Environmental Setting

I noticed right off the bat with this setting that everything was quieter and I didn't like it. I am going to have Kristin turn it up a little bit on Friday because I don't think i'm hearing and understanding as much as I did before but it is still working, I just prefer it to be a little louder.

The settings, however, are AWESOME! The first time I tried, I went to the bar with my friends and I changed it to the "noise" setting and it decreased the background noise and put me in a "bubble" so I heard noise closer to me better. I could hear everyone at the table and it just amazed me because I've never been able to do that! Bars and noisy places usually stress me out, but now... it's a totally different experience and i'm loving it!

I also got several comments from different people that I am louder and more confident in myself and a few have said that my personality is changing. They also said that my speech is improving and they can tell that i'm working on it. I love hearing comments like this, It makes me realize how much of a difference the CI is making and in my opinion, it's for the better. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be able to get this done. I admit, I do think "why didn't I do this before"?  But, I know the answer already, I wasn't ready and I know that deep in the back of my head, I was waiting for better technology than they had 10 years ago and my hearing aids were working just fine until recently so I never saw a reason to. It's really funny to look back on my blog and conversations because I was SO nervous and unsure about getting it done and now it's one of the best things that has ever happened to me!

I also heard Locusts for the first time this last weekend when I went camping with my family. I had made my Dad turn off the music because it was just too loud and I couldn't hear anybody. The music was off and I was sitting there and I was still aggrivated by something but I couldn't tell what it was so I finally asked my mom what that sound was because it was really loud. She looked at me with a smile on her face and said can you hear the Locusts? I said is that what it is? She said yes! I have never heard that sound before, while that is life changing, It was very annoying! At the time, I didn't think about changing the setting to eliminate the background noise until the next night. On Saturday night, it finally dawned on me to change the setting so the noise wasn't so bad. It was amazing, it completely eliminated the locusts and I could hear the music at a decent level and I could still listen to everyone talking. This technology is amazing!

I need to start using and playing with the settings more because now I realize that it does help in certain situations but I am just not used to it. With the hearing aid, I was used to having just one setting. If I didn't like it in that situation, too bad. With the CI, I can change the settings and make it comfortable for me and I really like that. The only settings that I haven't used much is the music setting and the focus setting, I plan on using the focus setting in class one night and see how it works and I need to get my iTunes set up so I can start my music journey!

In short, everything is going great and it's crazy how the CI keeps shocking not only me but everyone around me. It truely is an amazing adventure. I go to Dallas again this weekend for my 4th mapping. I'm excited to have a weekend with my Mom!