Day 6 post-activation

It was a hallucination that I knew would come to an end.

For the last year, in particular, I’ve been fortunate enough to drive a luxury car. You know the ones. Where you feel the engine instead of hear it because it purrs so quietly. Where you don’t notice the roar of the other traffic because the door seals are just That Good.

Today, with sound processors on, I prepared myself for reality: it’s a 10-year-old Mitsubishi, not a brand new Mercedes, and it’s going to be LOUD.

That much I remember. In my hearing days, whenever we drove along a freeway Jase and I would have to shout out to each other to be heard above that engine.

I pressed the alarm button on my car’s remote control, to disarm it. Smiled in delight at the familiar three high-pitched beeps I heard. Then sat in the seat. This was it! I hadn’t driven since before the surgery, not feeling comfortable about driving in 100% silence. It had been over a year since I’d used the car stereo, or heard the car engine.

I had brought some CDs with me, and was all set to try them out while the car was warming up, so I could enjoy some background driving music.

I had grand plans to drive to the local library and stock up on some audio books, having finished with the Dr Seuss and Roald Dahl stuff over the weekend.

I turned the key in the ignition excitedly, ready to hear the old DN, DN, DN, DRRRRRR engine noise I used to know.

What I heard instead?

DN, DN, DN, DN, splutter.

Flat battery.

I tried it a couple more times, in the hope that the engine would tick over, but no. No doubt about it. My grand plans for a cruise around the local suburbs were going to have to wait.

Still, I think it’s pretty cool that I heard the engine in some form or other, and that the quality of the sound I heard could so distinctly and quickly indicate what the problem was. I’d probably still be out there trying to get the car going, otherwise, waiting to feel the vibration.

And this much is also certain: any lingering hallucinations about this being a luxury car have gone out the window.

  

Day six observations 

Environmental noises

They are starting to resolve themselves! Not only can I tell the difference between what I’m hearing around the house, but I can also hear the sound subtleties. For example, I don’t just hear the dishwasher running, I also hear a loose item moving around inside. (Probably the last of our coffee mugs.) I can tell the water swishing sounds of the dishwasher apart from the water swishing sounds of the washing machine. I can be inside with the doors and windows closed, and still hear next door’s dog barking, birds in the garden, planes overhead, emergency sirens in the distance.

Voices

Happy to say that Hugh Laurie (Dr House) stopped sounding like a chipmunk towards the end of last night’s episode, and sounded like Hugh Laurie!

In general, male voices sound pretty close to normal now. Female voices, along with my own, are way too high-pitched. Children’s voices are even more high-pitched. (I didn’t think sounds could get that high!)

The Beeps

A couple of days ago I turned on my sound processors and said ‘Good morning’ to R2-D2, as I’ve been accustomed to doing. Then I realised he’d gone. Bliss. :-)

Rehab – speech

Am immersing myself in sound. Other than listening to podcasts, audiobooks and using the phone, I’m also using ‘Sound and Way Beyond’, the computer program distributed by Cochlear for sound rehabilitation. It consists of a series of different audio quizzes, at all different levels, and is really great. It’s helped me spot a couple of listening areas that need work – I have trouble differentiating between i’s and e’s. Also f’s and v’s. Also need more practice listening to speech when there’s background noise.

Rehab – music

I listen to music constantly, and can identify familiar tracks on my iPod, sometimes within seconds of the song beginning. 

The music component of ‘Sound and Way Beyond’ is brilliant. I find it really challenging. Based on my quiz results, I can now identify the pattern of a melody (flat, rising, ascending, etc) better than I ever could with the sound distortion through the hearing aid. Even when the notes are one semitone apart! But I cannot do the other exercise where you hear two piano notes being played, are given the first note, and have to pick the second. Sometimes I pick a note that’s higher than the first, but it turns out it was lower. It’s frustrating, but I’m going to persist – I know it’s going to make a huge difference to my piano playing if I can get better results on this someday.

Background noise

For the first time in years, on Saturday, I did not have to guess what all the shop assistants were saying!! I could hear them loudly and clearly, even with all the background noise! (I play around with the remote control a lot – forever changing the volume, sensitivity and programs to give me the best listening outcome for the situation. It’s definitely worthwhile.)

Next mapping session

Wednesday. Will see what sound improvements that brings!