Programmed

Since having the cochlear implant re-tweaked last Wednesday, the voices are no longer cackling. Hurray! In fact, voices sound more familiar except that I am still hearing the letters 's' and 't' in the speech which are very important. The benefits of having a CI over a hearing-aid are now reaping and becoming more apparent.

I was having a session with a speech therapist and she left me momentarily in a room. It was very quiet that you could hear a pin drop. I suddenly heard a sharp high pitched rhythm. I looked around and realised the sound was coming from the second hand of a large office clock. I now understand why guests take out batteries from clocks in the bedroom! Must be quite irritating.

I have two new programmes on the processor. One is called "Outside". I mentioned to the audiologist that the traffic noises sounded somewhat muted. The main reason is that the CI is programmed for speech and other sounds are compressed and compromised. This 'Outside' programme could be used for example when walking in the high street and cycling. I tried it when I went for a bike ride and it was definitely helpful as I was able to hear when a vehicle was about to overtake. The other programme is called 'Ultra-zoom' which should be used when listening to someone in a noisy environment such as a pub and cafe. I'm seeing someone at lunchtime and will try that out.

I did ask her if there was a such programme called 'Muted' which could be activated every time my wife speaks. Sadly there was no such thing :)

I had lunch with my work colleagues yesterday and they were all mumbling as usual. However, I was able to detect who was talking and to hear separate words although still incomprehensible. That is some improvement. Will I be able to follow the conversations in future? May be a little. Will have to wait and see.

I will be visiting the hospital once again at the end of the week, so hopefully there will be further improvements.