Ring, ring!

The sound of the phone ringing could always spark so many emotions.

Annoyance, if I’d just sat down to dinner and it was likely to be a telemarketer.

Hopefulness, when I was waiting on news of a job offer.

Anxiety.

Curiosity.

Happiness.

Excitement.




When my hearing had deteriorated to a point where my aid wasn’t giving me much benefit, the sound of the phone ringing could also spark: 

Fear. 

Dread. 

Panic.

I’m pleased to say that when my phone rang just before midnight on Saturday, my heart gave a little leap and I felt sheer joy because I knew exactly who was going to be on the other end: Jase!

He was calling to say he’d survived the 23-hour flight! He’d landed at Heathrow safely, and was just waiting for his luggage.

I was elated! There is so much more satisfaction in hearing a voice than there is in receiving a text message. So much more emotion can be conveyed. It amazes me that only a few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have even heard the phone ring … let alone be able to pick it up and carry a conversation. To hear his voice made me feel instantly better and at ease.

And I’d passed another CI milestone! My first long-distance phone call!

Well, I’d love to continue the long distance phone calls, but they are not going to be too kind on the bank account. Fortunately, there are other ways we can practice sound rehabilitation techniques, thanks to the Internet.

We use iChat a lot, for instant text messages. Yesterday though, we enabled the audio feature instead. It worked really well, I’m pretty surprised! I was able to clearly hear his voice through the laptop speakers. When I had trouble understanding one of the suburbs he was talking about, having never heard of it before, he simply typed it into iChat so I could read it. Brilliant.

(I suppose if I’d plugged my Cochlear binaural cable into the headphone jack, I could have heard him more clearly again. But I’m a bit lazy – can’t always be bothered taking the processors off my head to plug in the cable, terrible I know. Should really practice so that I get faster at it!)

Earlier today, we also tried the videoconferencing tool in iChat too – that was fun! (Our cat, Pheebs, seemed a bit spooked by it though. Thought she was going to attack the screen for a moment there.) Videoconferencing has another advantage too, for those who have more difficulty with audio alone – if the delay isn’t too bad, and the picture is clear, it is possible to lipread too.

Being apart is never easy, but it’s amazing what a difference this sort of technology makes. Email and text messages are fantastic, but I’ve always grown up in a world where I can connect to a voice, and I felt a bit lost when this was no longer possible for me.

To have this little luxury back again, thanks to my cochlear implants, is truly a gift … and one I won’t take for granted. I am stunned into silence when I dwell on all that’s happened … and all that has changed. So quickly.


PS: Having been deeply disappointed at not being able to hear Big Ben last year, I gave Jase strict instructions to call me if he happened to be near Big Ben on the hour. Well, given the time difference, Jase cleverly didn’t bother ringing me at what would have been 3 am Melbourne time. But he told me that he did record it for me!