The First Day We Met

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From the moment we met, I felt this instant attraction to Pete. I was drawn to his magnetic personality. We butted heads almost immediately. We aren’t on the same level yet. He sounds funny right now, but, you know, every relationship takes time...

Meet Pete, my Cochlear Implant. That’s his name. Why? I was thinking about rabbit ears and thought about Peter Cottontail. Why not name the CI Pete?

Maybe some day, Petey will have a brother if I ever get a second implant…and his name will be….Repeat.

This morning was hectic to say the least. The girls had to get ready for their first day of school. I was shook awake by my Sonic Boom alarm clock at 5 a.m. I knew that it was the best time for me to jump into the shower. The girls might take up too much time later.

We still made it on time. In fact, we waited 10 minutes past the appointment time.

The audie asked if I had questions and how the recovery from the surgery went.

The behind the ear (BTE) processor was surprisingly lighter than it looked. I had no idea how the magnet would feel. I hardly felt it.

The first thing she said when the audie looked at her computer was “The internal implant looks good.” I should have asked to see what that looked like.

Soon the audie was clicking buttons (I swear that computer is really a piano. Each key must have a certain sound.) I was asked if they were soft, comfortable, loud, too loud, etc. It was a lot like the tone test (beeps that had varying degrees of pitches).

Then she said she was gong to turn on Pete. (This must be the "live" moment.) I heard this high-pitched noise that sounded like a hearing aid constantly whistling n my ear. (Aww, Petey was whispering sweet nothings in my ear…) Only it was awful. Annoying even. I need to get the brain adjusted to Pete’s voice. Right now it still sounds high-pitched, but more like there’s a fan or air conditioner going (only we aren’t running the fan or air conditioner).

The first thing I said was, “It sounds AWFUL.” I chuckled, only mildly disappointed. I kept my expectations low. I knew everyone’s activation experience is going to be different. I didn’t get any heliumized voices that sound like Minnie Mouse. (And I was planning on titling this post “Operation Alvination” in honor of Alvin the Chipmunk. LOL. Oh, well. It's okay. Then I said, “It almost sounds like a female Darth Vader.” (I think I got a chuckle from Hubby for that comment.)

The audie kept the programs set to a softer sound. All the programs are set on ADRO (which means every day sounds) and each program (P 1 through P 4) are just louder at each level. So when the sounds become softer and I think I can handle it being louder, then I’ll switch. She says it was better than having me get discouraged and not wear it. (I do have a volume control on it, too, so I can turn it up that way.)

I’m going to give the brain time. (And I can wear it with my hearing aid in my other ear.) Thank goodness for that because I wouldn’t recognize any sounds at this point. Karen mentioned a “chain saw” noise and I think I know what she’s talking about. It is a grating noise. That’s all I am getting right now. A constant motor sound. Soon, when the brain adjusts, those motorized sounds should morph into recognizable sounds. (We'll get there, Karen.) :)

Then, INFORMATION OVERLOAD!!...in a different context.

I was shown all my loot, the goodies. All the accessories and components that came with the Cochlear Freedom kit. Two processors. Battery recharger. Batteries. (Both disposable and rechargeable. Dry and Store kit to keep the processor dehumidifed overnight. It’s mind boggling. I want to watch the DVD that came with it. It’s closed captioned, though I am not surprised. After all, it is something a deaf person would be watching, right? I need to familiarize myself with everything.

The whole activation took about one and a half hours.

Again, baby steps. I didn’t expect to understand speech right away. The auditory nerve is waking up again after about 10-15 years. A wrinkle in time...hey, Rip Van Winkle, no that was 20 years...okay, back to our regularly scheduled programing...(my thoughts always trail off like that...had to show a part of my personality here that you would see in person, because I could always edit my thoughts when I write...)

Angel will have some reading assignments for homework to do so I’ll have plenty of listening practice. I'll look into children's books and audio tapes I can follow along. And I will devote some private time with Petey (ooh la la-eyebrows raising up and down) without my HA for additional practice.

Patience is key. I have plenty of that. Tomorrow’s another day….

Thanks to all for your encouragement and support. If it weren’t for all of us sharing our experiences, I don’t even know if I would be where I am right now if I didn’t compare and share our CI journeys. . . thank you. :) HUGS.

BTW, we didn't take pictures or get a video of it. But I will get a pix of all my Freedom components and one of me wearing Petey. :)