Don't Cry for Me Argentina

What has this title got to do with the cochlear implant one may say. Well, I went to see the play, Evita, last Friday at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton. It was 'stage-texted' which is theatre captioning similar to television subtitling, so I was able to follow every word in every song. The play was fantastic. Although I was able to hear most of the words, they sounded harsh and sometimes hollow. I couldn't really hear the notes. Hopefully, they will improve over time. However, I was able to differentiate some of the musical instruments. Next month, I will see Les Miserables, again with stage-text, so hopefully there will be some improvement.

It is almost three months since the cochlear implant was switched on and it continues to amaze me. I now have three different programs in my cochlear implant:

• ClearVoice which focuses on speech and compresses the background noises. I have this on most of the time
• Outside - the ClearVoice option is switched off, so that I can hear the environment noises - very useful for cycling and walking in the town.
• UltraZoom - it is used when I am in a very noisy environment such as in a pub / cafe. It focuses on the person I am talking to and almost cuts off the background noise.

I frequently switch programs depending where I am and each really works. A couple of weeks ago, I met a great friend of mine at a lovely pub near Regent Street, London called The Windmill. It makes delicious homemade pies. My concern was that it is a noisy pub and my friend has a strong Yorkshire accent which is difficult to lip-read as many deaf people would agree. My fear was allayed when I switched to the 'UltraZoom' program and I could hear every word he said. I was very impressed. This has given me much confidence to go out more.

Very shortly, I will have telephone sessions which I will learn to use the telephone starting with simple words and not changing the subject too often. The plan is that over time I will gain confidence using the telephone and not have to rely on my family too heavily. My family will be relieved if this happens!

For a trial, I have been selected to use a remote device called ComPilot which is like a small remote controller. As well as allowing to switch programs more easily, it will enable me to connect seamlessly to Bluetooth enabled devices such as mobile phones, laptops, ipads and even televisions. The trial will start sometime in the New Year. Incredible piece of technology and I can't wait!