The New Tests

There are some new tests that are being put through studies with Med-El to determine reliability, and all of that fancy stuff they need to do before releasing for use across the country. A couple of you asked what they are like and here is your answer. They are challenging...very challenging compared the the CUNY or HINT.

The first test (easiest) is two different people talking in quiet. You never know which person is going to talk but at least it is quiet.

The second test (middle) is two different people talking in noise. The noise on this test is not just the static white noise that we are used to. The background noise is other people talking. It is kind of like being in a fairly loud restaurant trying to follow two different people.

The third test (hardest) is four different people talking in noise just like I described above. This test is challenging.

All of the tests involve both males and females and no two tests are the same. However I will say that it is not the voices that trip me up as much as what they are saying.

In the HINT (the current hardest test) you might bet something like "the mother baked a cake." Not very difficult to interpret out of context like we do in a sound booth. The new test....the sentences are like this (this is one from the first test that I never forget) "He was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things." All of the sentences are like that and some are more difficult and longer than this one. I think the sentence structure and vocabulary make these tests more difficult.

Anyways...to answer the question about my current audiogram. Both ears are hovering at 20 decibels right now. They were a little higher in places...but this past visit I had the audiologist turn me down. I had too much power going through my head. It was funny that I actually told an audiologist to turn me down because I have always fought with audiologists to get more power than they would give me.

Anyways...I am off to class.

Three month update--Eight month update

Okay so I went to Chapel Hill last week. Everything was fabulous. Of course I had a minor panic attack on the way there. As I was driving the long miserable drive I noticed that my right cochlear implant was cutting in and out. I started to panic. Well as I got closer to the hospital...it completely cut out. I was freaking out at this point. I got to the ENT office and checked in, then it was time to try to figure out what was happening. I started by switching out the cable connecting the coil and the processor, and voila....no more problems. I knew the cable would go bad and need to be replaced at some point but I did not know what would happen when it did need to be replaced. Well now I do and it was not fun!

When I got back to audiology with Marcia I had her check my residual hearing in both ears to see how it was doing. I still have all of my residual hearing in my right ear, which I am pleased with. My left ear is gone, I knew it was but it was nice to have this confirmation. The loss of residual in my left ear is probably due to the multiple insertions that took place when trying to get the electrode in that did not want to go in. My residual hearing is not important to me, rather I have found it interesting that it has stuck around this long.

Marcia put me in the booth for testing. She of course had to administer the more difficult tests that are being used as a part of the research where I get to be a guinea pig. Whoo! Anyways...remarkable improvement since the first time I took these tests.

The first time testing...May ----and now

Easiest of the three tests...68% (may).....now 96%

Middle of the tests...40s (May)....now upper 80s.

Hardest of the tests....60s (May)....now 92%

I was not expecting this type of gain for the tests...but I am pleased that I am continuing to make progress daily. The implants do sound better with each day, surprisingly. The brain is remarkable.

I will be traveling to UNC for some research (I get paid) regarding to the new tests they are trying to develop in the clinic.

But for now I don't have to go back until November unless they tell me otherwise.

Hope all the others that read this are doing well with their new ears!

Lauren

I hate moving!!!

This weekend has been miserably strenuous. We moved this weekend and I could just about pull my hair out from trying to get everything done. I have decided....whether we like it or not....we are staying here for at least two years. I am not packing all of our stuff up again.

Anyways....the CIs are still awesome. I am looking forward to my appointment in July to see how things have progressed over the past month or so. The new place we are in makes some annoying noises....the dryer in particular at the moment. The darn thing squeaks and it is driving me CRAZY!!

Anyways....I am exhausted and hoping I can make it through the week alive as I start summer school classes for my Master's this week.

Yipee!

Lauren

Elk River Falls--fun sounds

Kevin and I were bored this morning so we went out for an adventure. We went for a hike to the Elk River Falls. It was fun, no one was around, and the weather was perfect. The sound of the falls was amazing...it was a lot louder than I expected. I loved every moment of it though. The only thing I was wary of was the water. We climbed out on the rocks to sit in front of the falls and I was paranoid about falling and my implants going in the water, or better yet, them falling off my head and never being found again. Either way...I had a blast and I still have two implants! I know I am weird, don't bother telling me that. We noticed one thing at the falls that would take a brave soul...I would never do it. At the top of the falls there was a rope tied into a tree. We assume that it is used for people to jump off the falls, however I personally don't think that would be a great idea.

It was a great morning and we had a blast...we are very fortunate to live so close to beautiful things in nature. These falls are about 20 minutes from our house.

Anyways here is a picture of the main fall. The others are just small falls that flow into this one, and a few that go out.

This is me and Kevin being silly. I was trying to take a picture of us sitting on the rocks at the bottom of the falls.

A fun morning....now back to writing a paper!

Have a great weekend!

First Official Bilateral Mapping

Today has been a long day, but well worth it in the end. Today was my first mapping since I went bilateral three weeks ago. The results were awesome and unexpected...especially by me.

I have been activated for two weeks today with the new ear. I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

On the tests (new ear only)....
Hint in Quiet 96%
Hint in Noise with SNR of 10dB 97%

They did not do the CNC test on the new ear. However they did do a new test with both implants. I am one person involved in the initial use of the new assessment. It was very interesting and much more difficult than the HINT or the CNC. I did well on that assessment as well. We did not go into great depths with that assessment today, just one list from each category.

I am just glad that I don't have to drive back to Chapel Hill until July....YAY!!! I have been up and down the road a lot lately, it is tiring.

Also best wishes to Sara as she has her first CI surgery this Wednesday!!

This is an answer to some of my visitors' questions. First of all THANK YOU for all of your well wishes and excitement for me. To answer one of your questions about things I am hearing now. I am hearing the same things I heard before, only better and clearer. There is one thing though that I did not hear until I received the new implant. I heard crickets for the first time. They were amazing. I just stood out onthe back porch and listened to them.

Have a GREAT week!!

Things are continuing to get better...matter of fact they are AWESOME!!! I never thought I would say that I am actually looking forward to an audiologist appointment at UNC next week to test my ears, but I am! Things are sounding marvelous, but some times a tad too loud. We will have to play with my thresholds next week. We had my right ear up to 15-25dB across the frequencies. When we activated the new ear last week we did not check thresholds, but I think between the two that maybe they are just a tad loud. OR it could be the people around me. I know everyone is used to talking louder for me and now they don't have to, but they still are out of habit. I am trying to find "nice" ways to tell people to speak normal!

Anyways...all is well and I LOVE having two ears. After five months with only one ear I am thrilled to have two ears. I never thought I would say this...but I am actually looking forward to my graduate class tonight....I want to see how much better I can hear!

Have a great day!

The First Couple of Days with 2 CIs

Well the first few days of both CIs have been very interesting. Things have dramatically improved. The bells that I was hearing the first day are gone. I am not hearing those anymore, which I love. I do still occasionally hear a bell if something drops or anything like that. The "voices" in my head have started to merge into one central voice. By voices...I am talking about how my ears sound. One ear sounds like Darth Vader. The other ear sounds like chipmunks. They have started merging together in my brain...I am now for the most part only hearing one voice.

Things are a lot easier to hear. I am able to hear conversation entirely without speechreading at all. This is a huge benefit, and I love it. I was able to talk on the phone with my new ear. I was talking to mom, so it was a familiar voice but I was not expecting to be able to do this. I am doing well with the new ear...I have been doing some therapy. I am able to use the new ear alone and understand about 95% of conversation without speechreading right now. I am hoping this will continue to improve as time goes on....I know it will.

But for now I am extremely satisfied with both implants...I do not regret having the second ear implanted by any means, even though they were not able to achieve deep insertion with the electrode. It has drastically changed what I can hear. I am actually looking forward to my first graduate class since the second implant to see how things are different in class....I am not looking forward to class on other terms because I have yet to complete all of the work from when I was out for surgery...that will be my weekend.