Category Archives: Cochlear implant

Cochlear implant, Hearing Loss, Hobbies, Nonsense

In lieu of private journaling

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Sometimes I just want to drone on with the ideas swirling around in my head. Normally I reserve those thoughts for my private journal, but today I felt like they were innocuous enough to share here.

Lately I’ve been fairly busy. Not with super important or time sensitive things, but just generally busy. Between doctor visits, Bible study, housework, and spending time with friends, I’ve had a steady stream of activity. And while I don’t hate that, I find it is kind of a new thing for me and a part of me is a little worried that I’ll forget something important. When I was working and going to school I had a million things to keep track of, and it was never a problem. Stressful yes, but I managed just fine. In a way, I think I actually enjoyed staying so busy. Then I was thrust into long term disability – or as I like to call it, early retirement – and now I am learning I need to find new things to keep me occupied.

For awhile I was keeping myself occupied with a responsible schedule of housework. Cooking and cleaning and other general household management activities. However, that was getting so Boring, with a capital B. So now I’m trying to step back a little on those things, because they are still necessary, and make room for some fun activities. However, I never really had many hobbies before, so I’m in what I like to call a brainstorming stage.

I do like to crochet, but I don’t care for the creative stuff, and you can only make so many afghans. Plus, it’s very antisocial because I can’t really crochet with friends. Well, I can, but not like I used to. I used to be able to have conversations with people while crocheting, but now that reading lips is such a crucial part of listening for me, I can really only do one or the other. Listening takes a lot more effort than it used to.

I’ve heard that bars around town have trivia nights, and I think that might be fun to try some time. I am convinced I would absolutely suck at trivia because my memory is horse dookey, but I think as long as it was with friends it would be fun.

I really, really want to try karaoke. I’ve done it twice in my life, and I know people groan when you talk about karaoke, but those two times were very memorable and fun for me. I was never the best singer, and of course I’m even worse now, but I still think it’s fun to sing along while everyone watches and laughs. My husband says I should warn people when I get up on stage: “Hey everyone, I’m deaf. And once you hear this, you’re gonna wish you were too!” You have to be able to laugh at yourself once in awhile, right? And isn’t that what karaoke is all about?

I discovered last night that my favorite afghan has some pretty significant holes in it, which are like cancer to a crocheted blanket, so it’s on it’s way out. This was the first afghan I crocheted with my favorite pattern, so it’s a little sad that it’s dying. BUT, I made it with really cheap yarn and I’ve improved working on that pattern over the years, so maybe it’s time I start a new one, just for me. A new favorite.

When I woke up yesterday I put my cochlear implants on and discovered the right ear processor would not connect. Checked all the cords, and everything looked fine. Tried the left processor on the right side and that worked fine, so I knew it wasn’t my head (the lady in customer service laughed at that). So I’m down to one ear until the manufacturer sends me a replacement. I can’t believe I made it through that phone call with one ear! Pitches are much higher with just the one processor, so everyone sounds like chipmunks. Funny not funny :/ I am not complaining, but it really did spoil most of my day yesterday. It took me a good while to come out of that funk, but I’m better now. I’m finding that with just the one, every day sounds are not as harsh or bothersome, so that’s something to be thankful for. Still, I will be happy to have that second ear back.

Kids have a half day today so they’ll be home soon! Peace and hugs….

Cochlear implant, Daily Snippets, Family, Kids, Photos

Accidental game night?

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The children both happen to be grounded from screens tonight, and when they got bored with pretending not to be jumproping in the living room – oh the temptations children must overcome – I suggested they play a board game. They seemed genuinely pleased with my suggestion and ran downstairs to pick one out. Checkers, it is!

They are playing nicely while I watch from my cozy recliner, coffee and crochet in hand(s). This feels so nice and peaceful I might have to make it a regular, mandated activity around here!

Cochlear implant, Hearing Loss, Multiple Sclerosis

My very first reader question!

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An interesting question was raised here on the blog earlier this week, and it’s one I felt important to answer. The question? What is a cochlear implant, is it for MS, and does it help?

Well, first off – a cochlear implant is a device implanted into the skull near the ear in order to replace a malfunctioning inner ear. I can’t speak much for the inner workings of the ear, and all the moving pieces natural hearing involves, so I won’t. But the cochlear implant takes the place of the cochlea, which is the auditory portion of the inner ear (Thanks Wikipedia). Basically, the cochlear implant restores hearing.

It’s not a terribly invasive surgery, and most people are able to go home the same afternoon. After one is healed from the surgery, the device is activated with the use of a processor that sits on the ear and is connected via cord and magnet to the implant. It’s kind of fascinating, if you ask me. When the magnet and processor is not attached, I hear nothing. Actually, that’s not accurate. It’s only when the magnet is unattached that I hear nothing. Complete and total silence. But when it’s connected, I’m back in business and hearing again. The processors that hang on my ears look like your typical hearing aid, but they work in a totally different way. Hearing aids amplify sound, but cochlear implants take sound and process it for you, communicating that sound to your brain.

Cochlear implants are only used with people who are permanently profoundly deaf, and who are not helped by hearing aids. It’s nothing like natural hearing, and everyone responds differently to the implants, but in general it’s been a very good thing for me and pretty much every cochlear implant recipient I’ve spoken with. I was a late-deafened adult, meaning I lost my hearing in adulthood. I didn’t grow up in the Deaf community, so it was a severe loss, losing my hearing. I had almost no way to communicate. I was profoundly deaf. I didn’t just lose some hearing, I lost it all. So the cochlear implants have been a huge help for me. I’m able to have conversations with my children, make phone calls (with the help of a captioned phone, usually), listen to music, follow along with church worship services, etc. It’s been a wonderful gift.

I do have MS, and while some people with MS experience hearing loss, my hearing loss was not caused by MS. When someone with MS loses hearing, it’s usually in only one ear, and is not always permanent. I think I saw a statistic that said only 6% of MS patients reported symptoms of hearing loss. My diagnosis was Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease, which affects less than 1% of people with hearing loss (including Rush Limbaugh, who is also a bilateral cochlear implant recipient). How’s that for odds? Maybe I ought to buy a lottery ticket.

I hope that answers your questions, MSersgettingfit! I’m sorry if I went more in depth than necessary, but it’s a big topic for me. Hard to scale it down. I still feel like I left so much out, so if I only raised more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Actually, this goes out to all my readers: I absolutely love answering questions, so please feel free to ask away. I am at your service!

Cochlear implant, Daily Snippets, Exercise, Food, Multiple Sclerosis, Photos

Monday, you are so good to me

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Happy Monday!! I was feeling pretty grumpy yesterday but I’m feeling a little better today. I went to the YMCA first thing this morning, after the kids were on the bus. I really, really love the elliptical machine. It’s able to work so many muscles in my legs in a much shorter time than walking or running does. So I’m getting a better workout, and I’m not overheating or getting fatigued. Well, I do get a little fatigued, and I have to be very careful getting off the machine and walking back to the locker rooms (next time I’ll bring my cane). I feel weird having to literally pick up my leg to remove it from the machine, and then hobbling across the room. It just seems backwards, that I would be able to exercise fine, but then have trouble simply walking to the locker rooms. But I see lots of people walking around with canes there, so I don’t feel self-conscious about it. Granted, those people with canes are much older than I am, but that’s ok. MS has only taken bits and pieces, so I’m happy to keep working with what’s left.

And now This. This is why I’m straightening my hair. The longer it gets, the less curl it can hold. My hair is thick and heavy, and those curls, while I do love them, just can’t stand up to the weight. Not that I tried to help it along today, as I tend to do with mousse, but even with that the curl seems to fall quicker and quicker. Now that I have the hair at my  implant sites shaved short, I’m able to wear my hair down without it knocking the magnets off. So it’s nice, but it was funny to see what my hair was doing when I walked past a mirror. And that is why I snapped a photo, so you all could share in the laughter! I suppose it’s not super crazy, just different I guess. I’m not used to seeing myself with my hair down. Ever since my cochlear implant surgeries, I’ve been wearing it in the same half-ponytail: every day, basically, for the past two years. It gets SOOO boring. Bleh.

Y’all, I’ve got barbecue ribs in the crockpot for dinner! They are gonna be so yummy and I just can’t wait. What are you having for dinner?

Cochlear implant, Daily Snippets, Photos

Changes to my hair

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So today I went to the salon for my usual trim. During my haircut, I sent this photo to my husband, and told him I was getting my head shaved:

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That is, indeed, a razor in my hairdresser’s hand. My husband texted back and said I should ask her if she had a couch I could sleep on. Because he’s a funny guy.

Of course, I wasn’t pulling a Sinead O’Connor and shaving all of it. We were just shaving the small spots where my cochlear implants are, so that the magnets would have a stronger hold. I have thick, curly hair, and the longer it was getting, the more difficulty I was having keeping the magnets connected. Every time they fall off it wears on the cord, not to mention the sudden loss of sound I experience. It’s super annoying, y’all. Anyhoo, my hairdresser has another client with a cochlear implant, and when she moved to town and started seeing my stylist, she already had the implant site shaved, and just has it trimmed back up. When my stylist told me about this, it was the first I had heard of doing such a thing, and I was skeptical at first. But after several more months of frustration with the dang things, I decided to go for it. And let me tell you, I am so glad I did! It is amazing how much stronger the connection is. I could feel the difference right away. I mean, these things won’t budge. I’m loving it.

My next plan is to go back in a month and perm my hair straight. I’ve enjoyed my natural curl as my hair has grown longer (it’s a real pain in the rear-end when it’s short, with all my cowlicks), but I think I’m ready for a change. My husband and my son both like my hair when it’s straight, but when I told my daughter my plans for permanency, she took it pretty hard. She says she loves my curls, and it just wouldn’t be the same without them. Somehow I think she will get over it. We’ll see. She has four weeks to say her goodbyes, I guess.

Cochlear implant, Family, Food, Kids, Miracles do happen, Motherhood, Running

Anniveraries and magic…

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May 9, 2014 I received my first cochlear implant (right ear).
May 8,2015 I received my second cochlear implant (left ear).
Both days were the Friday before Mother’s Day. Being given the gift of hearing again was a pretty awesome Mother’s Day gift.

May 6, 2016 I ran my first 5k. It was also the Friday before Mother’s Day. Running it with my son, and in the presence of beloved family and friends was an even better gift yet.

I’ve decided that the Friday before Mother’s Day will now always be an anniversary to be celebrated. Whether it’s celebrating the gift of CI hearing, or the accomplishment of running a race, or whatever, each year I will set aside time to remember, reflect upon, and be thankful for what I have been given.

But really, can I just say how amazing this weekend was? Kicking butt at the 5k Friday, then having a super chill day with the kids on Saturday, and then this morning, on Mother’s DAY, my husband and children got up early so they could make breakfast for me before church. And not just those canned cinnamon rolls you throw in the oven, which was the only thing I had requested. While the kids put away the clean dishes from the dishwasher, my selfless husband whipped up some fried eggs and perfectly cooked bacon. He had even run to the store that morning to buy orange juice. And then, after I was finished eating, they all showered me with cards and gifts and chocolate (of course).

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We finished the day with a drive to take Grandma for a late lunch at IHOP, which was super duper yummy (I can’t get enough of those Belgian waffles). We visited and had a good time, and then drove home, exhausted but happy.

Oh, and I almost forgot – to top it off, on Friday we received an offer on our house! The old house we moved out of last August, affectionately called The Cottage, is hopefully getting closer to being out of our hands, and that will be such a relief. We are crossing our fingers and praying that everything goes smoothly. We shall know more in the coming days.

This weekend was the best weekend I’ve had in I don’t remember how long. It feels almost magical, as cheesy as that sounds. And of course, by saying that I totally ruined the magic, but whatever. Have a magical night, everyone!

 

 

Cochlear implant, Family, Health, Hearing Loss, Housekeeping, Multiple Sclerosis, Music

Oh, the days

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There are some days that I feel the need to  emotionally crawl back into my safe little cave. I kind of know why this happens ever so often, and I know it always passes eventually, so I’m not worried about it. I am thankful on days like these that I’m not responsible for anything urgent or super-important. Not exactly. My responsibilities involve feeding the people and keeping things clean-ish and supplies stocked. I generally give those responsibilities my 100% effort, but I’m sure we would all survive even if I gave half that.  So on days like these when I can only muster 70%, we’re doing just fine. I’m not sure anyone will even notice. In fact, when it means processed, frozen burritos for dinner instead of my homemade beef stew, the kids are actually thankful for my slacker status. They love those burritos.

My 5k race is coming up in three whole days! I don’t think I’m nervous. It’s my first race ever, so I don’t have many expectations. If I finish on my feet I’ll be happy. I heard a song awhile back come up on my Pandora station and while it’s not the best tempo for running, the lyrics gave me some motivation. Don’t judge; it was a song by Eminem. I’m trying to hit “like” on songs that sound good to my new ears, and my musical tastes have changed quite drastically. Everything just sounds so different to me now. So I guess New Mindy enjoys some Eminem and can tolerate the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Anyhoo, the song that caught my ears is called “Till I Collapse”, and after reading the lyrics online, I can honestly apply a lot of the sentiment to my philosophy on this running thing. Of course Mr. Mathers was surely rapping about something else entirely, but the nice thing about music is you can make it what you want. What it means to you is just that – what it means to you. Here is the chorus to the song:

“‘Cause sometimes you just feel tired, you feel weak
And when you feel weak you feel like you want to just give up
But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
And just pull that **** out of you and get that motivation to not give up
And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you want to just fall flat on your face and collapse”

What’s kind of funny to me is that the fear that kept me from running at first was the fear of falling flat on my face. And if I do, I do. Whatever. In the song he talks about inner strength, but my strength does not come from within. My strength comes from God. He gives me the strength I need, when I need it. So when I feel like quitting, that is where I turn.  I will look to my Savior to keep me going. He has never failed me, never left my side, and together we will run this race!

Cochlear implant, Daily Snippets, Multiple Sclerosis, Piper, Visually Impaired

Little-big victories

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I went for my six-month follow-up with my neuro-ophthalmologist today (that was a lot of hyphenating lol). After reviewing the results of my Humphrey visual field test (flunked with flying colors, you could say), the standard “look straight into this bright light while I breathe loudly near your face” test, and chatting with me for a few minutes, he was ecstatic. Like, over the moon happy to see how well I was doing. He said my right eye had definitely improved. A small improvement, but it’s an improvement nonetheless. That’s the right direction to go, you know? He was very happy to hear that I was running, and feeling good. Maybe he could even sense from the way I was speaking to him that my cognition has improved? I’m definitely more “with it” than I was when I first came to his office in 2013. He even commented that my hearing was improving, even though that isn’t possible post cochlear surgery, but I took that to mean he could tell I was comprehending speech better than before. So yay!

When he walked me out to the receptionist’s office after our visit he stood there, looking at me and said, “Now, you promise to give that husband of yours a hug from me, won’t you? You promise??” (He loves Mike, keeps telling me he’s a good man, which of course I know, but it’s still nice to hear) And I said, yes of course, but I want a hug too. So I gave him a great big hug. Then he looked at me again with this stupidly proud, fatherly-type grin on his face, nodded a few times, sighed loudly, and then turned and walked away. It was the strangest interaction I’ve ever had with medical personnel, but it was beautiful. While I don’t feel a whole lot different than when I saw him six months ago, he sees progress, and that’s good news. Lord knows I’ve had my share of bad news, and I’m always down for some good stuff.

Oh, and to top all this off, the dog didn’t destroy the house while I was gone! I’ve been leaving her out of the crate while I’m gone, for an hour or two at a time. This was the longest I left her out, but she did great! Didn’t chew anything up, didn’t relieve herself in the house, and she seems even more super duper happy when I come home. Now if we can just get her to stop barking at all the neighbors walking by…

Cochlear implant, Daily Snippets, Miracles do happen

An anniversary of sorts

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You guys. I have to tell you what just happened. I was posting a video of a cochlear implant surgery on Facebook, and wanted to note that my implants were coming up on their anniversaries (for the surgeries, not the activations). My right ear was planted first, in 2014, and the left ear was implanted a year later. Both happened to be on the Friday before Mother’s Day. I knew this, but wanted to verify the dates before posting this fact, so I opened up my calendar. The first thing I noticed was the date of my upcoming 5k run – it’s on the Friday before Mother’s Day. Get outta town! That had not even occurred to me when I signed up. And I swear to you, I didn’t plan that left ear surgery to be on that day either. In fact, it had originally been scheduled for earlier but had to be rescheduled due to a lingering infection.

But stop right here if you aren’t fascinated by the coincidence of these dates. If you think it’s silly, just stop.

For the rest of you… how cool is that? It’s better than a birthday, and in a way more exciting than my wedding anniversary. It’s an anniversary of hope and healing and victory over struggles. I want to give it a name and come up with fun ways to celebrate it every year. Any ideas?