Waiting.....

Not much new to update, just waiting. As I wait I continue to research what we will be going through. Sometimes knowledge is a great thing and the internet provides us with that. Ever since I lost my hearing 5 years ago I have been researching and getting updates on the Cochlear Implant. Today I can guide people to a site where they can hear how I will hear. I can watch a full cochlear implant surgery on-line, if I had the stomach for it. I can communicate with other people that have gone through surprisingly similar hearing loss. I say that sometimes knowledge is great because other-times we can overload ourselves and maybe learn to much. I am at the point now where I figure I know enough and just want to do. It's all a matter of patience and each day it gets closer. I have come across many stories good and bad and I think its time to find out how mine will end. So with that we try to go about our normal routine with this lingering in the background and each day my stomach boils a little more wondering how this will all turn out.

Hearing with a Cochlear Implant

This links takes you to a site that gives you an idea of how it is to hear with a cochlear implant. What it is like to hear with a CI.

Support!

Wow, where would I be without it? I have had tremendous support from my wife. She has been incredibly strong through all of this and she is amazing. She never let me get down in the beginning and she is the one that has kept me up all these years. Think about it, one day all is normal and the next day you have a husband with a major disability. I know we all face hardships and are judged by them but with my own personal experience I could not have done the things I have done since losing my hearing without the support that I have received from my wife! My kids, when I first lost my hearing my daughter had the ability to communicate with me through writing, she continues to do this to this day, she is a fabulous writer. She does not know this but the way she expresses herself with her dance is something that I cherish. Both kids learned quickly that actions are gonna speak louder than words and they adapted. My son was very young and he was just learning to read and write at the time so communicating for him was a bit more difficult. He really was coming into his own, communication wise, when I lost my hearing and I remember the fear I had of never getting to really know his voice. He has adapted well, we have our own way to communicate that I don't think his mom even knows about just me and him. He tells me he loves me and that I am the best Dad in the whole world without even saying a word. One example of adjustment that they have all made is they know which environments are more difficult for me to hear in and sometimes they will answer a question for me that I didn't even know I was being asked. They all continue to support my journey back into the hearing world and are all very excited about what lies ahead. My family all have their own expectations for the CI, I hope they come true!

Movie Theaters

We are a movie family, we try to get out opening night or at least opening weekend for the big flicks that we all can enjoy. Movie theaters for the hearing impaired are a challenge. As I have stated earlier I have no hearing on my right side, I do have some residual hearing in my left ear. I have not heard in stereo for years but sure remember sitting in movie theaters with the sound rumbling from one side to the next as if you right in the action. Even though we all know how loud the theaters can be at times, it is almost impossible to pick up any dialog, you just have to watch for actions. Rear Window Captioning (RWC) is offered in the larger theaters in Canada and with this you have a transparent screen that sits in your cup holder in the theater that picks up captions which are posted in reverse above the movie projector window. Its not the best but I love it right now. Only trouble is there is no RWC in Kelowna, so if I want to see what is being said it's off to Vancouver. Secretly this is one of the things I am hoping most for with the CI, to be able to tell which way sound is coming from and yeah maybe enjoy a movie with sound surround and be totally blown away by the advances in sound in the last 13 years. Not really expecting to understand the dialog, just sit back and absorb the sound. Wait and see I guess, wait and see......

We have lift off!

The date has been set! On July 16, 2007 I become part computer! I am going bionic! I am happy, excited and nervous all at the same time. It really can't come quick enough, I have waited so long for this and now the beginning is in site. I will go to Vancouver for 2 days for the surgery and implantation and return 4-6 weeks later to be activated. I can't wait!

What is a Cochlear Implant (C I)?

A cochlear implant is an implanted electronic hearing device, designed to produce useful hearing sensations to a person with severe to profound nerve deafness by electrically stimulating nerves inside the inner ear. This is a link to a site that goes into more detail Cochlear Implants . Here is a link to a site that gives more detail to the style I will be implanted with Nucleus®Freedom™ . Hope this works.

Telephone?

While I wait for my surgery date, I thought I would touch on different subjects and how they have effected my life since losing my hearing. The first is the telephone. I'm a phone person, always have been and always will be, I just use them differently now. Before I lost my hearing I relied on the telephone for everyday life and business. In my chosen profession as a sales rep you are always on the phone closing deals and keeping people happy. Of course when I lost my hearing that all changed. I could no longer hear voices on the other end of the telephone. The phone rings now in our house or business and all I can do is stare at it and hope that someone else gets it. Because I have always relied on the phone I have tried countless gadgets to get it back with not much success. With my hearing aid and some other assistive listening devices (ALDs) I have been able to pick up some voice. To give you an idea of how it sounds, you can't tell if you are talking to a man, women or child. Emotion is left out so if someone is sad, happy or frustrated, you can't pick this up. Those are the good days. Since I am a gadget guy I wrapped myself in technology that would help me to communicate and keep me in the loop. I love my Blackberry's! I can stay in contact with my family with text messages and also stay in the business loop with instant emails. I miss the phone and the ability to talk to my parents who live in a different city. There are different success stories from people that have received the CI and the ability to use the phone again. I hope I am one of the CI telephone success stories.

First Time Blogger

Decided to take the plunge, more of a journal for myself and maybe far away family members can follow my journey back to hearing. I have had some kind of hearing issues for as long back as I can remember but I guess I got serious about it in 1988 when I had my first operation to restore my hearing in my left ear due to otosclorosis. I had stapes surgery at that time and it was very successful! Complete restore and improved hearing. The problem of course was also in my right ear and over the next 2 years it deteriorated to the point that I had to have another stapes surgery in my right ear. I had no problem making this decision after having huge success in my left ear. Well the right ear operation did not go well, we were never able to restore the hearing and I lost the ability to hear in stereo. Since 1990 I have basically gotten by with just my left ear and considered myself of normal hearing. That all changed in July 2002. One Saturday morning I was talking to my neighbor and noticed I was having a tough time to hear him, I thought nothing of it but as the day went on it got worse. Sunday I went to a walk in clinic and the Dr. there said it looked like I had some fluid build up behind the eardrum and it was probably nothing. My hearing continued to get worse and on Monday I went to my Dr. in the morning and he got me in to see an ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist) that afternoon. He did a very though and highly invasive examination and he could find nothing wrong with me, I was perfectly healthy! He gave me some meds to stop the retreat or jolt my hearing back and by Tuesday the decline had stopped. When the damage was done I had lost what little hearing I had left in my right ear and had gone to a profound hearing loss in my left ear. It was chalked up to autoimmune disease basically because we could find no other reason for this to happen. My hearing high point was now 80 dB @ 250 Fhz and a low of 120 dB @ 1000 FHz (off the chart). It was a shock and changes had to be made in my lifestyle and the way I communicated. I learned how to read lips, I guess I had been teaching myself the last 12 years because I got pretty good pretty quick. I was tested yearly for the Cochlear Implant with always passing the test. My hearing continued to decline at about 20% a year and in November of 2006 I finally passed the CI test and became a candidate. I am waiting now for a surgery date with hopes of it being this summer and that is why I started this blog. So whoever is reading can come along on this journey if they want. So hear we go......