Cochlear Implant - first sounds

Five weeks after the cochlear implant operation, it was finally switched on this morning. First sounds heard were my voice and the audiologist’s and we both had high pitched and squeaky voices. Yuk! The audiologist tried to re-assure me it was normal but I wasn’t convinced. Not happy but went to a nearby café for an hour to wait for the next appointment. I couldn’t hear my footsteps but could hear myself blowing and whistling. The traffic was muffled. Bought coffee and a flapjack and found a table. 5 metres away, 2 gents were talking I could actually hear their conversations although I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Good progress. It was graduation day at Southampton University, so the café filled up and all I could hear was high squeaky voices but the noise wasn’t unbearable.

I went back to see the audiologist and asked her if the volume could be increased. She agreed and I was able to hear more sounds including the letter ‘s’ and ‘sssshhhh’. Went through series of simple tests and could recognise every sound and passed 100%. Very pleased.

Popped in Waitrose on way home and could hear squeaky trolleys and shoes! Arrived home and walked around the garden with Alex. I could hear my feet scuttling across the grass and a dog barking in the distance. No birds though. I will try to listen them tomorrow morning.

The kitchen is noisy and I could even hear myself munching my lunch. Will try be quieter with my eating habits!

A positive start and I will post any new sounds I hear over the coming weeks. I made one mistake today though and that is I reacted when Sian called my name. I can’t ignore her anymore!