Lots of things going on this weekend….so let me start….

Firstly, congrats to my friend Paul Schwartzmyer who completed a whole day’s worth of spinning courses on his way to being certified as a spinning instructor. Michelle better watch out now!! Paul is the one who wrote the article cited in my earlier posting A Spiritual Perspective.

I received an email from Advanced Bionics. They want to link Welcome to Sam Spritzer’s Web Site to their listing of other cochlear implant user’s blogs. I, of course, am honored and accepted the invitation!

I will be going to my first Buffalo Implant Group meeting on February 26th where Tina Childress, an audiologist with Advanced Bionics will be making a presentation about bilateral implants.

Another small step and something new…my younger son, Dan, and I went to the Buffalo Auto Show yesterday. The noise was absolutely overwhelming. But guess what?! I could actually carry a conversation with little difficulty meaning that the CI did it’s job in helping make my lip-reading skills easier. I know it is hard to explain but I did not have to ask the other person to repeat what they said. BUT…because I hear myself louder than usual, I was actually speaking so softly they couldn’t hear me (Maybe my sister will finally stop waving her hand as if to tell me to speak softer!!).

Last night I was watching NASCAR with the sound on, of course. This is something I didn’t do with the hearing aid since I would have had to crank the tv up so loud that everyone would leave the room (and house). So mute with the captions on was a way of life until recently. I was actually able to follow about 10% of the conversation without the captions. Again, this isn’t with the CI alone but rather with lip-reading which has become easier.

Ok…who sounds so good now…two of the greatest rock guitarists…Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Unfortunately, the speakers do sound crappy. But new tires for Steph’s Maxima had to come first! I wonder what kind of system I could have gotten for $600? Right now, I am listening to Led Zeppelin’s soundtrack from the movie The Song Remains the Same. This is where one can really appreciate John Bonham because being a live concert, I could actually pick him out jumping from drums to percussions to drums so very clearly. And I could actually pick out when John Paul Jones is on the electric keyboard versus the guitar. And there is no mistaken when Jimmy Page and Robert Plant are the focus. And again as I am still learning, I had to ask Steph a few times if it was too loud.

So lets see…after one week….

Lip-reading has gotten easier and in turn, conversations have gotten easier
Music sounds awesome
People are starting to sound less cartoonish and more intelligible
Tinnitus is still a concern although not as bad as in the beginning
Background noises are becoming more conspicuous and identifiable
I am speaking more softer
I am beginning to think…lets do the other side!

OH yea…..next week is my first race of the season. Weather permitting, I will be doing the Buffalo Botanical Gardens Dash for the Dome.