Better....
...I think that yesterday I was just tired. Today I felt a good bit better. I'm grateful, because hubby's coming down with something, and I was afraid I had what he does (it's some sort of viral sore throat thing, ugh!) Today I did some housework, listened to music, and spent some time doing listening exercises. The Advanced Bionics webpage has a long list of websites that offer free listening exercises. Today I have listened to fairy tales and answering machines, learned about aortic aneurysms (just for the record, it's really hard to hear and comprehend "iliac artery" if you've never heard it pronounced before), and tried to identify different musical instruments. I also, on Paul's recommendation, went back to YouTube in search of Sarah Brightman/Andrea Bocelli videos. I had never heard either of them sing before, and they're an amazing duo!! She also sings in "Phantom of the Opera" with Antonio Banderas (whom I DID NOT KNOW COULD SING)...wonderful. The biggest surprise of the evening for me, though, was someone I'd never heard of before...Paul Potts. When I found a video and started watching, my mouth just kinda fell open...NOT what I was expecting from him (from the look on Simon Cowell's face, he wasn't expecting it either). Paul appeared on "Britain's Got Talent" this summer and took Britain and YouTube by storm with his amazing opera. Since men's voices sound better to me at this point (not quite as mechanical) it was a real treat to listen to him. I will come back and listen again as the hearing keeps on improving. (Thanks, Paul!! And to everyone else....recommend something!! I'm open to all suggestions...I have been out of the loop for so long that I don't know what's great listening!)
I definitely need a tune-up...sounds are getting quieter and quieter and more tinny and mechanical. Amazingly, comprehension is still good...I did really well with the listening exercises (children's voices are hard). I picked up a lot in class at church tonight, and a couple of people made the comment that I seemed to be getting more out of class than I have been (they weren't kidding...I wasn't hearing a thing before...who wants to participate when they have no idea what's going on?).
I was in the bathroom tonight and heard a car passing by the house outside. I knew what it was...I've heard the sound before, but usually when I was outside at the mailbox....never from inside, upstairs. I've never heard cars pull up in the driveway before...but I bet I could now :)
I have had a couple of people say that they were glad I wasn't deaf anymore, and that always just kind of makes me chuckle...because I'll always be deaf. With my cochlear implants, I'll be able to hear again...better than ever before, I suspect...but if the magnet on the processor slips off, it's instantly quiet...the ears themselves have no function at all anymore besides being a great place to hang the processor and to park glasses. I'm a real "bionic woman" now...totally dependent on technology and the little computer in my head for my hearing! I am grateful every single day that God has allowed me to keep natural hearing long enough for technology to get so advanced that music will eventually sound natural to me. Cochlear implant technology has come a long way in the past few years, and it's better now than ever before...God's timing for me has been just perfect.
Tomorrow....grocery shopping (blech), a little cooking, and a Bible study at Dad & Mom's. I'm excited about the Bible study...the singing will be good :)!
Thanks again for the encouragement and support. Honestly, not everyone in the world is fascinated by this story...and people don't always take the time to stop and really appreciate the marvel of being able to hear well again...to be able to hear music...to talk on the phone...to understand the spoken word without having to watch...I feel like, honestly, that I've had a new beginning of sorts...that life as I know it is forever changed...for the better.
OK...off to bed. Love y'all!! :)
I definitely need a tune-up...sounds are getting quieter and quieter and more tinny and mechanical. Amazingly, comprehension is still good...I did really well with the listening exercises (children's voices are hard). I picked up a lot in class at church tonight, and a couple of people made the comment that I seemed to be getting more out of class than I have been (they weren't kidding...I wasn't hearing a thing before...who wants to participate when they have no idea what's going on?).
I was in the bathroom tonight and heard a car passing by the house outside. I knew what it was...I've heard the sound before, but usually when I was outside at the mailbox....never from inside, upstairs. I've never heard cars pull up in the driveway before...but I bet I could now :)
I have had a couple of people say that they were glad I wasn't deaf anymore, and that always just kind of makes me chuckle...because I'll always be deaf. With my cochlear implants, I'll be able to hear again...better than ever before, I suspect...but if the magnet on the processor slips off, it's instantly quiet...the ears themselves have no function at all anymore besides being a great place to hang the processor and to park glasses. I'm a real "bionic woman" now...totally dependent on technology and the little computer in my head for my hearing! I am grateful every single day that God has allowed me to keep natural hearing long enough for technology to get so advanced that music will eventually sound natural to me. Cochlear implant technology has come a long way in the past few years, and it's better now than ever before...God's timing for me has been just perfect.
Tomorrow....grocery shopping (blech), a little cooking, and a Bible study at Dad & Mom's. I'm excited about the Bible study...the singing will be good :)!
Thanks again for the encouragement and support. Honestly, not everyone in the world is fascinated by this story...and people don't always take the time to stop and really appreciate the marvel of being able to hear well again...to be able to hear music...to talk on the phone...to understand the spoken word without having to watch...I feel like, honestly, that I've had a new beginning of sorts...that life as I know it is forever changed...for the better.
OK...off to bed. Love y'all!! :)
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