What a day! First it started off with the local tv station ticker across the bottom of the screen announcing the closings for the day and that included “Buffalo Hearing and Speech ECP”. It turned out to be the Early Childhood Program in the Southtowns which were getting walloped by our famous lake effect snow storms. After spending a couple of hours at the gym and then heading to the office to get some reports done, Steph and I were on our way downtown. We got there like 15 minutes early but the audiologists weren’t ready until 15 after so all told, we waited a half hour. No biggie as it gave Steph enough time to take care of Dan’s dental appointment. Ok ok ok…enough said…here goes…

Before we could get started, we had to spend some time getting headpiece to stick to the internal piece. Either my skull is too thick or the healing isn’t completed. Anyway, activation started off with programming each of the 16 electrodes for comfortable sound levels. I was handed a numbered chart from 1 to 10 with 5 being comfortable and had to tell Michelle and Joanne (Kelly, a student from UB also sat nearby) what number I thought I was hearing. To tell you the truth, I had no clue since this was my right ear of which I rarely wore my hearing aid in. After some listening, I decided to settle into the current settings based on how strong I was hearing sound as if it was tinnitus especially since my right ear is more sensitive to the highs than my left and better ear. The funny part about this was I thought I was hearing tinnitus when it was actually sound! The beeps weren’t tinnitus…they were actually beeps!!! From an audiogram perspective, there really isn’t much of a difference between the two but I find my right ear much more highs sensitive than the left. On the other hand, the focus was going to be to get the highs set properly, at first. Finally came the time to turn on the processor for the first time. WOW!!

Everything sounded (and still does) mechanical, kind of like robotic; more so like squeaky cartoons on a really bad tv speaker. Words sounded broken. It was like with a 2 syllable word, I couldn’t hear the first syllable but I could hear the second syllable and vice versa. Indistinguishable sounds were easy to understand…the chair arms wiggling, tapping fingers, crumbling paper. Spoken words were heard but not understandable but I am sure that will come with time. After everything was set for the first time and two programs were made…Hi Res P and Hi Res S. They actually don’t sound that much different but then again, nothing is suppose to on the first day. So for today, it will be P and tomorrow will be S and Thursday, which is an other mapping session will be the better of the two assuming I can tell the difference. And then we debated whether I should wear the hearing aid along with the CI. Michelle and Joanne both suggested that if it made me feel more comfortable, wear it at work and take it off at home. But I decided that if I am going to make this work as best as possible, the hearing aid will stay off for the time being.

We finally left a couple of hours later…and more new sounds, some of which I knew and others which I could hear but softer than with the CI – the turn signal, wind noise outside the truck, the engine reving, my wet shoes squeaking on the rubber mat. After dropping Steph off at home, I decided ok…time to go to work and get that crowd out of the way. Well, a little disappointment…my good friend Dan parked his car in my parking spot with his front end crumbled, the result of a 9 car pileup on the 290. Poor guy, you really have to feel sorry for him.

Anyway, in the office for the first time. LOTSA NOISE..lotsa talking! Everyone sounded like a cartoon protest! Noise coming from the damn soda machine; the paper shredder…geez, will someone throw the piece of crap out the door!! Crumbling paper…thats another loud sound. I probably spent a good hour taking in congratulations, explaining what I am hearing (and not hearing), and answering the same question over and over and over and over….”Can you hear me?” Well yea, I can hear you but I have no clue what you are saying (thank goodness for lip-reading!). Even when taking a leak….”can you hear me?”

Fast forward to the end of the day…boy, it’s exhausting. My poor brain getting bombarded and I bet it will be glad when I shut it down for the night…anyway for a first day I have to say it has met my expectations so far. I even stopped on my way home and picked up a pocket notebook so I can note my observations. While there are alot of things that I am familiar with from wearing the hearing aid, tere were a few new sounds – the beep on Dan’s cell phone, Steph chopping onions in the next room, oil splattering in the frying pan, the stove pilot light. Sounds that need working on – female voices 5 feet away are hardly distinguishable and male voices are too soft. Both are like I mentioned about the 2 syllable word, above, where I hear one syllable but not the other.

Thats it for now…tomorrow will be another day! Time to unpack the big box with all the fancy devices and beautiful bag…NO STEPH CAN’T HAVE IT!!! Gotta get some batteries charged for tomorrow.