Cochlear Implant a SUCCESS!

I wanted to update everyone that my December 23, 2011 surgury for my right ear to be implanted was a HUGE success! I never thought I would anticipate the success of my CI. 

Here is what is happening:

I was activating on January 10, 2012. I only heard environmental sounds and was able to pick things up quickly. I thought I was hearing a vent pushing air out but it turned out to be the fan on the laptop that my audiologist had! She asked me "Can you hear this?" and I told her it sounded like someone rubbing on top of a table. Turns out it was her rubbing her hands (remember, I'm blind so I do not always see things). I was so impressed.


The next appointment cam Feb 10th in w hich was the first time I had a hearing test to see what exactly I was hearing. Here are the results:


-20-30db range (20 or less is normal hearing!)
-I understdood 28% of single syllable words (before implantation 10%). 
-I understood 89% of sentences in a quiet environment (before nothing)
-I understood 42% of sentences in a noisy background (before nothing). 


I had a very emotional and poignant moment in Feb when I went home to visit my parents. I sat at the piano, something I have not done for nearly 20 years. I wanted to see how it sounded to me. As I started to play scales that I could remember, I realized that I did indeed hear each note distinctly. So I proceeded to start playing a hymn that I used to play quite often. I quickly found out that I was making mistakes, not hitting the right notes. The next step was to test for "playing by ear" and see if I can correct my mistakes. I was able to do this! Once I realized that I was able to quickly correct for mistaken notes, tears started flowing down my cheeks. Oh what great joy! To know that I can play by ear again, something I have not been able ot do since I was 10 or so. 


I had my 3 month follow up appointment on April 13th. Here is what I was hearing:


-Sentences in quiet environment went up to 93%. Not huge but a very good gain.
-Sentences in a noisy environment, jumpt to 90%! A HUGE improvement over 42%! 
-Single syllable words: Jumpted to 82%! 


I feel so blessed to have such great success and modern technology.