat --I was pretty happy about that ...
Grabbed 3 caches before my appointment then went to see Adrienne the Audiologist ... now Adrienne has been reading my blog so she knew how I was doing each day and said that all is progressing well and that it all seems pretty normal .... 1st time any one ever said I was "Normal " LOL !!
So we programmed two new hearing levels into the CI and left the one that I was comfortable with ... so all is good there ,,, next appointment is 1st week in January ....
Now the office is in Park Lane and so I parked about 2 blocks away --- I arrive on Spring Garden Road and the noise of that street is amazing .... I hear some one laugh at the stop light and i am looking around to see who laughing ... amazing ............ during this appointment I heard Adrienne 's voice very well , not clear but I heard her --last week I could not so that is really something .... I just need to keep working away at everything .... but I have to say that the JOY and FUN I am having from all these new sounds is awesome ..
That is it for tonight ... I am a bit tired from my day ... sleep well ................
Thursday am
Last night Rhonda and I practiced --Yes and No .... there is a definite difference in these two words and under a simple test I was able to tell what R said without looking at her .... again very basic but a start .........
okay . a million things to do before my appointment and gotta try and squeeze in a couple of city caches ..
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wednesday night
Will Blog tomorrow night about what she has told me ... till then ... Cheers .......................
wed noon
Here is a small story u might apprecaite --I am working outside , getting pretty used to having some noise going on and then I hear something --- no idea what it is but I am heraing a noise repeatedly so I look all around me , make the scope of my looking bigger and there is my neighbors dog running back and forth Barking !!!!
I laughted at that one -- did not sound like a dog but I did hear the noise
okay lunch then errands in W town .... later
Wednesday am ..
Bang, Crash, Bang ........ that is mostly what I hear ... oh yeah and that constant sound that I know the birds are still here (LOL) ..... honestly everything is magnified in sound so a simple door closing is a BANG and even a spoon put on table is a bang but when I hear voices they are usually so far away and so distorted . I am hoping in time and further adjustments in the CI that this will be better. I am just leaving the volume at the recommended setting and not turning it up too far so all sounds are ok and not giving me the head ache I had the first few days .
Tomorrow I go back to the Audiologist and of course I have a ton of questions and we will set up three new hearing levels for the CI .....
Today I have to fix the outside back door from the storm and then a trip to Super Store ...now this is one of my favorite places and I know most people there so looking fwd to this excursion and it will be neat to see what new sounds I get ............
Okay ... have a good day ... blog later
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tuesday
Well it was an interesting night
A friend text to ask me if I could hear the wind. We did have a big blow but inside the house I could not hear anything but Rhonda could. Then around 10 pm R says something is banging outside so we went out and back door blew open and tore off part of down spot so I had to put it all in barn and the bbq blew over so R helped me with that
It was neat up be working and hearing noise. I no longer felt like I was in a void
Amazing really.
This morning my Buddy Rick came to check that all was OK and after repeating some things I understood what he said. Cooked breakfast outside on cook stove as no power.
That's it for now
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Monday, December 13, 2010
Monday mormning
My sister asked if I still lip read --this is what I said --
You asked about lip reading --o yeah because I do not understand these sounds --most are just noise ---I can tell the phone ringing and have a squawk from birds but other than laughter no sounds really make sense so have to lip read .
okay , John Grisham new book is waiting so i am taking the morning off ...............
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday evening
Sunday Morning
Dinner last night was excellent ... 4 courses of delicious food ..... there were 12 people there and I had the volume up past half so it was very noisy and was harder than the night before with about 40 . But it was not unbearable and audiologist said that I have to challenge the brain. Every once in a while a great laugh clear as anything would come thru --- that was neat .... now the laughter still sounds tinny but I know that it is laughter .
Okay , wishing all a great day and unless some new sounds pop into my head I will not likely blog till later today .
Later
Saturday, December 11, 2010
back home
Had a great day .... many many sounds --- went shopping saw our two grand sons Jack & Isaac at noon at Mac D ... not the best place to hear much as lots going on but we just love seeing the kids and then on way home we stopped in at Nick & Lisa and saw Lara and heard her laugh !!!!!..Aidan was asleep so will catch him later .
We stopped on the way down for gas as I opened the car door the bells started ringing as I left my keys in the ignition -- I just looked at R and laugh out loud so much -- I just heard the car bells ring hahha
All the stores are busy and noisy but I could tell when they made announcements -- no idea what was said and of all the stores --future shop had more bells and whistles going and phone ringing --- amazing ....
Home now and a bit tired and a head ache but looking forward to our dinner out at friends home --I think there will be 6 of us there so should be a good test for me .
Have a great Saturday night and will Blog tomorrow .................. Cheers .................
Connection
When I talked to the doctors about getting a C I I told them that I want all or nothing
I said that I would not be happy with just sound. That was my thinking as a person that heard and then they went thru a hearing loss.
Now as a person just starting to get my hearing back I am now prepared to accept any sounds that came to me this morning when I could not get connected, I just realized how important this sound is to me
Larter
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Saturday morning
Well we had fun at party and out was lots of people but I had sound turned down so it was OK and lots of people interested in how the C I works.
Back on in level2 And sound turned up so another new day.
Errands in city and dinner with friends tonight
Going to see gran kids some time this weekend and cannot wait to hear them
Later
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Friday, December 10, 2010
Friday night
Well what a day and do many wonderful notes from so many people. Text and e mail is wonderful.
Well tonight is a Christmas party at our good friends and will be a major test for me. If too loud I will turn sound down.
Read tomorrow to see how I made out
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Wall mart
Well made it thru three store
Fun going in toy island and listening to people laugh
Going home for a nap all this listening is making me tired
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Stores
Any idea just how much noise there is in a store ?
Amazing.
Driving up I was getting this noise that was rough and I thought if driving is this noisy then maybe I will turn this odd when driving then I took there exit and new paving and quiet oh do nice was the rough road
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Car bells
Just started the car and heard the bells ringing I do not ever think I heard them before
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Phone
I cannot get out because too many new things happening
I am up on second floor and all is quiet then I hear the birds so I think can I hear the phone in the other room. This level 2 very strong so I called the house on my cell and from 2 rooms way heard the phone ring. OK I really need to leave now.
Later
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Off to the mall
Well I have to go shopping this am so should be interesting
Going to try to leave on level 2 but it is so noisy. I can hear the water running from the tap
So many sounds I just cannot list them all amazing
Have a good morning will write later
Sent from my Galaxy phone
stuff
Back in the house those dam birds are sooooo noisy ---- yesterday at the level 1, I hardly heard them this am I am in teh kitchen and they are going off constantly ---- I just might have to turn it down LOL !!!!
Later
--
Chris Fry
9 Avon Street
Hantsport, N.S. B0P1P0
hantsport@gmail.com
Friday
Well woke up morning and first thought man it is quiet so I put on the C I . Turned on level 2 . I have 3 Levels programmed. So this is louder
R clapped her hands and snapped her fingers and I could tell the difference with out looking.
Breakfast now
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Thursday, December 9, 2010
phone
No I did not answer it LOL !!!!!!
--
Chris Fry
9 Avon Street
Hantsport, N.S. B0P1P0
hantsport@gmail.com
Thursday evening
Sitting at supper with r and it is amazing the noise everywhere, the birds are making a noise r tells me and I get is this small noise in background but it pretty constant ... talking with R is pretty easy but that is nothing new ,,
after supper doing dishes is very noisy but I have to get use to the noise cuz when there is none I really notice it ,,
ok quite tired so unless something major happens here I will Blog in the am .. sleep well ............ Chris
Battery
Hey unit stopped working and I was upset then thought check battery an nd sure enough so now back st full power and wow
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Walk
Well had my walk up town and nothing too exciting. A few cars but no great sound but I got the click click of my cane. Always walk with my cane for safety. OK home now and gotta st tsar supper
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Radio
Hey just turned on the small radio for the birds and although I had no idea what was said I easily tell that radio was on
Neat
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Noon time
Just outside hanging some clothes on the line. Wrote the knit hat and it was fine. Heard a few pops in the ear but no idea what it was.
Now what's for lunch
Sent from my Galaxy phone
Test
Seeing if I can blog from my phone
Cartoons are play playing in back ground
Sent from my Galaxy phone
December 9
Okay , I having a few issues this morning on getting it connected all the time so going to work on that now ..
talk later
Yesterday
So we came home and on way home R ( Rhonda ) had the radio on we turned it up loud for some music and it sounded very different but on a few sounds I did have the beat right ..
From the very beginning my Laughter and R laugh have been the most prominent ...amazing ...
Last night upstairs the phone rang and R pointed to phone and I looked at it and I could then get the sound that it was ringing .... Heard a plop plop plop as I walked up the stairs ....
okay I am going to try and post this and then if it works will write a couple of times a day ..
Thanks to all for the many thoughts, prayers, mails, calls ..appreciate them all ... Chris