What is THAT noise?!!!

Second switch on last Friday was more eventful than the first.

Hooking me up to the computer, Jackie started by going through all the electrodes again, upping the sound to a higher level 'just tell me when it is comfortable...' she said starting at electrode 22, then 21, then 20, going all the way back down to 2... I discovered Electrode 1 is perma-off as during the testing after the operation, it set off the facial machine. No one told me that! When it was switched back on, I was expecting things to be higher more definition, but disappointingly it wasn't. It was basically just the same just... louder. Trying to adjust a few things Jackie tried a few combinations but I wasn't noticing any major difference only the voices did go from squeaky to underwater to monotone-nasal... urgh! Jackie decided to try out a few sentences and I was to repeat was I hearing, counting the number of correct words Jackie announced I was hearing 12% using my CI. I was so shocked! Pre-CI with the hearing aid I was getting 21% in my left ear... a drop from 21% to 12% wasn't how I estimate myself to be going.

Sensing my disappointment, Jackie had an idea, and switched off the implant to try a different map. When she switch it back on, I swear, I heard her say almost CLEARLY "Well, how is that?" the second she spoke I was about to respond excitedly when my entire left side of my face just crumbled into a gigantic twitching frenzy. Jackie went pale "oh sorry!" and immediately switch the implant off. "Hmmm, there's an electrode that is causing trouble, we need to find out which ones and isolated them." But my time was already up and I had to go to AR, Jackie decided to leave it til the next appointment.

Before she left, I was back on the new map that we had measured out. She switched me back on the old map from the first switch on, it really hit me just how low the old one was in contrast to the new one! Hmmm, okay that has got to be positive right?

Heading into AR with Catherine the speech therapist, she asked how I did in Mapping session, discussing the 12% score I got for 5 sentences. Catherine pointed out that I was only '4/5 words' short of 21% and not to be too hard on myself, apparently it was perfectly normal for new CI'ers to drop back <10% and grow back up and beyond their score after a few months. Her best advice to me was to wear the implant as often as I can (which I am doing) and follow the listening exercises as much as possible. This will require a lot of free time that I am already tight for coming up to Christmas. I got an audio book to listen to with the book to read as I follow the audio, the plan is to train myself to recognise the vocal sounds. Sounds easy enough, but the hardest part is finding the time to do it... I have a hard enough time keeping a blog updated!

A next appointment was sourced for me the following Tuesday to find the rouge electrode. The re-tuning and mapping started again, each electrode was tested, higher and higher. By the time we got to the last electrode (2) I motioned it was comfortable to go higher, then all of a sudden my left eye started to twitch manically. It wasn't sore, just involuntary twitching. Jackie brought the level down and made a note on it in the file - Electrode 2 (E2) will not be going any higher in the future. A new map was created for me with E2 switch on low and another with E2 switched off completely and a third with E2 off for quiet places. Plus a new fourth programme with auto-sensitivity that adjusts the sensitivity in noisy places.

I went back to work on Monday, the clicking keyboards, the whirl of the photocopier-printer had me distracted. But the amazing thing was in the kitchen, when I went down to join two colleagues for lunch, there was a loud tapping noise. I couldn't join in the conversation at all it was so loud... Finally I copped on it was the clock on the wall! I had never heard that before! Telling my colleagues - both couldn't hear it at all - they were amazed that I found it annoyingly loud and distracting!

Like people's individual footprints noise, I have started to realise that vehicles have their own individual sound too. Some of them I actually hear them before I see them others they have to be on top of me - I'd see them before I hear them. But voices are still squeaky/cartoonish - I've given up on trying making sense of speech... it'll happen sometime I hope!