Today was time for my six month mapping. I was really trying to figure out what kind of adjustments to make. But first a trip to the sound booth. There was an improvement as my sound levels improved from 30 decibels to 25, and I was able to get about 85% of the words. Not bad! The interesting part is you never know the improvements are there until you’re tested.

Then we went to make some adjustments but instead, we decided to try something different. When I wake up in the morning, I always start out with both CIs at their lowest settings to avoid shocking the brain into oblivion. And sometimes I leave it there. It really doesn’t sound bad. Sound is softer and not necessarily lower. Whether the dial is at 7 or 12, the same amount of sound still comes in. This is known as the IDR (Input Dynamic Range). Its like a window. The recommended setting for my device, the Advanced Bionics Harmony is 60. So if 100 is the maximum, that means the window is about two-thirds open. We decided to try to open the window by raising the IDR to 80. I was warned that because more sound will be processed and since we were in a small room, it would be overwhelming.

So, I got outside and all of a sudden sound has more clarity and crispiness to it. I could actually hear squishing of the gum I was chewing. It was like sound had an extra dimension to it. As I was texting my CI buddies the results, Jennifer of Surround Stereo asked me what it sounded like. After much thought…..Colorful!

Also, a great big shout-out Abbie of Chronicles of a Bionic Woman. Abbie underwent the knife, gas and all, to become bi-lateral last Monday. Go check out her blog for her humorous take of the surgery!

And for those of you who follow my running adventures, I’ll be doing the Bengal Run, 9:30 AM on the campus of Buffalo State. If I break the 23 minute mark, I will consider it a good start to the running season!