Monday 10th March 2008 - The sounds start coming in bit by bit

Today is the first day of the sensations of the silent vibes starting to turn into proper sound as a ‘noise’!!

I went to the CI centre this morning for my second tuning. My CI audiologist repeated the same tuning that was done last week at the initial tuning session. My audiologist who deals with my hearing aids also came along too.

I noticed a difference. The silent vibes that I felt last week during the tuning session were today heard as clear solid beeps of about 1.5 seconds long sound. These beeps were sometimes high frequencies and others were the lower ones. They were certainly much easier to pick up and that this helped the 2nd tuning. Some were too sensitive and I would inform my CI audiologist who would quieten the sound a little.

Then I had speech and language therapy and did some of the syllables tests and did fine. I was shown a computer software with this one. I was also introduced to another new cochlear implantee who is 2 years older than me, has been profoundly deaf from birth like me and have similar experience. He had his implant operation a few days before me.

I then drove to work after the hospital appointment. I think I could hear my car. But it's difficult to tell as I am so used to feeling the vibration of my car engine. I think I picked up the sound of my engine and noticing that the tone of the engine changes when you accelerate, brake and change gear, but I am not so sure whether I really heard that.

Then at the office, I just picked up the same sounds as last Friday. At work we tried to see if I could hear the phone ring yet and I couldn’t. We also tried to see if I could hear anything down the phone and still nothing. We then tried out an FM system with the cochlear implant, and yes I started to get something through that but it didn't mean anything! The sensation of my colleague's voice was more direct and other sensation of sound was cut out. Also my voice was cut out too – seems like when the implant is plugged into an external accessory it mutes the cochlear implant microphone! But still these voices were still a sensation of meaningless vibes. So we disconnected the FM system from the implant. In the evening we did some speech and listening exercises.

Later that evening, I went to Sainsburys to get some food shopping. I decided to turn off my hearing aid in my left ear and just listen with the CI in my right ear. I just got a sensation of vibes and then when I went to the drinks section to get some cans of coke, I could hear the coke landing in my trolley and then I suddenly hear a cluck cluck cluck loud and clear. I looked around to see what that was and it was a woman with heels walking in the aisle opposite me. I know as the sound I was hearing matched the rhythm and timing of her walking. I was amazed. It was nice and loud and clear and it was a sound!! There was no other sound until I got home. I still had my hearing aid off when I walked in through the back door and I could hear my footsteps on the tiles on my kitchen floor. These were loud and clear and a detailed sound!! I walked up and down my kitchen and noticed that the sound was more “dull” near my cooker and more “hollow” and “echoey” when I walked away from my cooker and units. I was so amazed. Then later as I went up the stairs I happen to knock my wall and noticed a clear sound from that. Then I tapped the banister and heard a different sound from that. I find it interesting to tap different materials to find that they emit a different sound. One thing I noticed about the difference in hearing sounds from a hearing aid and cochlear implant is that with a cochlear implant the sound is more “direct”. I feel like that with a hearing aid, I was so limited with sound (I used to hear 1% in my right ear with my hearing aid and still only hear 4% in my left) that I somewhat had to listen hard for the sound that was within my limitations without realising it. But with the CI, I didn’t have to strain, the sounds that I heard today as a clear sound came automatically and I didn’t have to strain to hear it. I am also now beginning to hear my voice and hear what it really sound like – it is beginning to sound a lot less “daleky”. I went to bed at 2am and took the implant off then.

New sounds heard today:
Footsteps
Clunking of coke cans
Knocking on vertical surfaces
My voice
Car engine – I am alittle unsure
Phone ringing – I am alittle unsure