Grannies CI Diary

Lazy day today, Living alone is sooo good for this sort of thing, no one else to worry about. Got woken up about 9.30 by the boyfriend breaking and entering....lol. I am not one to want people fussing over me while recuperating, just prefer to do my own thing. Help is just at the end of text phone so no probs there. Keep feeling my ear to see if its still there as so numb. No numbness on tongue tho so still enjoying food....yipee
 
Raykat said:
Yes activation is 31st March, cant wait for that. Taking this week off work but have to hold myself back from running around. Never have been one to sit doing nothing which makes it hard. No pain but head does feel rather heavy. Also sore throat from whatever it was they stuck down there.

I was surprised at how long the scar is too, its tucked in well behind the crease of ear lobe. Actually I've just gone and measured it, only 5" which sounds a bit better. Looks like months of growing to get the hair back to one length tho!!!!
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My friend got activated this am for the first time. She said the mappings were on too loud and it was painful. Just a FYI...
 
shel90 said:
My friend got activated this am for the first time. She said the mappings were on too loud and it was painful. Just a FYI...
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I have a question about your friend. Was she able to hear anything or did she stop wearing a ha for a long time?

I remember my 2nd or 3rd mapping well because when my audi did an initial mapping; every time she made the ch sound, it was painful for me to hear it so mapping had to be readjusted.

None of my other mappings have been painful. I hope that Raykat's mapping will be more like mine.
 
Raykat said:
Lazy day today, Living alone is sooo good for this sort of thing, no one else to worry about. Got woken up about 9.30 by the boyfriend breaking and entering....lol. I am not one to want people fussing over me while recuperating, just prefer to do my own thing. Help is just at the end of text phone so no probs there. Keep feeling my ear to see if its still there as so numb. No numbness on tongue tho so still enjoying food....yipee
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:) I guess you would have minded being fussed over. Glad to hear you're recovering well from the surgery.
 
deafskeptic said:
I have a question about your friend. Was she able to hear anything or did she stop wearing a ha for a long time?

I remember my 2nd or 3rd mapping well because when my audi did an initial mapping; every time she made the ch sound, it was painful for me to hear it so mapping had to be readjusted.

None of my other mappings have been painful. I hope that Raykat's mapping will be more like mine.
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Hope Raykat doesnt mind me going off topic a little...but I will answer so Raykat, pls let me know if u prefer me to not to, I will stop.

My friend never heard with her left (where she got implanted) ear ever..not even with HAs..for 38 years.
She is hoh in her right ear but it got worse in the last few years.

Maybe that was why it was painful for her cuz for the first time in her life, that nerve was stimulated. :dunno:
 
shel90 said:
My friend got activated this am for the first time. She said the mappings were on too loud and it was painful. Just a FYI...
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I would encourage her to go back to the audie to get it turned down. It could set her back if she persists with it.

Just read your later posting - yes if she hasn't heard out of that ear ever then it would be a good idea to go much more slowly and softly at first.
 
Raykat said:
Lazy day today, Living alone is sooo good for this sort of thing, no one else to worry about. Got woken up about 9.30 by the boyfriend breaking and entering....lol. I am not one to want people fussing over me while recuperating, just prefer to do my own thing. Help is just at the end of text phone so no probs there. Keep feeling my ear to see if its still there as so numb. No numbness on tongue tho so still enjoying food....yipee
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Enjoy it while you can! :)
 
shel90 said:
Hope Raykat doesnt mind me going off topic a little...but I will answer so Raykat, pls let me know if u prefer me to not to, I will stop.

My friend never heard with her left (where she got implanted) ear ever..not even with HAs..for 38 years.
She is hoh in her right ear but it got worse in the last few years.

Maybe that was why it was painful for her cuz for the first time in her life, that nerve was stimulated. :dunno:
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No worries about off topic Shel, all info gladly received. I have had right ear implanted, the only one I have ever worn h/a in so its trained to take the noise. I also like my h/a up quite loud. A friend got his implant just before christmas after having no sound at all for 15 years. After the first 3 days of horrible sounds he said it came right very quickly and now he even uses phone.

Every one probably has a different sensivity level when it comes to sound so whats painful for some may be just rather loud for others.

Being such an impatient person I am wanting it switched on ...now....now...now cant wait 3 weeks...lol
 
Only ten more days til activation!!!!.......saw the surgeon yesterday for checkup and he is very happy with progress. He did warn me that many people go home in tears the first day of activation. However I am not planning on doing that, having been warned by so many people how have been activated recently. Have a girlfriend coming with me, not for my benefit , just cos she is so nosey and has to be into everything! We will do the morning apt.. break for lunch then do an afternoon apt. Will probably be glad to get home after that lot.

Good Friday today, had both my boys and their daughters for dinner last night, hid the easter eggs around the house and let 4 yr old Jordyn hunt them down. Payton is only 9 mths but she stil managed to snag the small eggs out of bowl on table while her father wasnt looking. In case your wondering why there is no mention of mothers for these 2 girls, my older son and his partner split up when Jordyn was 2 but still remain friends so not problem with child sharing. My younger son married last year, his wife (23) had Payton 3 months later then sadly she died 3 weeks later from a blood clot. This left my son alone with a 3 weeks old baby.

Well folks have a good Easter and I'l get back to you once I'm finished galivanting round the country.
 
Great to hear you finally got an CI. So, did you have to badger the NZ govt to provide you with one?

Hope the mapping will go well for you.

Cheers
 
Raykat said:
Only ten more days til activation!!!!.......saw the surgeon yesterday for checkup and he is very happy with progress. He did warn me that many people go home in tears the first day of activation. However I am not planning on doing that, having been warned by so many people how have been activated recently. Have a girlfriend coming with me, not for my benefit , just cos she is so nosey and has to be into everything! We will do the morning apt.. break for lunch then do an afternoon apt. Will probably be glad to get home after that lot.
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Great to hear the healing has gone well. Get your girlfriend to take a photo or mini video of you at the moment of activation. They will first set the softest and loudest levels for each of the electrodes, which is a bit tedious and then you'll go live!


Good Friday today, had both my boys and their daughters for dinner last night, hid the easter eggs around the house and let 4 yr old Jordyn hunt them down. Payton is only 9 mths but she stil managed to snag the small eggs out of bowl on table while her father wasnt looking. In case your wondering why there is no mention of mothers for these 2 girls, my older son and his partner split up when Jordyn was 2 but still remain friends so not problem with child sharing. My younger son married last year, his wife (23) had Payton 3 months later then sadly she died 3 weeks later from a blood clot. This left my son alone with a 3 weeks old baby.
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Glad it was a nice Easter, although it must have been sad not to have your daughter in law there this year.
 
R2D2 said:
Great to hear the healing has gone well. Get your girlfriend to take a photo or mini video of you at the moment of activation. They will first set the softest and loudest levels for each of the electrodes, which is a bit tedious and then you'll go live!


Did you do this photo thing? Not sure I want evidence of me looking like a startled rabbit.....lol

A friend of mine was activated on TV,, Campbell Live. I didnt see it at the time but watched the video on internet. Elena is the "face" of Pindrop, the foundation that has been set up to raise funds for CI here in NZ, so she pops up in magazines, newpapers etc on a regular basis. She asked if I would do the same to encourage the oldies!! as she is only 33.

Over the weekend I met up with my half sister who was implanted about 2 years ago (lives up North so I dont see her much) She doesnt seem to be nearly as good as most other people I have met with CI, tho the family says she is much better. I am wondering what makes the difference with peoples success, is it age, length of time without hearing or some other cause????

Answers anyone????
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Raykat said:
R2D2 said:
Great to hear the healing has gone well. Get your girlfriend to take a photo or mini video of you at the moment of activation. They will first set the softest and loudest levels for each of the electrodes, which is a bit tedious and then you'll go live!


Did you do this photo thing? Not sure I want evidence of me looking like a startled rabbit.....lol

A friend of mine was activated on TV,, Campbell Live. I didnt see it at the time but watched the video on internet. Elena is the "face" of Pindrop, the foundation that has been set up to raise funds for CI here in NZ, so she pops up in magazines, newpapers etc on a regular basis. She asked if I would do the same to encourage the oldies!! as she is only 33.

Over the weekend I met up with my half sister who was implanted about 2 years ago (lives up North so I dont see her much) She doesnt seem to be nearly as good as most other people I have met with CI, tho the family says she is much better. I am wondering what makes the difference with peoples success, is it age, length of time without hearing or some other cause????

Answers anyone????
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Onset of deafness and length of time can be a factor but not always. Post linguals adults do better with CIs than prelingual adults. Some people are just more successful with CIs than others.
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Raykat said:
R2D2 said:
Over the weekend I met up with my half sister who was implanted about 2 years ago (lives up North so I dont see her much) She doesnt seem to be nearly as good as most other people I have met with CI, tho the family says she is much better. I am wondering what makes the difference with peoples success, is it age, length of time without hearing or some other cause????

Answers anyone????
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My 2 cents is that there are many factors like the condition of the remaining surviving nerves in the cochlea play a big part as well the skill of the surgeon in getting a good insertion along with the individual physical makeup of the auditory system. The adaptability of the mind to the new way of processing the sounds into something that is very detailed and natual to one’s viewpoint. While there can be some generalizations made it is very possible for a prelingual adult with a CI to outshine quite a few Postlinguals CI users
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Raykat said:
Did you do this photo thing? Not sure I want evidence of me looking like a startled rabbit.....lol
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Yes, I did. I didn't feel too fussed at the time but now I like to look back at that photo. I wasn't looking startled. I was laughing because it sounded so terrible.

Over the weekend I met up with my half sister who was implanted about 2 years ago (lives up North so I dont see her much) She doesnt seem to be nearly as good as most other people I have met with CI, tho the family says she is much better. I am wondering what makes the difference with peoples success, is it age, length of time without hearing or some other cause????
Answers anyone????
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It's hard to say for sure without knowing anything about her background. I agree with John that sometimes results can be so variable that prelinguals do better than post linguals! However, the strongest patterns would be the level of auditory verbal function from early childhood, duration of deafness, expectations and quality of rehabilitation and follow up. CIs can function well even when some of the electrodes are not successfully inserted or cannot be used, so I'm not too sure if this is a big factor.
 
R2D2 said:
Yes, I did. I didn't feel too fussed at the time but now I like to look back at that photo. I wasn't looking startled. I was laughing because it sounded so terrible.



It's hard to say for sure without knowing anything about her background. I agree with John that sometimes results can be so variable that prelinguals do better than post linguals! However, the strongest patterns would be the level of auditory verbal function from early childhood, duration of deafness, expectations and quality of rehabilitation and follow up. CIs can function well even when some of the electrodes are not successfully inserted or cannot be used, so I'm not too sure if this is a big factor.
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Have just been emailing with Elena, who got activated live on TV! She says much the same as the above. One thing that may bein my favour is that I have always worn h/a whilst Trudy, my sister never wore one until a few years ago. She is my half sister from birth family which has a lot of deafness and wouldnt wear h/a until I bugged her to try it. The surgeon said he was really happy with the result so hopefully all the electrodes are in the right place. I have had absolutely no numbness except for tip of ear, no tinnitus or giddiness which is great.
 
Raykat said:
Have just been emailing with Elena, who got activated live on TV! She says much the same as the above. One thing that may bein my favour is that I have always worn h/a whilst Trudy, my sister never wore one until a few years ago. She is my half sister from birth family which has a lot of deafness and wouldnt wear h/a until I bugged her to try it. The surgeon said he was really happy with the result so hopefully all the electrodes are in the right place. I have had absolutely no numbness except for tip of ear, no tinnitus or giddiness which is great.
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I'd say that this is the reason why she hasn't done as well with the CI as hoped. Decent early exposure to sound, even if it's with HAs, is a significant factor that influences adult outcomes with CIs. I have an adult friend who never had any sound prior to his CI as an adult and he had to turn it off after a year as he couldn't stand the sounds. It gave him terrible headaches.

Wow, it sounds like you've had a good recovery! :) You've just got to get through the weekend and you'll be on activation day.
 
It's the 31st March! Thinking of you as you get activated today :)
 
Just got home, for some reason everything that sounded soooo loud at the audies now seems to have dissappeared. Of course its set very soft so I will get it cranked up tomorrow. All I have heard today are very loud beeps and spikes of sound, the high frequencies that I have never hear before. But now it is so quiet, just as if nothing is working. I passed the inital tests with flying colors, 100% in in a couple of word length and sentence recognition tests so I am very happy with that.
 
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