With today being mapping session #4, it turned out to be somewhat of a minor setback. I was hoping to upgrade to Fidelity 120, a strategy that is suppose to be a more natural improvement over the Hi-Res version I am currently using. Instead, Michelle and Joanne tirelessly worked through an hour of tweaking in an attempt to eliminate the involuntary facial twitching I was getting. This is due to my facial nerve being very closer to the electrical field of the implant. Its rare but it can happen…guess it had to be me….bummer! First, we tried turning each of the electrodes (there are 16 of them) on and off. We were able to isolate the twitching sensitivity to one of the electrodes so instead, a limit was placed on how strong it can fire. But still, certain sounds such as hands clapping were causing the twitch. Not that I can avoid situations that may possess a problem or lower the volume, but it is absolutely important that we eliminate anything, absolutely anything, that can cause the twitching. If I don’t address this problem now, it will get worse and possibly irreversible. I do have to say that both Michelle and Joanne are so very dedicated to their work. While Michelle was doing the tweaking, Joanne was on the phone with Advanced Bionics. And the consensus was to lower the volume and give the nerve a chance to quiet down. At the same time, I am back with “Old Faithful” in my left ear at least until the next mapping session which is March 22nd. The idea was to let the left ear take some of the pressure off of the implanted ear. After a couple of hours, it actually sounds so good I might keep it that way. At least until I get my left ear implanted.