Bionic Travels: Day Six

I’m hoping the bulk of my hearing drama is over… oh, to be so lucky! I’m not exactly ‘settling in’ to this new device that will eventually feel like a part of me -- it’s more like tiptoeing around it, occasionally touching it to see if it’s real. I’m also touching it to relieve some of the pressure off the wee developing blister behind my ear. How weird is that? The processor isn’t really heavy, as heavy is generally described, but for one’s tender ear, it’s like a cheap pewter necklace would feel around one’s neck, only sitting on top of the ear. I guess small external issues come with the territory.  OK. This is can deal with. I’m not a wimp when it comes to pain, small though it is. The niggling constancy of it will eventually leave me. It did with hearing aids, so I’ve been there.

The processor (the thing on my ear) pushes my glasses against my head just below where they metal thing with the magnet is inserted under my scalp. I’m assured that will quit being sore eventually too.  Now that the swelling is mostly gone, I am surprised at how much of that metal thing I can feel.  Ask me if you want to touch it. (You creep…)

On to the small wonders of the world: In between all the swooshes and swells and swirls I hear, did you KNOW how LOUD the electronic starters on my stove gas burners are?  If they are this loud at level whatevertheheck I am on (LOW), then my neighbors must hear me every time I cook eggs!  Or how about those extra little noises coming from my iPhone? Siri is far more expressive than I ever guessed!  Birds can be noisy, but they certainly don’t sound like birds. Yet. My friends at an outdoor meeting helped me to identify all the clicks and swooshes as birds. They also assured me that the cicadas which started to sing their summer melodies all at once were as disturbing to them as it might have been to me. (Don’t you wonder where they hang out and why they all start that clattering at the same time?!) To me, the gas starter is louder than the cicadas, so I obviously have some hearing growth to do. This should not be.

My first thunderstorm was this afternoon. I have missed the sound of the rain on the roof. I stepped onto the porch to catch the new sounds of it. Nothing miraculous, but it was nice to at least hear it. I happen to LOVE our new front porch. It’s our first summer of porch sitting and waving hi to all the walkers out on the street. Dave talks to them (From the porch! Imagine that! They are actually saying something??) Let’s hope I will be more sociable as I eventually hear them too.

Wendy, my CI friend and mentor, ‘forced’ me to watch TV with her yesterday! For our viewing pleasure she chose an episode of Chopped on the Food Network. Between you and me, it was really fun, although it moved way too fast to be good hearing practice at this point. I’m not a TV watcher, but she says that using the closed captions and listening is good practice. So I’ve been prescribed TV. This is not easy for me. I can barely figure out how to get the thing on and then once on, there is nothing I know about that I’d want to watch. Moreover, I’d have to sit down for enough time to watch a whole show and, ick, commercials? Not my style. I’ll figure out a good way to practice without enduring ads for Celebrex and the new!! and improved!! Widget of The Week. I do not watch streaming stuff on my computer or iPad, but I know I can! Yes, I am open to suggestions. 

Stay tuned for Station Identification….