A little late... one month update!

So I know this is a bit late, but I had my one month CI session on 5/14/2010. I was somewhat nervous at this visit because at my 1 week session we made the maps slightly softer since I was perceiving everything to be "brighter." I was hearing everything with my new side, and was always jacking the sensitivity up on the old side, to get it to almost compete with the new ear. At my one week mapping session, where we did bilateral balancing, in essence, we made my near ear softer (by bringing my C's down), and made my old ear louder (by bringing my C's up). Shortly after my CI session I started to notice that things didn't seem as bright, however, I just went with it. 

Anyhow, at 1 month, on 5/14/2010, I went back and saw Mandy (who is awesome as ever!). We did some booth testing, which showed that I was hearing some sounds slightly softer than I had at my 1 week session. However, the really interesting thing was when we were doing word recognition testing. 

As I listened to the words with my new ear, I found the words harder to hear, they didn't sound that clear to me. I started to panic inside, started to think about what a risk I was taking being programmed at the same hospital that I work at. I was thinking, what if my performance has gotten worse, and the hospital now knows my results, and feels that I am not qualified to do my job? I was really starting to freak out, because I really didn't think I was doing well as I had at 1 week. So at 1 week, with my new ear, I was understanding 52% which was pretty good! At one month... I was understanding... 66%!! While I was panicking, I was actually improving my score by 14%! I was pleased with that! 

I shared with Mandy what I was feeling, and she said she could read my insecurity in the booth because I was hesitant in stating my responses. Anyhow, Mandy said that she could understand why I felt sounds weren't as bright, because I don notice small changes in my hearing, and it was noted with my ever so slight decrease in pure-tone sensitivity. Anyhow, Mandy wanted to check in on my maps to see if we could give my "brightness" back.

as soon as we checked in on my maps, and made some changes, we went live. Man, did a smile ever come across my face! Everything was immediately brighter. I was able to voice better what I was feeling. I told Mandy that sounds now seemed like they were right next to me, and not far away! I loved it! It was awesome! I feel like I hear a lot and I think it's the most awesome thing!

So now, together with both ears, I did 92% whole words (97% phonemic). I am elated with those results. 

So on a different note, I went away with some work folks to a colleague's country home. It was an awesome over night trip. However, I was meeting new people for the first time, it was a crowd of about 25 people. We were eating outside in the dark, and playing games with the lights out. I didn't ever really feel like I missed a beat. Now granted that is my own perception, and I am biased. I asked Jason what he thought, and he also thought that I did better this weekend, than I may have, had I just had the one implant and hearing aid. Again, I know he's biased too ;-) 

Sorry for the delay in my post but that is my update! Things are going great on my end otherwise!