OK, let's jump right in to this...........The electrical stim impedence measurement issue that came up at the previous mapping..which had been the last worrisome issue...was back to normal at the next mapping last Friday. That was a bit overshadowed though by the fact that in the middle of last week I was struck by dizziness. I could not move my head without the world swimming. It wasn't that bad....but it wasn't normal for me. I had to drive to last Friday's mapping in a condition that is probably best compared to driving inebriated. Mind you....I still had my judgment. I just had to avoid turning my head too much or too quickly and there and back just fine. Though I got there 20 minutes late after an hour and 40 minute trip. I'd never been tardy to a mapping before and I was less than thrilled to be then. I'm trying to be dead on point with this thing in all respects...not be screwing up.
Then there was the switching out of Hi Res S into Hi Res P into 70 and 80 IDR respectively along with MPS set at 80. For the first few seconds of having it back..considering that I was a bit excited about it thinking how how balanced it seemed the first 2 weeks I had it..it was what I remembered...only more clear and crisp! Then from there, Dawna ran the routine of switching between program variations and other strategies to compare which worked best for speech. Hi Res P won on it's own merit...but as she went it stopped sounding like it did for those first few seconds. I figured she had made changes to it that altered it. However, I did fine on a interactive rehab test (prepared by Advanced Bionics but sold by both major brands under different names) that had me listen to words and then pick from two choices. These were not easy ones. We are talking the choices being: "Pod / Pawed." Yup. You try it and see how you do. Then after that it was sentences......with background noise. That was was not intended by Dawna. She had meant for something a bit less challenging at that point....but since I was actually doing alright with it...she let it go. I averaged out to about 90 percent on both altogether.
The thing is..once I left Dawna's office....Hi Res P went to shit. It was already sounding too much like S had previously to the point of having me thinking she was lying to me about what programs I had just to satiate me...but then logic and reason got a grip. I had Hi Res P...but the same issues I had with S were there. It sounded distant and I had no sense of volume. It was hollow. Turning the volume up only resulted in making the ever present internal noise (it's almost like I'm hearing the electrodes strobe) too loud and bothersome to benefit from the improved volume for the real world sounds.
Then I began to notice that for the first few minutes after putting the processor on...the volume was always plenty loud and the sound was full. Then it would degrade. At one point this past week, after waking up I put the processor on starting with Hi Res P at 70....it sounded exactly as I had been wanting it to. Then that faded after about 15 minutes. So finally...I was making sense of what was happening. The program is fine....it's my brain or auditory nerve that is breaking down.... Perhaps getting tired. But it held up fine for the first two weeks. So that meant that it could be adjusted to resolve the issue. I was happy to know that the quality was still possible.
I relayed it all to Dawna..so now I have an AB Rep coming to the next mapping to do an internal device integrity check and assist with the mapping. The integrity check did have me choke a bit...but it really is unlikely that is the issue (as Dawna stated, not me. I'm not the expert.) Having the Rep there do to the mapping is a good thing though...there is no one more qualified to do it. So I'm confident we will get it all resolved. So next Monday will be an experience.
The funny thing is...despite all the apparent issues that raise various alarms.....I've had plenty of progress. Obviously if I'm able to do more difficult auditory exercises and do well...something is working. I haven't really skipped a beat with the music listening. I've been doing alot of it...more than I have in months...and it's getting more frequent. I'm not just listening to the core performers and bands that I follow....in fact I'm a bit sick and tired of the core. I've been listening to alot of new material and getting it quickly. It's not perfect...the music seems to degenerate in quality the longer I listen. I believe that issue will be worked out or work itself out.
I could almost laugh at myself for even thinking I have anything to be complaining about...there are people who would kill to be where I am one month post-activation. I'm talking about hearing in a way that for the most part...is experienced as natural hearing. It's not electronic...it's familiar. I talk about hearing in this manner at this stage of the journey as if it's a given.....it's not. I could stand to be more thankful. But I am driven to push this as far as it's gonna go...so that is what I'm doing. So I had a bump in the road....that's all it is...not a barricade.
Just this morning while listening to the first half of Maroon 5's "Songs About Jane" album...I found myself actually hearing details in the lyrics that I hadn't before. The consonants were actually jumping out of everything else that was happening. I was reading along with the lyrics..but it was much easier to stick with it than it had been before where I would sometimes find myself lost. The other day I noticed detail where previously it had sounded like mostly a jumble of noise effects with my hearing aid, at the end of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall II" from the live album, Pulse. I'm hearing all of these songs and enjoying them..new and familiar. I have a shopping list growing for my next trip to Tower Records. The only new album I've bought in the last year and a half is Bon Jovi's Have A Nice Day and I got sick of it before a month even passed.
I'm realizing that development, actually buying new music, is not one that is being pushed by myself. It's happening naturally out of the fact that I've had tastes that only whet the appetite. The fact that I was able to even taste it is what did it. I've tried listening to new bands before...but they never seriously grabbed me enough to have me bothered to go buy anything. At most, I'd download a video or a single song here and there. Now I'm seeking out whole albums. I've been going back over things I had glanced at previously and giving them another run to find it taking hold. That feeling when you first hear something fresh and new that makes you feel alive.....it has you off seeking it out to own it. That's what's happening now.
What was I complaining about?
And mama I've been cryin'
Cause things ain't how they used to be
She said the battles almost won
And we're only several miles from the sun
The Sun - Maroon 5
Then there was the switching out of Hi Res S into Hi Res P into 70 and 80 IDR respectively along with MPS set at 80. For the first few seconds of having it back..considering that I was a bit excited about it thinking how how balanced it seemed the first 2 weeks I had it..it was what I remembered...only more clear and crisp! Then from there, Dawna ran the routine of switching between program variations and other strategies to compare which worked best for speech. Hi Res P won on it's own merit...but as she went it stopped sounding like it did for those first few seconds. I figured she had made changes to it that altered it. However, I did fine on a interactive rehab test (prepared by Advanced Bionics but sold by both major brands under different names) that had me listen to words and then pick from two choices. These were not easy ones. We are talking the choices being: "Pod / Pawed." Yup. You try it and see how you do. Then after that it was sentences......with background noise. That was was not intended by Dawna. She had meant for something a bit less challenging at that point....but since I was actually doing alright with it...she let it go. I averaged out to about 90 percent on both altogether.
The thing is..once I left Dawna's office....Hi Res P went to shit. It was already sounding too much like S had previously to the point of having me thinking she was lying to me about what programs I had just to satiate me...but then logic and reason got a grip. I had Hi Res P...but the same issues I had with S were there. It sounded distant and I had no sense of volume. It was hollow. Turning the volume up only resulted in making the ever present internal noise (it's almost like I'm hearing the electrodes strobe) too loud and bothersome to benefit from the improved volume for the real world sounds.
Then I began to notice that for the first few minutes after putting the processor on...the volume was always plenty loud and the sound was full. Then it would degrade. At one point this past week, after waking up I put the processor on starting with Hi Res P at 70....it sounded exactly as I had been wanting it to. Then that faded after about 15 minutes. So finally...I was making sense of what was happening. The program is fine....it's my brain or auditory nerve that is breaking down.... Perhaps getting tired. But it held up fine for the first two weeks. So that meant that it could be adjusted to resolve the issue. I was happy to know that the quality was still possible.
I relayed it all to Dawna..so now I have an AB Rep coming to the next mapping to do an internal device integrity check and assist with the mapping. The integrity check did have me choke a bit...but it really is unlikely that is the issue (as Dawna stated, not me. I'm not the expert.) Having the Rep there do to the mapping is a good thing though...there is no one more qualified to do it. So I'm confident we will get it all resolved. So next Monday will be an experience.
The funny thing is...despite all the apparent issues that raise various alarms.....I've had plenty of progress. Obviously if I'm able to do more difficult auditory exercises and do well...something is working. I haven't really skipped a beat with the music listening. I've been doing alot of it...more than I have in months...and it's getting more frequent. I'm not just listening to the core performers and bands that I follow....in fact I'm a bit sick and tired of the core. I've been listening to alot of new material and getting it quickly. It's not perfect...the music seems to degenerate in quality the longer I listen. I believe that issue will be worked out or work itself out.
I could almost laugh at myself for even thinking I have anything to be complaining about...there are people who would kill to be where I am one month post-activation. I'm talking about hearing in a way that for the most part...is experienced as natural hearing. It's not electronic...it's familiar. I talk about hearing in this manner at this stage of the journey as if it's a given.....it's not. I could stand to be more thankful. But I am driven to push this as far as it's gonna go...so that is what I'm doing. So I had a bump in the road....that's all it is...not a barricade.
Just this morning while listening to the first half of Maroon 5's "Songs About Jane" album...I found myself actually hearing details in the lyrics that I hadn't before. The consonants were actually jumping out of everything else that was happening. I was reading along with the lyrics..but it was much easier to stick with it than it had been before where I would sometimes find myself lost. The other day I noticed detail where previously it had sounded like mostly a jumble of noise effects with my hearing aid, at the end of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall II" from the live album, Pulse. I'm hearing all of these songs and enjoying them..new and familiar. I have a shopping list growing for my next trip to Tower Records. The only new album I've bought in the last year and a half is Bon Jovi's Have A Nice Day and I got sick of it before a month even passed.
I'm realizing that development, actually buying new music, is not one that is being pushed by myself. It's happening naturally out of the fact that I've had tastes that only whet the appetite. The fact that I was able to even taste it is what did it. I've tried listening to new bands before...but they never seriously grabbed me enough to have me bothered to go buy anything. At most, I'd download a video or a single song here and there. Now I'm seeking out whole albums. I've been going back over things I had glanced at previously and giving them another run to find it taking hold. That feeling when you first hear something fresh and new that makes you feel alive.....it has you off seeking it out to own it. That's what's happening now.
What was I complaining about?
And mama I've been cryin'
Cause things ain't how they used to be
She said the battles almost won
And we're only several miles from the sun
The Sun - Maroon 5
posted by David R at 5:27 AM
1 Comments:
It sounds like you're doing great, actually....I hope I'm where you are at one month out!! I do, however, get nervous reading post-activation stories...the post-activation period sounds stressful, and I don't do stress well!! :( Thank goodness for my Effexor....
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