Facing a new disability is hard…. at least for me. I became so down on my situation… and waking up to face my new life every day was hard work. I admit I grieved the loss of my ability to hear a lot longer than I care to admit. My childhood dance friend was diagnosed […]
I was at a wedding, and the music cranked…. little did I know I was much more prepared for this than my relatives. The music was SO LOUD that everyone had a hard time hearing everyone else. We wanted to visit and catch up, but it came down to a lot of simple correspondence and […]
(A Freestyle Poem) Hearing friend, I love you so, But really this is what I need you to know. I’ve changed since you saw me last, a difference that you will never see. I cannot hear, not like before. The world is different to me. Here is what I need you to do:Don’t yell across […]
Denial This is the first time I have ever used the word “deaf” or “disability”. At the workplace before, the HR question would be: “Do you need accommodations?” and that meant nothing to me… “Wearing a hearing aid was like it is like wearing glasses!” I would say. No need, not to bother. Being Hard […]
As I head home from the second cochlear implant appointment, I can’t help but squint with pride after discovering my new superpower. I remember this movie from my youth where they were testing a girl’s hearing, and they discovered that she could hear beyond the normal human range. I thought that was SO cool and […]
At the beginning of the second appointment, we covered off questions, details, admin, and then we went straight to adjustments. I confirmed what almost all people said about the delay with the sound between the hearing aid and the cochlear implant. I also discussed my challenges with certain aspects of the environment, noise, distinguishing between […]
Geeking Out About Sound: I am happy with some of the benefits that I have started off with the CI, but the complexity and the distortion of sound most times are overwhelming. I woke up and dropped something on my dresser which should have had a simple thud. The thud was a series of complex […]
Today we started off by asking how I was recovering from the surgery: the healing ear, balance, taste, and other symptoms. I was healing well! Check Check. Is this thing on? The external processor was handed to me and we went through the steps of attaching it to my head using the magnet (my head […]
It’s Closing Time…. in the Post-op. Now if this recovery room were a bar, I would have had the reputation of the night. After 3 anti-nausea meds and several long naps, a very drowsy, puky me was the last gal being wheeled out of the recovery room. Even on the way home, I was being held up as […]
It was a last minute phone call, but when they call you for something important like a pre-op, you have to squeeze it into your calendar. Accessories: The devices meeting came first. One thing I wanted to mention the Audiology Department at Sunnybrook – for the amount of hearing loss they expect of their qualified […]