2nd Mapping (7/16/12) & extra news!

PROGRAM 8

This was a really neat day. We were all standing around getting ready for dinner and my mom was getting food and I was off facing the other way doing something and my mom asks, “Does Mallory want any mushrooms?” and I answered, “No, I don’t want any mushrooms.” I turn around and they are all staring at me shocked and it took me a minute to realize what I just did. Tara asked me, “You heard and understood that?” and I said “well I guess I did!?” Pretty awesome day!

2^ND MAPPING

We went back to Dallas and had to drive because we didn’t get flight tickets in time. We got to the doctor’s office at 3 and I went in and said hi to Kristin. She’s so cool and she even read my blog! I’m glad she’s my audiologist AND she’s from Midland! Anyways, I told her about all the programs and how I did. We did the same test as last time when I had to count the beeps and that’s how she maps out where I am. I also told her about paper and water bugging me and she said that’s a common complaint and that it will get better. After she was done mapping she had me go and check the fountain in the hospital to see if the water was still bugging me or not and I said it still sounds weird, but it’s not too overbearing. She had to do a hearing test with the CI and she said I did well, but there were times that I would say yes and she didn’t do anything. She asked if I still had ringing in my ears and I said yes so that was the problem there. She said I was doing very very good so far!

After seeing Kristin, we were running late to my AVT appointment with Linda. We got in and she also mentioned my blog and asked how I was doing. Then we moved on to see how I did on the understanding. She did small short stories and read them one sentence at a time and I was supposed to repeat after her then I had to repeat back the whole story. On the first short story, I got about a 60% then after that I got better and better and got to 100% by the last story. She said that my brain was learning to focus even more every time and that it was absorbing all the information. Linda is a very awesome lady, she kept me smiling because she was just so surprised that I’ve came this far already. She kept saying “isn’t she INCREDIBLE?” and “WOW!” It made me feel good and I’m just so happy that I’m progressing so well and that I have a good person to do my AVT with!

We had to drive home that night and driving out of Dallas was fun and we got to go over a very pretty bridge. We had a good dinner at Chilli’s in Weatherford, they had an amazing Sirloin! After that we had to drive in the rain, hit some loose gravel and saw some pretty darn stupid people in the road. It was a very long drive home but I’d like to say I’m very thankful for my VERY supportive Mom who came with me during this trip. I love you Mom, you’re an amazing Mom and thank you for all you do. I feel like this is flying by and it’s nothing like I thought it was going to be, it’s better.

PROGRAM 9

This was a very neat program. Some sounds are clearer but the one thing that stood out the most and yes, I admit I got a little emotional, is the music. I turned on the CD in my car on my way back to work from lunch today (7/17/12) and it so happens to be one of the few songs that I know the lyrics to. It was Lips of an Angel by Hinder. I could hear every single word around the music and some words I couldn’t understand but I’ll get there soon enough. I teared up because it’s been a very long time, if ever, since I was able to hear that. I always thought it was weird that the music would drown out some of the words, but I found out I was wrong today. The music supports the voice and the words behind the song. I can’t wait to hear more songs and be able to listen to them. I heard Memaw on this channel without looking at her lips without any of our speech training. I remember before with my hearing aid I would ask “What?” With everything and I would get annoyed because I couldn’t seem to understand anything anymore and when all of this happened with the CI I realized that my hearing did get REALLY bad and it wasn’t benefitting me anymore. With the CI, I am asking “What?” less and less with every program or I try to guess what they say if I’m not sure and most of the time I get it right. It’s really strange being at work and being able to hear some of what is going on in the office next to me. It’s just one of those things that I have to learn how to tune out instead of stopping and listening to it all the time, but it’s really bittersweet and I won’t tune it out for awhile. I don’t have to jump at everyone that pops up at my office door; I can hear them coming now. Every once in awhile there would be a sneaky person with quiet shoes that I didn’t hear. Also at work, I had to scan something and I clicked the little touch screen and it beeped every time I touched it and I never even knew that! The kids are still hard for me to understand, I can hear certain words that they say directly to me and clearly, but I need more training with them. I plan on changing to program 10 tonight. I really enjoyed this channel but there are still some things that need tuning like voices. Voices, I know I’m understanding better and better every day and I’m shocked that I can even understand more than I think, but it still doesn’t quite sound right, it’s hard to explain what it sounds like. I’m really blessed that the sounds didn’t turn out as creepy as I imagined them to be so far, there were some weird sounds but nothing that scared me or annoyed me too much. It’s funny to think back that I had nightmares and was stressing about this whole thing, but it really has turned out to be a positive journey and I’m surprised I’m not more stressed than I am. The most stressful part is at the beginning of every channel, but I get used to it pretty quickly! Paper sounds better, I still don’t like it but it’s more tolerable. Water sounds better; I think I’ve learned to tune it out here at work because there’s a huge fountain here that drives me crazy. It’s funny because I didn’t even think of the fountain being an issue.

EXCITING NEWS!!!

My adorable baby sister is FINALLY engaged to Jason!! Words cannot explain how happy I am for them, they are such a loving great couple that love each other very much, I can tell in their eyes every time I'm with them. They are such a joy to be around. I can't wait to be beside them on the day they say "I DO!"

BONUS

As you guys know, I like to run and work out and i'm so excited to be getting back to working out as I gained 8+ pounds from worrying and stressing about the surgery. I got a new Road ID bracelet today and updated that I had a Cochlear Implant. It gives me a peace of mind that if anything should happen that they'll have my information on hand. SO, Road ID gave me a code for all of my friends and readers that if you want to get one that you can put in a code to have $1 off...

Go to roadid.com and there are 6 different bands and all sorts of different things on there if you prefer another one... and put in the code: ThanksMallory17655608 (it's only good for 30 days!)