Sunday 20th July 2008 - My CI surgeon retirement party

I dashed down the motorways from Chester back down to the South of England to arrive in time for my CI Surgeon's surprise retirement party. He has done a really good job in my CI op and so I really wanted to be at the party to send him Best Wishes for retirement and to say Thanks. It was a great party and whilst there, I met another CI user who was implanted as an adult who has grown up in the Deaf World and use BSL. That was a relief for me as she was the first one I met since my CI op. We got talking very quickly and became good friends. I told her about my ups and downs with the CI and she was happy to give me guidance on how to cope with the adjustments as she has been there before. We then made arrangements to meet up for a Chinese meal. Whilst at the party I got asked if I would like to say anything to our CI surgeon about how the CI has helped me on video. I agreed and on the video I thanked our surgeon and told him about the new sounds that I can now hear.