The cuckoo clock
I can now decipher the two melodies well enough to recognise which one is playing! I can hear the cuckoo clock from any room in the house, even when there is background noise (eg a television) turned on!
Music vocals
Was listening to one of my Michael Buble playlists with a huge smile on my face because the guy has such a powerful voice that it is easier to follow along than I thought it would be. I realised that I was sort of hearing his voice in a tone close to how I remember it, only it was being accompanied by a weird little chipmunk echo. That made me giggle. Then the chipmunk giggled. Yes. Turns out the chipmunk was me … singing out loud with the track! :-D
The piano
It’s out of whack, no question about it, but I was prepared for that. It’s like somebody has taken all the keys and swapped them around. They are not in sync with each other so whenever two notes or more in the same key are pressed together (and let’s be honest, that’s most of the time), it sounds like an error and it’s really distracting. Plus it all sounds a bit ‘cosmic’ and synthesised at the moment. The good thing is that I noticed some improvements today – the higher notes are starting to very slowly fall into place, and they sound clear and crisp! It was actually a pleasure to listen to them. (I haven’t found the sound of the piano pleasurable in years!) So perseverance is the key here – my brain needs to figure out where all the notes belong. Another thing I like about hearing the piano through my CIs … if I play a note softly or loudly, the volume renders correctly. With a hearing aid it was one flat volume all the time, and I could never hear the dynamics of a piece. I am devoting a lot of ‘rehab time’ to piano at the moment, as it's really important to me – will keep at it.
Hearing speech at a distance
Wow – if Jase calls out to me from a different room, I know what he’s saying! Can even tell the difference between ‘yep’ and ‘nope’ … and pretend otherwise if it wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear. ;-)
Today’s token phonecall: my personal CI milestone!
The last phonecall I made before I went deaf was to my doctor’s office, back in 2008. I remember it well because it was the first time ever that there wasn’t a single word I could make out. The receptionist was speaking jibberish. It got a bit much after asking her to repeat herself three times, with no change in sound perception. I breathlessly explained that my husband would have to call back for me, then I hung up the phone and burst into tears, farewelling my last piece of independence. It was one of my darkest moments.
Well I am proud to say that I called that doctor’s office today – for all I know, spoke to the same receptionist, for about three minutes – and understood 100% of what she said! Was prepared to give her the ‘Sorry, I’m hearing impaired’ spiel if I needed to, but I didn’t have to. Even though I’d successfully spoken to several other people on the phone this week already, the thought of calling the doctor’s office still terrified me, because of that memory. But I did it!
Best of all: ‘Happy anniversary!’
Today I heard my husband wish me a happy wedding anniversary! And, as Jase pointed out, my hearing started to deteriorate before our first wedding anniversary so it’s the first time I’ve heard him say it loudly and clearly!
In three days, this brilliant invention has changed my life. And to keep being told that it’s going to improve from here just blows me away. Every new sound brings back another piece of my independence. I am just overwhelmed and humbled by the whole thing … and in a very happy place right now!
Posts
Telephone :-) Giving me hope. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteBiggest advice I can give you regarding the telephone - don't be afraid. Just pick up the phone and try it! If you can't hear, then don't rule it out. Just come back to it another day, keep trying. :-)
ReplyDelete