Why Did I Choose Advanced Bionics?

I decided to do a little spring cleaning to my inbox and I noticed that my sent folder was overflowing with emails answering why I picked Advanced Bionics for my cochlear implant. It seems that after a 100 or so emails, I have unknowingly created this wonderful base for this blog. :)

There are several reasons I chose AB. I wanted to be able to hear better in noise. I wanted to be able to use the phone like a normal person. I wanted to be able to listen to music with ear buds that otherwise proved completely useless to me when I had a hearing aid – the ear was already full enough :) I wanted to be able to transition through different sound environments without fiddling around with the program. I wanted rechargeable batteries because they are safer for the environment and economically friendlier. I wanted the support that was needed that goes along with learning how to hear with a cochlear implant and because of Hearing Journey, I got answers the second I post a question. I wanted to be able to access the latest MRI technology with minimal surgery. I wanted promises of future technology designed to emulate better hearing without further surgery. I wanted total reliability. I wanted the implant to withstand sweating when I work out since I was forever killing my hearing aids. I wanted to push the envelope of hearing. When it came down to it – AB was the only company that could give me that.

1. T-Mic Microphone

The T-Mic ear hook is only available with Advanced Bionics cochlear implant system. This is not to be confused with the T-Coil, an option that can be turned on by your audiologist on your Harmony Processor. It uses the natural shape of the ear to emulate natural hearing. It helps to provide clarity that is needed for speech and is absolutely fantastic in noise because you can rotate your ears to what you want to focus on like a normal hearing person. It comes in two sizes, standard for big ears like mine and pediatric size for itty bitty ears.

Being a long term hearing aid wearer, I was familiar how directional microphones (catches the sound in front of you) and omni-directional microphones (catches the background sound) works but this design intrigued me. With the T-Mic earhook, I can just put the telephone up to my ear without fiddling with anything and the background noise immediately fades away making the your voice or the person on the other end of the phone the dominant sound . When you or the person stops talking, the background noise will become noticeable. It is the same phenomena when I wear a Bluetooth headset and stick IPOD ear buds in my ear. These are things I never thought would be possible with a hearing aid.

2. Auto Sound

The phenomenon that I was just talking about is called Auto Sound which automatically adjusts for the environment that you are in. I shall spare you the technicalities of it all. It allows you to hear whispers to shouts without flipping a switch. You don't have to fiddle around with programs. This is a cut and paste from a bilateral AB user that lives with a bilateral Freedom user that explains how useful it is to have valuable Auto Sound is.

My resident (bilateral) Freedom user having to switch for the phones, having to switch for restaurants, having to switch back for normal conversations. When we listen to music, he switches and switches programs trying to find something that sounds ok. He gets frustrated with it. If he forgets to switch back, he can spend the morning not hearing well in normal situations, with his voice louder than necessary. That is my tip off that he forgot to switch back...so I will have him check and sure enough, he forgot to switch back from whatever program he was using, back to his "everyday" program.

I would be highly agitated if I had to keep flipping programs to go from my house, to my car, to work. With Auto Sound, I hardly ever have to switch.

3. Familiarity of Hearing Aid Style

Advanced Bionics has the options of three program slots and it mimicked the style of what I was used to with my HA. Right after you get activated, you tend to play a lot with different programs options that AB has to see what suits you best but now I settled down with just one program from everything: But just for sake of having options, I have a normal everyday program, a noise/telephone program that I hardly ever use unless I am in a noisy environment and music. I find it redundant to have more than three program options because like myself, most of the CI users after they learn how to hear with the CI, you might find yourself just sticking to one. If you go to a CI clinic that gives you two processors, a primary and a back up, you can utilize both of them to play around with different settings until your brain figures out which one it likes best.

4. Widest Window of Sound (IDR)

Since a normal person ear cannot process any sound louder than 120dB and it will hurt a hearing person to hear anything louder than 120dB which results them sticking their fingers in their ears to dampen the noise. AB has its own ceiling as well. It is called IDR which stands for Input Dynamic Range that can be adjusted up to 80dB. Other companies are at 45dB. It just means that ceiling on the CI or window of sound can process up to 80dB and then Auto Sound kicks in and automatically dampens the sound to make it comfortable for us to tolerate the loud noise.

If you can picture a window shut, which means very little sound is coming through because the window absorbs most of the sound. If you open the window a little bit, you will begin to hear some noise such as leaves blowing around, cars passing or a faint impression of someone hammering. I call this a low IDR. If you open the window up halfway, you are inviting even more noise. You might get the leaves blowing, cars passing and a more distinct impression of the person hammering but you might hear the birds singing as well. If you open it up all the way, you might as well be standing outside. I like to it call it adjustable noise control. :) With a wide IDR, I can go to a concert and hear the concert as it was meant to be heard. With a narrow IDR, it gets rid of unimportant noise or what I call "white noise" and brings a sense of perceptible clarity.

5. Rechargeable Batteries

I am extremely environmentally friendly. I recycle. I drive a hybrid which resembles a hardboiled egg but you just can't beat it the 55 mpg that I get. So, rechargeable batteries are an easy "green" option. Advanced Bionics has two sizes of rechargeable batteries, extended and slim. Extended is what I have which I get an average of 24 hours out of, you figure every two days I'm slipping a new one in. I got four batteries with my processor when I was activated and I lost one (blushing) but three batteries last me the whole week. It is not only environmentally friendly, it is economically friendly as well. There are no trips to the store to buy batteries which means more money in your pocket. You might want to buy a new set of batteries every 2-3 years but if you have a durable medical rider on your insurance policy, that means very little out of pocket. AB provides a little wallet that you can attach to your key ring to carry your batteries with you.


6. HiResolution Fidelity 120 Sound Processing Option

The latest software development is the HiRes speech strategy option with Fidelity 120 options. This is an option that can help you in noisy conditions, appreciate music and on the telephone. The only way I can describe it is if I compare it to a camera. A hearing aid is a Polaroid and HiRes with Fidelity 120, it is a 4MP Camera. I can hear in noise much more easily than I could ever hear with a hearing aid. Since it was designed with music in mind, it has been a joy to actually enjoy music especially now that I am bilateral.

It uses current steering technology to increase spectral resolution from as few as 12 to 22 spectral bands to as many as 120 spectral bands. Advanced Bionics is the only company that can achieve this type of current steering technology because it has a power source each electrode. Other companies that have only one power source for all of their electrodes claim that they can steer electrodes but they have no speech strategy devised for it which makes it totally useless, doesn't it?

7. Independently Controlled Currents or Electrodes

Since I have a technical background, I have always been interested in how components function and it played a large part of my research. All the components may look similar in programming, chip size and material but the old saying, never judge a book by its cover. The HiRes 90k implant has the 16 independent computer controlled current sources where other companies have one power source. It is like if you set up X number of speakers and plug them into one outlet, you will not get the same performance if you plug in each one of those speakers to its own power supply. With independently controlled current sources, the ability for tons of future software development since it can control each electrode.

8. Internal Chip Memory

The fact that the internal chip memory is only operating at 25% capacity means that there are tons of room for development.

9. Total Reliability of Internal and External Report

Advanced Bionics has been able to issue a total reliability report. For the implant, it is at 99.5 on June 2008 and for the Harmony processor, the return rate is less than 1%. I do want to point out that you want to be worried about the reliability of both the implant and the processor because if one stops functioning, you can't hear - point blank. The other companies do not offer a reliability report on their processors because it is absolutely deplorable. I always hearing about parts breaking down and being replaced. I absolutely hated it when I was left in the dark when my hearing aid broke down and believe me, I have done my fair share of killing them. I felt so disconnected from the world as I knew it. I have yet to have my processor replaced (knock on wood) but if I ever did, I would have it within 48 hours with the Processor Direct Program.

In 2004, Advanced Bionics was under another company called Boston Scientific when they had agreements with two Vendors to supply a part for the internal component. They noticed that the rate with Vendor B component was prone to moisture issues was 1% lower than the Vendor A component. AB issued a recall on their own accord recalling the devices due to the potential presence of moisture in the internal circuitry, which can cause the device to stop functioning. Not all of the Vendor B implants had this problem. Advanced Bionics has since resolved this issue by only using parts supplied by Vendor A. As a result, their total reliability has gone way up.

10. Processor Direct Program

Processor Direct Program minimizes the time waiting if you should ever need your sound processor replaced. Just call your audiologist and they will contact AB via our secure, automated website and upload your sound processor’s unique program file. AB technicians will load your program into a replacement sound processor and ship it directly to you. Because you receive a fully functional processor preloaded with your customized program, there’s no need to schedule a programming visit. That means more time for yourself and more money in your pocket.

Processor Direct is completely safe, so there’s no risk of hearing with the wrong program. AB’s secure website makes it impossible for your audiologist to upload the wrong program file, and for additional security, AB’s patented IntelliLink™ feature will not allow a processor loaded with the wrong program to work with your implant. You enjoy peace of mind knowing you have the correct programs—developed specifically for you. An office visit to program a replacement sound processor might not be covered by insurance companies, which mean you may have to pay the cost. With Processor Direct, no programming office visit is required and that means no unexpected costs.

11. Support

Advanced Bionics has the largest online community forum – Hearing Journey with over 4,500 users. It consists of CI candidates, recipients and parents of children recently diagnosed with hearing loss, parents of children that have cochlear implant and audiologists. It is a huge wealth of information as everyone rallies around for support, offers advice, shares tips and tricks about surgery or learning how to hear with a cochlear implant. There is a CI chat held every Thursday night from 8pm EST til the cows come home, that you can come and talk to other cochlear implant recipients, candidates, parents and audiologists. Just log in to Hearing Journey and click on the chat options and you are in!

Advanced Bionic has taken it one step further to provide one-on-one support. They have just launched a new site for cochlear recipients and candidates from across the country through its new "Connect to Mentor" Web site. The new site, part of the BEA (Bionic Ear Association) Mentor Program, that I and several other bloggers are a part of, allows cochlear implant candidates to contact volunteer "mentors" and communicate directly with hearing professionals. You see my smiling face on this site as well. :)

Candidates can use the Connect to Mentor website to search for mentors who include parents of implanted children, relatives of cochlear recipients and adult recipients. Each mentor has a profile complete with a personal photo and facts such as favorite sound, interests (i.e., cell phone user, traveler, musician), hometown, age they were implanted, severity of hearing loss and how they can help cochlear implant candidates. Then, candidates can choose to "start a conversation" with the mentor directly from their profile.

Binaural HINT Scores.

Hi!

The following blog is brought to you by:

Without it, there isn't anything getting done around this blog here. But through the miraculous powers of the coffee plant, I was able to devise this rather inspiring little chart of all my HINT (Hearing In Noise Test) scores.

Click here to make it bigger.

You will notice that my left ear before I was implanted was 0% across the board. This was an ear that has been unstimulated for over 15 years. I was pretty damn deaf in that ear. I can't argue with that. :)

The red column shows my progress with my left ear tested at one month post activation. I scored 44% in quiet. I was pretty elated to go from 0% to 44% in a matter of a month. I distinctly remember thinking that my brain was playing tricks on me because it was almost as though I had to learn to trust myself that I was hearing something correctly. As it would turn out, I was hearing it correctly half the time.

The lime green column is my left ear tested at five months post activation. It jumped up to 79% in quiet and 34% in quiet. I was practicing with an audiobook every single day for at least half hour to an hour. This was kind of at the point that my brain was sorting out speech in quiet and learning how to pick out what is important in noise. Baby steps!

The purple column is my left ear tested at one year. My score remained the same at 79% in quiet but my score in noise went up to an astonishing 73%. Since I scored so well with the first level of noise, my audiologist felt that I could handle the harder noise test and I scored 64%. I was downright impressed with my scores. Now, I was thinking that the benefit of a cochlear implant can really take up to a year especially on an ear that has been unstimulated for so long.

The dark blue column shows my left ear tested at one year and five months. I don't know whether I had a really good mapping at my one year appointment or my ear just blossomed but I scored 96% in quiet, 88% a little bit of noise and 84% with even more noise!

Now we are moving on to my right ear that has been stimulated all my life. the orange column shows my HINT scores when I was evaluated for a CI in May of 2007. I wish I could get my right ear tested before I had the surgery because I couldn't hear anything after I hit my head on the roller coaster. But in my total unprofessional opinion, when someone takes a loud speaker and talks to you about five feet away with a fully powered hearing aid in and you can't hear didly squat, I'm going to say my scores were next to nothing. Just saying.

The light blue column shows my right ear tested at one month post activation and it scored an AMAZING 85%! Now, it took over a year for my left ear to get up over 80%. Even with the first level of noise, I managed to hear 40%. That will get better as time goes on. Now I am totally giving credit to the substantiated claims that surgeons advice about implanting a better ear. They apparently know what they are talking about. :) It means that it is less stressful and the learning curve is much shorter. But you know me, I do nothing easy...

The mauve or dusty pink column shows them tested together. The results are nothing less them supremely impressive. I scored 97% in quiet, 85% a little bit of noise and 77% with more noise introduced.

I was so proud of the good job they did on the tests that I went right out and brought them a pair of earrings. :)

Northeast Cochlear Implant Convention 2009

I will be attending the Northeast Cochlear Implant Convention 2009 on July 10 - 12, 2009 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel & Conference Center in Sturbridge, MA where none other Josh Swiller who is not only pretty easy on the eyes but the author of “The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa.”, will be the keynote speaker.

You can take a look at the 2007 convention pictures here. I have to say from looking at the pictures, this looks like it is going to be a fun group! Children, adults and workshops - oh my!

So what is this convention about, check out this snippet below.

Dear Families and Friends,

You are warmly invited to attend the Seventh Biennial Northeast Cochlear Implant Convention, to he held July 10-12, 2009 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel in Sturbridge, MA. On-line registration or registration forms will soon be available on this site. Call 1-800-582-3232 to reserve your room at the hotel, or on-line at www.sturbridgehosthotel.com.

Nearly twelve years have passed since our first convention in Sturbridge, in 1997. In some ways, the convention is like a school reunion. Lounging around the pool or at a party in a guest room, we catch up with our friends’ changing lives: new jobs, or maybe retirement; children progressing through elementary, middle and high school, and on to college. And incidentally, how are you or your child doing with the implant? How nice to hear that things are going well!

The theme of the ’09 convention is “We Hear the World.” It is a natural evolution from the previous convention themes of “Raising the Bar,” “Enhancing Communication,” and “Technology Rocks!” In “Raising the Bar” we considered the new higher standards for classroom acoustics, the rising performance levels of cochlear implants and assistive listening devices. The theme “Enhancing Communication” reflected the many new technologies and approaches for facilitating communication access by adults and children in a wide range of situations. “Technology Rocks!” addressed the many exciting technologies and approaches that can unlock communication potential and make possible more complete and satisfying human communication in school, at work, in social settings with friends, and at home..

“We Hear the World” celebrates the many examples of cochlear implant users participating fully and independently in the world around them. The keynote speaker at our upcoming convention, Josh Swiller, will offer some thoughtful and humorous insights about hearing the world and being a part of the world. Josh spent two years living in a rural village in Zambia. That experience is recounted in his book, “The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa.” Josh has had a “ large variety of careers, including forest ranger in the California Redwoods, sheepskin slipper craftsman and salesman, Zen monk, raw food chef, journalist, and teacher. The title of Josh’s keynote address is “We Are the World.”

Hearing the world also implies that we listen with empathy and respond to needs that we learn about. Like everyone else, cochlear implant users experience passages in their lives. High school students leave home for college. College students enter the workforce. The generation born after WWII leaves the workforce for retirement, and many of those who received the earliest implants are now golden agers. New technologies and communication approaches can ease the transition to a more mature stage of life. At the convention we will explore these transitions to the next arena of life.

See you there!

Larry Orloff, Chairperson, President, MIC and Marilyn W. Neault, Ph.D., Co-Chairperson, Children’s Hospital Boston

So go ahead and download the registration forms here and I hope to see you there!

Your Hearing, Your Life - Free Seminar in Melville, NY

I'm attending this free Seminar on May 11th, 7-9pm at the Melville Marriott Hotel in Melville, NY on candidacy and advancing technology in the treatment of hearing loss. Sponsored by Advanced Bionics.

Featuring Speakers from North Shore Medical Group, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

• Eric Smouha, M.D., ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR Otolaryngology
• Karen Siegel, Audiologist
• Christie Haug, Clinical Specialist Advanced Bionics
• Katie Peter, Regional BEA Manager, Advanced Bionics
  

Space is Limited! To register for this free event please contact:

Linda Luallen at lluallen@AdvancedBionics.com
866.844.HEAR (4327)
TTY 800.678.3575

If you are unable to attend our event and would like information
about cochlear implants, contact The Bionic Ear Association at
hear@AdvancedBionics.com or call 1.866.844.HEAR (4327).

May 11, 2009 • 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Melville Marriott Hotel
1350 Old Walt Whitman Road • Melville, NY 11747

Bilateral Surgery Date...

I know it has been a while since I have brought good tidings to my blog. I have been poked, prodded and even had a sheep thrown at me as means to inquire into my whereabouts. The sheep did me in. But first, I like to take the time to thank the highly anticipated gazillion snowflakes that I will have to shovel and then risk life and limb to drive to work tomorrow for the time to sit and down and update this blog.

The breaking news that I have is that in a week on March 9th, I'm going bilateral. That's right folks, I am going under the drill again and getting my right ear implanted.

The countdown begins now.

MRIs and Cochlear Implants

Let's talk MRIs.



When I went to Chicago for the ALDA convention, I met several people that didn't want to get a cochlear implant because they need an MRI every six months. I will admit when I first started researching cochlear implants, MRIs was not a major concern of mine. I just read the I can have a MRI done if the magnet was removed. Fine. Great! That is all I needed to know but now I realize how much it means to others that suffer from other illnesses where they require MRIs.

Why would a person need to get one? MRIs provide better contrast in soft tissue, which helps to distinguish between normal and diseased tissue. MRIs do not show bones like a CAT scan or X-Ray. Brain tumors, strokes, multiple sclerosis and Neurofibromatosis, type 2 (NF2), are diagnosed by an MRI. Which means anything metal - paper clips, pens, keys, jewelry, scissors, underwire in your bra, belts, glasses and any other small objects can be pulled out of pockets and off the body or out of the body can become dangerous projectiles hurdling at the opening of the tube at incredibly high speeds.

Joy. Its a good thing that they make you remove anything metal.

Could you imagine if someone left a tongue piercing in and they turned the MRI machine on? Ouch.

Anyway, I did me a little research on MRIs. The magnet in an MRI system is rated using a unit of measure known as a Tesla and they are grouped into three fields.

Low-Field = Under .2 Tesla

Mid-Field = .2 to 0.6 Tesla

High-Field = 1.0 to 1.5 Tesla

What is the difference between low-field and high-field? The high-field setup has superior image quality AND has a higher rate of detecting tumor remnants. This abstract that I found supports that statement. The next generation of MRIs are circulating around at the strength of 3.0 Tesla.

Sounds like the higher the Tesla - the better the detection rate. I would imagine it would be like going from a two mega pixel camera to a ten mega pixel camera.

Now both Advanced Bionics, HiResolution Bionic Ear System's HiRes 90K implant and Cochlear Americas, Nucleus Freedom is MRI Safe up to 1.5 Tesla with the internal magnet removed.

I took a look at Med-El's website and discovered in bold letters, MRI Safe - Without Magnet Removal. Leaping lizards, no faking! They don't require the internal magnet to be removed. In fact, it is designed where the magnet can't be removed at all.

That cool!

But then I read the fine print:

In the US, PULSARCI100 and SONATATI100 are currently approved for use at a scanner strength of 0.2 Tesla.

Oh. That means recipients of a Med-El device can only use MRI's rated at low-field strength of 0.2 Tesla where they could be sacrificing image quality that could lead to a potential misdiagnoses.

What if one with a Med-EL device wants a high-field MRI that has a better image quality and higher rate of detection? Does that mean the entire implant has to be removed because they don't have a removable magnet?

Yikes.

This is a link to an article that talks about the latest MRI machines that are rated 3.0 Tesla which can demagnetize an implant. It also discusses how there is permanent damage to devices with non-removable magnets such as Med-El's PULSARCI100 and SONATATI100.

However, I'm privileged to know someone in my harem of cochlear implant users that had an MRI done and had the internal magnet removed and what he had to say really calmed my nerves if I ever had to get one.

First of all, it seems to be kind of a rare event. My surgeon has performed over 550 implant surgeries and has never had to do this procedure (taking the internal magnets out, then reinserting new magnets). In fact, of the 700+ Midwest Ear Institute patients, I believe I am the first to have an MRI. To get an MRI, the internal magnets need to be removed from the implant, then you get in the tube, then back to the OR to have new, sterile magnets and stitched up. The thought of having the internal magnets taken out probably bothers some people but it shouldn't - it was not a big deal at all. In fact, they asked if I wanted to be sedated and I said no - so they just did a local and it was fine. There is a little pain...but very little, and easily handled with OTC pain relievers. In fact, I haven't needed any today at all. I was going to write a great, detailed account of this but it is such a non-event that there is little to write. Kind of like getting some stitches in your head - that's it. The most irritating thing is being inside the MRI tube - at least you can't hear it though, because you are completely deaf while inside.

I wouldn't go get an MRI for fun, but if it is suggested that you need one, please do not hesitate to do it. An MRI is an incredible piece of technology and can be a difference maker in terms of diagnosing certain things.

And that is all he said folks!

Would you help send me to ALDA?

Would you help me attend the Association of the Late-Deafened Adults Convention (ALDACon) in Chicago on Oct 29-Nov 2. I am trying to aim for $1,000 dollars in ten days and during the course of that time I will keep you all updated! The majority of the hard of hearing, hearing impaired and deaf people in the United States developed a hearing loss later on in life. There are some people with perfect hearing that go to sleep one night and wake up the next morning – completely deaf. You have people that worked in loud factories that for every dime they took home, the sound took another hearing cell. You have more and more military personal coming back home with a hearing loss in addition to numerous of other problems. These are the people that I want to learn everything I can about the late-deafened experience.

A person coming from my background – knowing nothing else but living with a hearing loss feels the need to branch out and see how others cope. I had a lifetime of adjusting my eyes to associate the lip formation with words with what auditory input I had. The reason why I would like to go to the ALDAcon is because I want to educate myself on the needs and how I can contribute to empowering those that began their struggle with communication later on in life. It is no surprise to many that I have mentored several people regarding cochlear implant and most of them are late deafened. This is the one group that leaves that just tugs at my heart because I see their struggles written across their face trying to figure out how to make sense of this new dimension of life with a hearing loss.

I want to learn from them just as much as I want them to learn from me.

A Year in Review - CI Scores

There, I was today at the Audiology Department of the Hospital University of Pennsylvania, sitting cross legged in the same chair that I sat in 364 days ago when I had my cochlear implant activated. Time is a funny conundrum of sorts because some people claim it is relative, others absolute but the fact of the matter is that it just – flies. My temperament was flickering with nostalgic moments of how just a day shy of a year ago I was reintroduced to the noisy world of sound. I still remember how I wanted to commit mass genocide of anything with the consistency of paper. I remember trying to harbor laughter when anyone – man, woman and child spoke to me as if they were practicing to become an extra in an Alvin and the Chipmunk movie. I remember how a helicopter dangled fifty feet above my head and heard not a thing. I remember my emotions running amok – one day I was on a high, the next I was depressed and one-second I would be savoring a sweet melody and the next I would frown at gosh awful noise. I remember my eye twitching because I was too hasty with my volume and I praise the day it was resolved. I remember people telling me to be patient and that I will eventually reap what has been sewn in my head. I remember all of tedious and trivial details as if it were yesterday and yet I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning.

It has been a while since I had a mapping, seven months to be exact. I have developed quite a few gripes over the past couple of months. I have completely maxed out on my volume. I still have the utmost difficulty understanding men and some women. I can understand women with no problem but that can be a bad thing because I understand them too well sometimes. When a man says bosom, it sounds like booze. When a woman says thirteen sounds like fifteen and vice versa. I used to be able to hear the airplanes from in the house and now I can't which is disturbing because I live right near a military base and there are constantly flying overhead. I used to be able to hear better in noisy conditions but I think that is due to my CI needing a tune up badly. Edelweiss sounds like anal rice or anal vice depending on who is saying it and lip reading doesn't help me in the least little bit. I walked in and plopped down and unleashed my tiny list of tasks to be tinkered to my dear audiologist.

Right off the bat, she raised my volume which was a dire improvement. With raising the volume, she raised distortion also. She flattened the lows and tweaked the high frequencies. I was able to hear the sizzle of the S’s and rushing air of the SH sound. It sounded nice and crisp. Amazing what just a little bit of tweaking can do. I am happy to report that Edelweiss now sounds like idle vice which is a drastic improvement over anal rice. Whew! It was time to go into the booth!




You will graphically see as I provided that when I was tested for CI, I bombed every single test with my left ear – zero’s across the board. Quite pathetic I know but what did you expect from an ear with no stimulation for over 15 years.

A month after my CI activation, I was plopped in the soundproof jail and I scored an average 44% on sentences in quiet. The harder test is the words which I scored 8% on, but I managed to score 33% on the phonemes. I get points for phonemes because that means I was able to guess part of the word. For example, the man in the speaker said tick and I said kick – I get points for ick. :)

Five months after activation, I got stuck in the jail again and I scored an average of 79% in sentences in quiet which was well – a 79% improvement. :) My audiologist Jennifer decided that I progressed enough to do the HINT (Hearing in Noise Test) test. She gave me the +10 HINT which means the voices was raised 10dB above the noise and I scored a pathetic 34% on that. Now my one year mapping results – I scored 79% on the sentences in quiet which is not a major improvement from my last test, but I was never one of those people that was aiming for 100% because all I wanted to was to hear something. I feel that I perform much better in real life and the following tests scores prove that. These are the result of the +10 Hint – 74% which is a great improvement from my last score of 34%. My audiologist decided to give me the hardest test – the +5 HINT test which means the voices is raised 5dB above the noise and I scored – 65% :)

Some of you might go, you went through surgery and got your head cut open and you can’t even get over 80% comprehension in quiet! When it comes down to it, I didn’t get the cochlear implant to hit hundred percent in a soundproof booth; I got it to gain anything over zero percent. I was happy with the 44% a month after activation and I am happy with 80% now. However, in all actuality these test scores do not reflect how I feel that I perform in real life. I can see how well I perform just by what I am picking up.

Patience is a beautiful thing when you have it and you definitely need it with a cochlear implant. I got 364 days of certifiable cochlear implant experience notched in my head and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow and the next day brings to me. Each tick of the clock leads to a more enjoyable experience. Put it this way, getting a cochlear implant is like making a fruitcake – it Is a lot of hard work but the longer it sits, the better it is and my bionic fruitcake has gotten better and better with time! :)

The Sounds of Music...

As it would seem that the older I get; the more avant-garde my moments of lacking comprehension seem to get. Either my superb lip reading skills have diminished in the past year or my brain is becoming particularly innovative when watching the zygomatic motion play an intricate part of shaping the lips in such a fashion that I am supposed to comprehend. Even though I have a cochlear implant, I still have incomprehensible moments of where I am left with a rosy kaleidoscope marbled across my face but this moment I must share with you all.

I was spending a lovely evening at home this past weekend, watching television and ooVooing with my bionic belle, Jennifer and my buddy Wayne from around the way. Mother dearest was doing her own thing looking through the online TV guide when she came upon the movie, The Sound of Music. I have never watched the movie but then again, like many movies, they were not available with closed captioning when I was younger. However, we live in a dawn of a new closed captioning era and all the movies I have been so wrongfully deprived of, I can now watch. The capacity of knowledge for the Sound of Music was limited but I knew there was a lot of singing involved from commercials. I made a general announcement on ooVoo that the aforementioned movie was coming on which prompted Jennifer to belt out to the tune of B flat, you guessed it - the Sound of Music. I thought I would have loads of fun with this serenading my two onlookers with my sounds of music, which I will vehemently admit is akin to the Tasmanian devil mating.

And surprisingly enough, I had managed not to butcher the Do Re Mi song when I did my amateur rendition. My mother started a conversation shortly afterwards about a doorbell that my cousin has that chimes after a song in this movie. However, I was having minor difficulty in understanding the name of the song.

“Abbie, I was talking to Patty one day and I heard her doorbell. It chimes anal rice!”

I'm pretty sure I heard that wrong.

“Excuse me?”

“Anal Rice, it’s a name of a flower.”

That’s an odd name for a flower and a song. I furrowed my brows and looked confused.

“Now, it’s a flower?! I thought it was a song.”

“Yes, its a name of a flower and the name of the song in the movie... Anal Rice”

That can’t be right. I’m totally confused. My mother grabs her laptop, starts surfing on the information highway to YouTube to bring up the mysterious anal rice song that doubles as a flower.

“Did they play it yet?”

“No, but here it is!” She presses play on YouTube and I clearly have never heard this song before.

“So this song is...?”

“Anal rice.”

Jennifer and Wayne are listening to this entire conversation. They could clearly tell by the look on my face I did not comprehend the mysterious song title.

“I’m sorry Mom; I don’t understand what you are saying.”

“Anaaaaal rice!” She learned forward, spoke very slowly here and enunciated every word while I damn near went crossed eyed focusing on her lips.

“Are you seriously saying anal rice?”

She flares backwards in hysterics. gasping for air and turning red. I figured she was okay as long as she wasn't turning blue. But it confirmed that she wasn't saying anal rice after all. After a few moments, she recollects herself and puts on her straightest face.

“An-nal rice.”

I shake my head. I did just not understand this. I type in the chat box to Jennifer and Wayne that my mom is talking about anal rice.

“I still think you are saying anal rice. IM it to me?”

My mom, still having a grand old chuckle, feverishly searches for a piece of paper and a pen. “No! I’m writing this out.” I knew she meant business. She wrote out the name of the song and/or flower and passed it over to me and it read - Edelweiss.

"You do know that it looks like you are saying anal rice." She mouthed into a mirror and confirmed that it did. Like I was going to make up that something looks like anal rice on the lips!

“Oh that makes more sense.” Shortly thereafter, Von Trapp family started singing Edelweiss. I listened but it still sounds like anal rice no matter who said it, sang it or screamed it. I can say that I successfully ruined my mothers perspective of the song. She decided to include the lovely doorbell owners in the loop via email...

Hello Stroh and Patty,

Let's call this "Fun moments with the deaf. :)

While talking to Patty one day, your doorbell gave off a very melodious tune of "Edelweiss". Now explaining to this to a deaf girl sans head hardware was rather an experience unto itself. Explaining to Abbie who was in lip-reading mode at the time about the flower and song "Edelweiss" has prompted this message.

From now on unto the time when the doorbell ceases to work, the tune of "Edelweiss" will be known as "Anal Rice" as the lip formation of this word looked just like I said exactly that!

With this little bit of mirth and love to all three of you, I bid you goodnight hoping this finds you all in good health.

Fran

I think my mom might be right, I am seriously over due for a mapping...

Cochlear Implant Anniversary

I can’t believe a year ago I was sitting Indian style in a paper thin cotton gown surrounded by the ugliest drapes I ever set eyes on observing nurses in colorful scrubs decorated with the sweetest little creatures pushing metal carts from patient to patient.

I can’t believe just a year ago I was listening to a train like sound going around and around my head providing me with an undesirable melody that just wasn’t quitting.

I can’t believe that one year ago today, I underwent surgery to have a cochlear implant inserted just underneath the skin of my head.

Ever since that day, my life has changed in ways that I never thought. I feel so enriched by the people I have met, the sounds I have heard and the experience of discovering what I have been missing all of these years.

Happy implant anniversary to me!

Hearing the Ocean for the First Time

Later that evening, Jen and I went to Point Pleasant Beach. I grew up with some strong nautical family ties to the ocean. I grew up with the beach at my doorstep. When I lost my hearing in February of 2007, I was still hoping that my hearing was going to come back any day. I realized that it wasn’t after I went on a vacation with a couple friends to Myrtle Beach a few weeks after my nose job. We were only about a block away from the ocean and all of us went down to go for a run on the beach. After spending twelve hours in the back seat of a car barely being unable to communicate with anyone in the front seat, I was looking forward to being on familiar grounds. After climbing a very large sand dune, I saw the great Atlantic Ocean and then I lost sensation in my knees. The warmth of sun was there, the sand diffused underneath my feet and the distinct smell of the salty air permeating my nose just like old times but there was something missing. The ocean ambiance was – dead. I couldn’t hear the waves crashing five feet way from me. The seagulls soared right over top of me and I couldn’t hear them utter a sound. The passersby on their morning stroll stopping to wish us well. I was living a silent movie. The wind kept blowing several strands of hair in my face and I thought with my hearing aids, all I would have heard is the wind whipping around. I just pulled my sunglasses over my eyes and cried while I was running. I decided the second I got back that I was going to make an appointment for a cochlear implant evaluation. I tried to make the best of my vacation by trying to find my hearing in the bottom of a bottle.

Jen and I were on a mission because neither one of us had heard the ocean since our cochlear implants have been activated. I thought it would be a great experience since she is a few hundred miles away from the seashore. I have been hesitant on going to the ocean because part of me thought I might have disappointed in the way it sounded. I couldn’t think of a better person then Jennifer to share this listening experience with. If it were anyone else, I would be willing to bet I would have heard nothing but nagging but this was our moment.

But there we stood, side by side with the full moon illuminating the night sky with the eastern seaboard 10 feet away from us. We tossed our sandals and let our toes sink into the wet sand and we listened. We listened to the seagulls cussing the ocean wind with their calls, the rising roar of the ascending tide and the crashing of the waves, the trickle of water being pulled back into the sea and the gentle drone of foghorns in the midst of the ocean. We stood there just listening to the ocean ambiance discovering how it sounds all over again. It used to sound so harsh with the wind swirling and waves crashing wearing hearing aids, but I realized that a majority of my infatuation with the sea were visual. After 28 years and one cochlear implant, I finally heard the rhythm of the ocean.


The next day, I wanted to take Jen by my job because when I go out on break, I walk passed these trees and I keep hearing this high-pitched sound that mask everything else out. It is driving me bonkers! I keep asking my hearing friend keeps telling me that it is bugs or tree frogs. Somehow, I am not satisfied with that answer. I wanted to see if Jen could pick the sound up with her cochlear implant. They weren't chatty this weekend. Jen even tried to coerce them to talk but wouldn’t you know the darn frogs were off for the weekend?

*UPDATE* They are Cicada Bugs!


After Jen shooting me some strange looks, I pouted because I want my audiologist to map out these friggen frogs. Anyway, I thought we would continue with the nautical theme. I decided to take Jen to the Barnegat Lighthouse whom my great uncle was the lighthouse keeper in 1915 to 1926.


I have been up and down this lighthouse several times, but I felt as they added more steps. I was tuckered out by the time I climbed back down. I had no idea how my great uncle climbed seven gallons of oil up and down those steps every single day. God bless that man.



Then we headed down towards the jetty rocks and admired the boats rocking in the water. We hit up a Sonic restaurant and I got this Route 44 Diet Cherry Limeade and that was very delish. We were so exhausted by the end of the day that coffee didn’t do a darn thing for us.



We just came back home and slapped our laptops on our thighs and typed away until we passed out.

The next morning, it was time for Jen to go back to Tennessee. I didn’t want her to go because we were having so much fun together. I purposely had thought of getting lost so she could miss her flight, but I opted for driving extra slow. I miss her already! But, I wouldn’t trade in the experience of being with her who is someone that can understand where I am coming from in all aspects is unbelievably refreshing. She is a special lady that always has a place in my heart.

My bionic belle comes to vist!

Every hour of this past weekend felt happy hour because my wonderful friend, CI mentor, fellow blogger and mother of five adorable kiddies Jennifer flew in from Tennessee and stayed the weekend with me! When we met in Reno for the first time, it didn’t feel like it was the first time we met. We clicked, we really clicked. The fun does not falter between us. The thought of waiting one whole year for the next hearing loss convention to see each other again did not appeal to the likes of us. Quite frankly, neither one of us are that patient so we moved it up a bit :)

Friday night, I slipped behind the wheel of my new white Toyota Prius that I have nicknamed the Incredible Eco-Egg, to trek across the Garden State into the city of brotherly love to pick up the fair southern bionic belle. I still get a surge of excitement every time I get behind the wheel because the feeling of being green has a cheaper price tag attached since I am now getting fifty miles to the gallon. That’s right, fifty, 5-0, five dash zero, 50 miles to the gallon :) But, I was ten times more excited that I was going to pick her up and submerge her in the New Jersey finger flippin’ culture for the weekend.

We had timed the flight perfectly because as soon as she got her luggage, I pulled up and we started flapping our jaws. I felt as we picked up right where we left off in Reno - minus the interesting fan club. We had some time to kill before we met up with Wayne Roorda, who is another AB user and his very lovely wife Lili for dinner. Since I am the native, I felt it was my duty to give her a little scenic tour. I picked a part of South Philly that was just a little too urban for our countrified doll. I was watching her facial expression change as our surroundings went from social suburbia where all the houses were decorated with shiny new siding and plantation blinds with to poorly painted row houses with the cheapest bed sheets hanging in the windows littered with cigarette burns haphazardly filtering the afternoon sunlight. I forged ahead down the one way street past the barren school yard. I drove through the underpass where a rusted shopping cart was missing a wheel supported the cardboard structure. When a gloomy site passes by your eyes, it goes in slow motion because it is sad when you realize that is going to be someone’s home tonight. I come to a stop sign, glanced over to the left, and notice a thick young girl covered in tattoos that look as if she were going mullet hunting. All Jennifer kept saying was, “We don’t have things like this back in Nashville.” I bet she didn’t. My gas gauge started emitting a beep and flashing. It was letting me know that I needed to get gas now. I took it as a sign and got the heck out of the ghetto. Women's intuition and all that jazz...

Shortly afterwards, we met up with Wayne and his teeny tiny wife of 30 years at a Mandarin Restaurant in Cherry Hill. I hadn’t seen Wayne since Reno and it was such a pleasure to see him again. This was my first time meeting his wife who just a doll. Jennifer had an itching to try something new and it included tentacles. She decided to try an itty bitty octopus with doctored up with habanero peppers. She cautiously placed the octopus in her mouth; eight limbs and all and then proceeded to chew.


And chew.

And chewed some more.

I went to get my second helping.

Came back and she was still chewing…

Once her incisors managed to macerate the poor thing, she offered to share her second one with me. I toyed with the idea of going on a chewing marathon to burn some extra calories but after pushing it around on the plate...



I politely declined. We ate enough to feed a small army and began to wobble our way out of the door but not before I plowed through four different fortune cookies until I found a one that I was satisfied with :)

After finding the perfect fortune, we took some pictures as you can see here! Wayne and Lili, thank you for dinner, I had a very lovely time and we must do it again!



After dinner, I loaded the Incredible Eco-Egg with Jen and myself and we began the trek back home. I made Jen count how many diners there were along the way. I think she lost count. We managed to get home at a decent time and we just chatted with my mom. I introduced her to the flying fur ball otherwise known as Bella. She took a liking to the southern belle. :) Surprisingly, we closed our eyes at a decent hour…

The next morning, I presented to Jen a cup of coffee big enough to go fishing in. I think my mother’s special blend got her motor running in no time at all. We put our batteries in and got a move on to face the day. I introduced her to one of our shiny aluminum sided diners where everything is cooked from scratch and served on 20” plates. We ordered some French toast, which was more like half a loaf of bread sliced three times. We wobbled out of the diner, quite literally.



I had made tentative plans with Sam Spritzer a few weeks ago to meet and through some trials and tribulations, we managed to meet up on Saturday afternoon at a nearby mall! My first impression was that someone drank his milk when he was younger because I was prepared for his vibrant personality but I was not prepared for his height. I think I got a crick in my neck straining to look up at Jen and Sam :) Since Sam has bilateral cochlear implants, we decided for acoustic purposes to stick him in the middle. I stood on the right side so I could my implant on my left ear would catch whatever Jen and Sam said. Jen stood on the left side so her implant on her right ear would catch Sam and I would have said. It is so much simpler when I am around other cochlear implant users because they are aware of how to maximize the listening experience. If I were to frantically shuffle around anyone else, I get a questionable look. With everyone properly positioned, we walked around the mall and chatting about anything and everything. Not that I am short, I am more fun size then anything but I had to keep looking up at their lips and I couldn’t very well watch where I was going. I kept walking into tables and the like. I thought for my own personal safety that they should sit down. :)


I had such a great time with the two of them just shooting the breeze with Jen and Sam. I am looking forward to seeing him at the Nashville HLAA convention next June!

Part 2 up next :)

Kim, Robyn, Tina and Clifford the Big Red Dog...

A couple weeks ago, I ran over to the Say What convention that was being held in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love to meet Kim from Living With Questions, Robyn from The Ambling Rambler and Tina Childress, an audiologist with Advanced Bionics and a bilateral cochlear implant recipient. Kim and I were texting the day before we were going to meet and the last text before I fell asleep was that she wanted to go get another apple dumping. As I shuffled my feet towards the bedroom, I was staring at the screen of my blackberry, wondering the hell was an apple dumping. I made an executive decision to sleep on it.

The next morning, I was still just as puzzled about the apple dumping. I decided to ask my mom who is popular in the family for being a sponge of useless knowledge. I figure if anyone would know it would be she. Much to my surprise, she had no idea. With very limited knowledge of apple dumping, I forged ahead to Philadelphia.

Once I arrived at the hotel, I sent a text to Kim to let her know that I was standing guard at the door. :) A few moments later, Kim came out with open arms and a beautiful smile. We gave each other a big bone crushing hug. Her personality and cherubic giggle endeared her to me. We chatted back and forth until Robyn materialized next to us. The fair skinned Robyn came all the way from New Zealand for a month long vacation or holiday as she calls it. Since she came from abroad, she came with an accent, one that I never encountered before. I wasn't too worried, but I was surprised at how soft spoken she was but what really threw me for a loop was the lack of the enunciation of the R's. Apparently, New Zealanders does not pronounce their R's as we do here. Here is a sample conversation that we had.

Robyn: "....I'll meet you at the bah."
Kim : "The what?"
I thought she said back?
Robyn: "The baaah."
Kim and I focused on her lips.
Robyn: "The baaaaahr."

Ah hah, we figured it out. She said bar. :) Amazing how the subtle nuances of a language can present a wee bit of a challenge. :)

And off to the bar we went, which was more like a casual dining establishment. You didn't really think that we were going to throw a few back at eleven in the morning, did ya? We sat and chit chatted for a bit. Robyn joined us with moments to spare since she had brought tickets to go on a tour in the Museum of Art that was leaving shortly. I wasn't going to let her get away without posing for a couple pictures that was shot beautifully by Kim's friend, Lorne. Before she left, we made plans to meet up later on in the evening to spend a little more time together.

Shortly after Robyn left, Tina had arrived at once! We decided that lunch was a matter of utter importance. That is when Kim brought up the infamous apple dumping. This was my opening to make an inquiry to clarify the apple dumping. Kim enunciated her lips as she said, apple DUMPLING. I started to laugh as I told Tina and Kim that this entire time, I read her text as apple dumping. Tina started cracking up and made the most fitting comment, "Not only are you hearing impaired, you are visually impaired (brief pause) cognitively impaired." I was inclined to agree with everything she said! I whipped my blackberry out of my pocket and hunted down the text that Kim left to reread it and sure enough, it said apple dumpling.

However, I was right back to where I started, clueless. I asked Kim what was an apple dumpling. With signs of exuberance in her eyes, she told me that it was an apple baked in a pastry crust, drizzled with a cinnamon sugar sauce and it was served with ice cream or cream. After I gained five pounds just listening to her, I decided that we better get a move on to find the purple trolley otherwise known as the Phlash to go over to Reading Terminal Market. Armed with my handheld GPS (I have an innate fear of getting lost.)

We had no problem getting on the Phlash trolley. By the time, we got off the trolley I had visions of a cheesesteaks from Rick's Philly Steak, dancing in my head. I manage to get the cheesesteaks dancing in Tina's head. We had a bit of trouble finding Reading Terminal Market but my GPS got us there. Unbeknownst to us, it was the Ice Cream Festival that weekend there. It was a shame but my GPS couldn't find Rick's because we were nearly to slip into a diabetic coma if we didn't get a cheesesteak stat. We sacrificed by running to the first cheesesteak booth we saw. We managed to find a nice table in the back, away from most of the noise, which was very helpful for the lot of us.

After a wonderful lunch with the gals, we headed over to this little Amish booth to test drive an apple dumpling.. It was oh-so-delish. After the dumpling went down the hatch, Kim and I decided to head towards the loo for some bladder relief. Tina decided to gather some sweet stuff from the candy store. Right before I walked into the bathroom, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glance of this fuzzy red dog as big as a house playing with some kids.



I couldn't remember the name of the dog, I thought it was Spot but I was wrong. I thought how cool would it be if we all got a picture with the big red dog. Sooooo, while I was standing in line waiting for the next available stall, I sent a text to Tina, obviously not even thinking on how peculiar it must have sounded to her.

At the most, four minutes have elapsed since I saw the six-foot fuzzy red dog. Once we finished doing our lady things, we started walking out and I'm talking about this big red dog and Tina and Kim are looking at me as if my magnet were on too tight. Tina asked me whether I read her reply to my text, which I didn't. I'm trying to dig my blackberry from the deep depths of the rabbit hole otherwise known as my purse while I was leading the pack out of the bathroom in search of the big red dog, but there was no big red dog in sight.

I glanced over my shoulder at Tina and Kim and their face said it all, I was obviously elected as the queen of the monkey people. Mind you, I am dead serious about seeing this six-foot fuzzy red dog. Without missing a beat, I stop some woman walking by and ask her point blank, "Have you seen a big red dog in here?" As Tina started laughing out loud, the woman clutched her purse to her side, took a couple steps back and exhibited some signs of uncomfortableness as she said, "No." I could clearly see that I weirded her out. I thanked her for her time and went to the spot where I last saw the dog, hoping to see some red fuzz from the costume to prove that there was a six-foot fuzzy red dog standing there. Much to my dismay, there was no red fuzz anywhere. I had the nerve to stand there and think to myself how strange that was because dogs always shed. :)

I finally pulled my blackberry out of my purse but I just clutched it in my hands because I had important matters to attend to, like track down a six-foot fuzzy red dog. Tina asked me whether I saw any pink elephants flying around too. Now I am just finding this whole situation just plain funny because this is such a classic situation that I get myself into, I see something that no one else does and as usual, I end up looking like the leader of the village idiots. However, it became a matter of principle that I had to find this six-foot fuzzy red dog. I decided to ask a man this time. I scouted the area for a man that looked as though he was hanging around in the area for the past five minutes and I found one, right by the loo with his arms crossed. It looked to me that he might be waiting for his wife. So, I walked right up to him and asked if he saw the big red dog anywhere and he said nope. Things were not looking good if I had to go to court and prove that I was sane.

I finally open up Tina's reply to my text and it said, "Wtf?" My thoughts exactly, wtf is this dog!? I thought the reply was appropriate and I'm glad I didn't open it up earlier because it wouldn't have packed quite the same punch. The gals appeased my insane curiosity by looking up and down the aisles for this dog but no avail, there was no six-foot fuzzy red dog anywhere. Did it run away to the nearest fire hydrant or something? The six-foot fuzzy red dog didn't have a name until Tina mentioned the name Clifford the big red dog. She's a mom; it’s her job to know the name of popular children books. :) What do I know? I'm pushing 30 here, the last time I was a kid was... and lets not get into that.

Anyhoo, I didn't know what else to do, pass out flyers for a missing six-foot fuzzy red dog or walking around shouting CLIFFORD hoping he would come when he was called. We started walking towards the exit of the market when I had to ask one more person. It was just a matter of principle. I asked a woman that was a spitting image of Aunt Jemima if SHE had seen the six-foot fuzzy red dog. She said that she has in fact seen Clifford the big red dog and pointed towards the back, right where I spotted the damn dog in the first place! I lunged with such excitement at the girls and let out a "Ah hah! Did you hear that?! Aunt Jemima over there said Clifford the big red dog was here! Ah hah, told you!" However, I gathered that neither one of them felt that Aunt Jemima was a credible witness.

It wasn't until a week later when I got a comment on Facebook from Tina, with a link to a news article about the ice cream festival at Reading Terminal Market featuring...

Clifford the Big Red Dog. :)

I was telling them I'm not nuts :) but I am good for entertainment.

After the whole red dog ordeal, we did a little retail therapy and headed back to the convention by the way of the Phlash which took a little longer than we anticipated. Kim and Tina went to their rooms to get ready for their dinner and I jumped at the chance to spend some more time with Robyn. I'm so glad that I got a chance to spend some more time with her because she is just simply a delight to be around. When the dinner was about to start, it was time for me to bid adieu. It was sad to have to say goodbye since being around all of them was like a breath of fresh air.

A moment on the NYC Subway

Here I am, completely placing my faith on mass transportation to dump me approximately an hour and a half north in one piece, right into the Big Apple. A city that I have navigated at least a hundred times before. A city full of seemingly possessed cabbies complete with a touch screen GPS for our viewing pleasure. A city where you can get a massage where they whack you in the back with branches from a birch tree, takes in an over priced burlesque show and visit a Bedouin coffeehouse for a cup of the strongest java ever and a pipe full of fruity flavored Hookah all in the same night. You just cannot get this kind of action in the suburbs.

My cochlear implant just can't get this kind of stimulation in the suburbs either. New York is complete with never-ending supply of auditory stimulation from the hustle and bustle of eight million people with an influx of lord knows how many more. After two hours of being encapsulated in the good graces of the NJ Transit bus, they finally unleashed the fury of passengers in Port Authority of New York. I have been here before. The familiar smell of carbon dioxide and rotten eggs infiltrated my nostrils. I took a deep breath and sighed as I thought, "Ahh, good old New York hasn't changed it scent one bit." I hopped down the stairs, hugging the right side of the rail as I skillfully navigated myself towards the subway entrance. One needs skillful navigation to find the damn subway entrance but since I have graced just about every subway line from the 1 to the 7, the A to the G and all the others in between, I consider myself an intermediary expert in the art of understanding subway paths.

After swiping my MetroCard through the subway turnstile, I make my way through the underground sauna to catch the R train heading downtown. As I started my sweaty descent down the stairs to the subway platform, the irony of perfect timing brought a smile to my face as the R train comes rolling in with the hundreds of passengers beginning their evening commute home. I clutched my purse closely to my side and then with one swift step, I entered through the double doors of the train and scouted for an empty seat. With no such luck, I grabbed a hold the nearest pole and prepared my footing for jerky acceleration to the next stop.

Amidst the slight chatter, stench of massive BO and the metal rattling over every rail, I heard, "34th Street - Herald Square, Next stop - 28th Street"

I'm standing there perplexed, did I really just hear that? I turnaround to this young Asian girl when they started announcing the stops. She replies, "No speakie English." I apologized for bothering her. Then out of the corner of my eye, I felt this intense chemistry towards a very attractive, clean shaven man with piercing blue eyes in a grey suit with a pale blue shirt. I love a man in a suit. I figured what the hey, I tapped his shoulder and smiled coyly as I asked him when they started announcing the stops. He smiled revealing the most beautiful smile and chiseled jaw line. I decided I was in love right then and there. I had to ask him to repeat himself, not because I couldn't hear him but I was so smitten with him. He spoke with the most beautiful voice that I have ever heard, deep, smooth, and dreamy. He said, "They always have." Those three little words are forever etched in my memory. I managed to utter a thank you. My mind is running a thousand clever conversational icebreakers, and every single one of them was hindered by my timidness. He got off at the next stop. I watched my future husband walked away only to be embraced by the arms of another man. Figures, he's gay.

After I recovered from the heartbreak of my minute long unilateral love affair, I realized how astounded I was to be hearing all the stops being called out. I have never heard them! It answered so many questions of how my friends knew well ahead of time when to get off. I have cochlear implant moments every single day, but this moment was truly gratifying.

I get off Rectory Place and head towards Ground Zero to say a little prayer in memory of those that lost their lives on 9-11. After that, I walked back up towards Broadway with a little help from Google Maps application on my Blackberry Curve, I finally arrived at my destination ─ an hour and a half late. I rushed up the elevator and walked into the room. There was lovely Tina Childress standing there smiling. She asked me whether I was okay. I said, "I'm fine." I was more then fine. I was on a high about hearing the subway conductor announce the stops. There is something about the element of surprise that can really take you aback when you discover that you can hear something ─ that has always been there but not for you.

Here is others that are well on their way in having their own moments:

David went in this past Wednesday to have his other ear done. He is officially bilateral buddy! David is from Canada and they have universal health care, so bilateral recipients are rare. He really lucked out. However, because David had bacterial meningitis and the side effects can show up months or years later apparently, he had a thin membrane grow over a couple of electrodes of his first implant. Instead of 16, he is down to 11 which is fine because you only need 8 working electrodes (no matter the brand). With his past surgery, the surgeon was only able to get in 11 electrodes in due to ossification which is yet another side effect of bacterial meningitis. Please join me in wishing him nothing but the best for his upcoming activation! I love this mans attitude.

Deb, who is the owner of the CI-Clarion II Yahoo Group, had revision surgery this past Monday to replace a very old C1 implant with the latest Advanced Bionic HiRes90k implant. They had to go through the original incision, ouch! She came through like a real trooper after a six hour surgery! There weren't able to get all of the electrodes due to ossification, but she suspected that they wouldn't be able to going into the surgery. She will be activated August 4th (i think) and she will be back to being bilateral. :)

Shari has finally had her surgery this past Wednesday after being denied by United Healthcare whom is well known for denying CI surgeries. I'm glad to see they are coming around thanks to the persistence of Let Them Hear Foundation. Shari has Ushers Type 2 and a hearing loss. She actually had the hearing loss before she had Ushers. She seems to be coming along smoothly! I'm so happy for her!

Wendi had her simultaneous bilateral cochlear implant surgery this past Tuesday. She is only one of three people, Valerie being one, that I know that has opted to have them both done at the same time. Her surgery took only 2.5 HOURS for BOTH ears! That is it! It took 3 hours for one of mine! However, I am glad to report that she has no dizziness, a little bout of nauseousness and a little bit of taste disturbance. Otherwise, her recovery is a dream! I think I want her doctor next. :) Her activation is coming up on August 20th! I feel a special connection with her because our hearing loss history is so very similar that it is scary. She didn't lose her hearing altogether during a nose job surgery like I did but everything else lines up perfectly. I have a feeling she is going to do fantastic.

Karen had her surgery on Tuesday as well, just one ear though. Karen is a Type 1 Diabetic with an insulin pump. I was very happy from Laurie that she came through with flying colors. She was a little dizzy and nauseous but all of the electrodes are in! She is having a tough time recuperating but her darling husband is taking wonderful care of her! I'm not sure when her activation is. I'm so excited for her!

Amanda had her surgery on July 14th and her activation is August 12th. She is a sweet 14 year old girl that has been fighting for a cochlear implant for a very long time. She has never heard before in her life. She is going to find out just how noisy the world. Her stepmother is a former teacher of the deaf and does a wonderful job of taking videos of Amanda and captioning them. I can't wait to see how she reacts!

Jen was supposed to have her surgery last week but they had to post pone it to August 1st which is next Friday! I am sure she will be glad to get it done and over with.

Its been pretty busy around here! Gosh! :)

Bluetooth Headset with your Cochlear Implant

Did you know that you use can a Bluetooth wireless headset with your cochlear implant? You know those little things that people commonly mistake cochlear implants for? A bunch of idiots even steal cochlear implants off children because they look so much like Bluetooth headsets and that goes to say a lot about the caliber of our thieves in the US.


Well, I never thought I could use that until the morning of June 12th at approximately 10:30 in the morning when I took the workshop, “Bluetooth and You” presented by the very lovely Tina Childress, who is an audiologist at Advanced Bionics. She is a late deafened bilateral cochlear implant recipient as well. It was already a standing room event when Laurie and I had arrived with people hanging out in the hallway, standing on their tippy toes and craning their necks to find out what is up with that sexy digital wireless protocol called Bluetooth. With sheer determination and our pearly white smiles, Laurie and I swiftly moved through the audience and positioned ourselves - flat against the wall of Carson Room #3.

But wait, what is Bluetooth? It is a way for electrical components to talk to one another − wirelessly. For example, let us take your standard run of the mill television remote control that used infrared technology, point that bad boy at the television, and change the channel. Heck, go crazy use any remote but providing that you have working batteries :) the channel should change demonstrating an example of how electrical components talk to one another wirelessly. Bluetooth is just another way for us to cut the cord, so to speak. Bluetooth has a limited range of around thirty feet. You can use Bluetooth to communicate with all sorts of devices including cell phones, hearing aids and headsets, earpieces, PCs and printers, cars, digital cameras and GPS’s. You can get the gist that it is getting popular. :) Back to the presentation...

Once the presentation got underway, I watched Tina as she slipped a wireless Bluetooth headset right next to her cochlear implant. If my eyes were any wider, I think they would have fallen out of my head because I was blown away that a Bluetooth headset, a device that any normal hearing person could use was snuggling right next to Tina’s cochlear implant. I walked into that workshop with over 24 years of conventional hearing aid experience that led me to think I could never use one a Bluetooth headset. That was then and this is now.

Now Tina, like myself, has an Advanced Bionic cochlear implant and they are the only one cochlear implant company that has a T-Mic microphone auxillary ear hook.This is not to be confused with T-Coil that is just a small wire that can pick up electromagnetic signals from a telephone, TV, microphone and FM systems. The T-Mic is an ear hook with a microphone at the end that is designed to be placed in front of the ear canal opening and it takes advantage of the natural curvature of the ear to collect sounds as you can see here.

With this T-Mic technology, I can pick up a phone and place it right over my ear, like everyone else and after 24 years of fiddling with T-Coil hearing aids, I was more than happy that I didn’t have to try to find that awkward T-Coil spot anymore. But, I couldn’t understand how it worked because most of the Bluetooth headsets I've seen are ear bud style meaning they go in the ear canal that look like this.
With the T-Mic, you can use the ear buds but since the sound is being driven into the ear itself and away from the T-Mic, you would hear it but not as clear because the sound is being pumped into an ear canal and that don't help because well, we can't hear that way :) To fully utilize the benefit of T-Mic, sound had to be directed right in front of it. I was determined to find out the trick to this whole Bluetooth headset/Cochlear Implant business. So I did what any inquisitive deaf technological geek would do, I cornered Tina :) who was more then happy to let me test drive her Bluetooth headset. Once I saw the style of the Bluetooth headset, I went “Ah-hah!” It was flat and then it all made sense to me.

After I listened to the weather from Tina’s Bluetooth headset, I was sold. I decided that once I got back to New Jersey that by the way has a $250 fine if you are caught talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device, I was going to get me one. After some comparison shopping, I picked up this little gem of a headset from Motorola, the H700 for $40 bucks (see picture below). If you take a look at the top right picture, you will see that it is flat so that it fits right over the T-Mic which is exactly what you want.
This is the kind of headset you want to get if you want to start looking like one of those corporate yuppies exhibiting symptoms of bipolar disorder while rushing to Starbucks for a venti low fat vanilla with nonfat whipped cream, two pumps of caramel, and one pump of vanilla at 145-degrees soy latte light with soy milk and a shot of cinnamon! I’m sure you’ve seen them. :)

Now since my entire body is in proportion, my ears are big just like my butt and it can handle something else hanging off my ears. However, I cannot wear my glasses along with my cochlear implant and blue tooth headset. It has to be one or the other, the glasses or the headset. If you got teeny tiny ears, then this might be a better alternative for you, for under a hundred $130 bucks, the Noizfree Beetle Bluetooth headset available with one or two earhooks. It works with all T-Coil equipped behind the ear hearing aids and cochlear implants. You can use these with Bluetooth enabled cellphones, computers and listening systems.
Or you just might want to cut the coils all together and go with the Artone Bluetooth neckloop that works with all T-Coil equipped hearing aids and cochlear implants as well as Bluetooth enabled cellphones and computers! The only downside is that it cost $165 bucks.
This particular neckloop will help people that have bilateral hearing aids or cochlear implants with T-Coil activated. They can just flip their devices to T-Coil and listen to a phone call or streaming music from their computer or Ipod.

You can use for more then just talking on the phone, if you have a MacBook, PC that comes with Bluetooth built in or a Bluetooth USB drive, you can pair your headset with your computer and listen to music or audiobooks. I was jamming to my Itunes playlist all weekend via my Motorola H700 Bluetooth headset. You know what else you can do? You can purchase a Bluetooth adapter for Ipods that will enable you to listen to music or an audiobook from your Ipod.

I bid you all good toothing.

Advanced Bionic settles with the FDA

I wanted to share with you all a copy of the press release from Advanced Bionic CEO Jeff Greiner that was posted on HearingJourney.com

Dear Patients and Professionals:

Today, Advanced Bionics agreed to settle a matter with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), resulting from a decision we made in 2003. That decision concerned a determination that no formal FDA submission was needed when we added a new vendor (Vendor B, later terminated in March 2006) to our manufacturing operation. Four years later, in 2007, the FDA filed an administrative complaint against us stating the FDA's belief that a formal submission should have been filed. We responded to the Agency, pointing out that it had already approved both vendors when it approved the system.

While we do not agree with the FDA, we do believe that accepting its terms is in the best interest of our patients, our company and our need for a long standing relationship with the Agency. So, we have decided to settle the matter, with the company paying 1.1 million dollars and me, as CEO, paying 75 thousand dollars.

Over the years, we have increased our focus on the reliability of our entire implant system. At present, our internal device (Vendor A) has a 2 ½ year CSR of 99.1%, and our external product durability leads the industry. That being said, we expect that the quality of our products will only get better in the years to come.

As we move forward, we are stronger than at any point in our history: singularly focused on cochlear implants, well funded, possessing better leadership in key positions, and having a strategic plan built around patient care.

We very much look forward to continuing our partnership in this community. Please call me if you have any questions about these or other matters.

Very sincerely,

Jeff Greiner,
President and Co-CEO

Cochlear Transplant?

This is just my luck to get sick for the first time in over a year a WEEK before my vacation. Now of all times, my immune system decides to take a break and roll out the red carpet to the little ghosties and beasties to invade my body causing it to wreck havoc. My throat is resonating a teenage boy going through puberty and my nose is working overtime excreting some leftover science experiment that has obviously gone awry. With the clock ticking away, I decided to take care of this issue ASAP. I had to go to the doctor, the primary care person, the one in the white coat, the one that can write out a prescription for powerful drugs to nip my little medical malady in the bud. I decided to stay home today from my sunny little cubicle and make the appointment

I arrive at my doctors building armed with an appointment at 4:45pm EST. I haven’t been here in a while but I still know the procedure like the back of my hand.

1. Sign the sign in sheet.
2. Hand receptionist insurance card.
3. Hand the wrinkled $10 bill for my co-pay.
4. Sit down and pout.

With my bottom lip sticking out further than normal, I start to daydream about strolling through the middle of a desert in Reno on a Segway in a glittery dress made of shiny nickels and with matching cowboy boots hooked up to an oxygen tank picking Marigolds from the cactuses.

“Abbie?” the receptionist called.

I never said I was sane but I would never even dream of daydreaming in a doctor’s office of all places before my cochlear implant. I was always focused on watching the nurses every step to see if I was the next patient. I hated getting that look. You know that look of, “Yoo-hoo! I just called your name lady, I don’t have all day here!” Now I can daydream about highlighting the Smurfs lovely blue locks with blond streaks all I want!

I relocated myself to the examination room where I was questioned about my symptoms. Before I managed to get out three syllables, it was clear to the nurse why I was there. The sound of my voice caused her brows to furrow. She became uncomfortable and anxious to get out of the room. Hell I would to if I had someone sitting next to that sounded like Kermit croaking. She skedaddled out of the room as soon as she scribbled all three of my symptoms down on a sheet of paper.

I leaned my non-implanted side up against a cabinet and pouted some more. It was a short-lived lean because the man with the white coat came walking into the room. This doctor is part of the practice. He was the same doctor that filled out my medical history papers for my CI surgery. He did not have much knowledge of my history and he was pretty much relying on me. I think he would have written down anything I said to him. I should have seen if he would have written down that I hailed from the Lost City of the Atlantis. He has a gruff Jewish accent which makes it tough to understand him..

He glanced over at my direction; we exchanged optical salutations as he reviewed my extensive list of symptoms. He tells me to jump up on the examination table. I have a silly little fear that I would cause a small earthquake if I jumped up onto anything so I decided to slide right up on it. He takes the little black ear flashlight and shines it down my throat. He nods affirmatively. What was he nodding at? Who knows! I don’t think that hanging ball thing in the back of my throat talked. He moves over to my right ear that houses my hearing aid and I promptly remove it for him. He takes a gander and asks if I ever went through that surgery at Philly. I nodded as much as one could nod with a flashlight in their ear.

“So the cochlear transplant works?” he said.

Ay dio mios! Images flashed through my head where I was laying on an operating table with an open cooler alongside of me revealing a tiny cochlea embedded into an ice cube.

“Implant! I didn’t get a new cochlea from a cadaver down in the morgue, I just got computer put in my head that helps me hear.” I smiled in jest.

“Oh I dont know anything about that stuff.”

No kidding Doc. I decide to educate the man that spent 100,000 dollars on medical school about cochlear implants. He was so not amused by my little show and tell of my cochlear implant system. It was more showing than telling because I lost my voice halfway through my lecture.

Since the doctor ran out of holes to shine his little flashlight in, I hopped off the table and took a seat. I apparently have a sinus infection and laryngitis and his course of action is to zap them with antibiotics!

If this doesn’t work, I’m resorting to doing shots of cod liver oil and orange juice.