Been awhile

 My Oct. 31st appointment was so successful that I did not have to go for my month mapping. Heidi has tweeked my hearing aid, although that is still hard to get used to. I have different hearing in each ear, which at times is annoying to put it plainly. If it is too much, I take it out and only use cochlear. Even though hearing is different, it is much less annoying and easier to deal with. I am not as stressed. Hearing is taking some time to adjust to. I hear better at beginning of day then towards the end when I am tired. Hearing with aid and cochlear is good, but at times it is too much imput. I so understand my kiddos with sensory overload. I think I will write a book about how to combat sensory overload from a teacher's perspective. Yes everyone tells you how to deal with it. Take out you hearing aid and take off cochlear. However where does that leave you-no hearing at all. I can't handle that. I have to try a happy middle ground. How do I help these kids with sensory imput issues. Let then come into a quiet place to decompress that is what I have found helps. I NEED QUIET at times. Soft music, so much less input. My ears hurt from all that input at once. I love to talk to people about my cochlear and what it means to hear again. Some people, I can tell, would not like to hear about it and also do not want to hear me talking so much. However for many years I stopped talking and going to meet people because I could not understand them. Yes many thought I was not sociable,but I did not like explaining it to strangers or people who were not my good friends and family. It feels good to get back into life!! I am going for 3 month check and probably a lot of tweeking. I can tell things are different now, but trying to get my aided ear and cochlear ear to mesh-long haul.

So greatful to my TEAM

Words can't express the gratitude to Dr. D. Backous and his team at Head and Skull Surgery Center at Swedish Hospital. It does take a team effort to get to this point in the process. I am also indebted to Dr. Eric Tallen, my ENT for sending me to Seattle for consultations and bringing me back into the world of hearing. I am forever greatful to this awesome team of people.
My thanks to Stacey Watson for her expertise in evaluating my hearing. It was very painful and the most extensive testing I have had done. However she was extremely supportive and caring.
Many many thanks to Dr. Backous. Dr. Heidi Sheridan had looked at my results and wondered why they had said I was a candidate as my hearing in a quiet environment is at 85%. She wondered why? Until she looked at Dr. Backous's notes and further testing in a noisy environment and the level 14%. Quite a difference. Dr. Backous said we don't live in a quiet environment and I did not teach in one, so I became a candidate due to that one area. There is criteria that you have to pass to become a candidate and I passed. Dr. Backous is the most caring and friendly Doctor I have known in a long time. The time he takes to ask questions, look at history, check MRI and do a thorough look at ears himself,makes all the difference in how much faith and trust I felt from the time I talked to his staff on the phone to set up appts. He is just as caring and nice in person as he is on his video.
Also thanks to his nursing staff and office staff for trouble shooting everything from insurance to flights.
The last person is Dr. Heidi Sheridan, audiologist in Alaska. Dr. Backous and Stacey W. recommended her when I chose the cochlear to implant. Since I am from Alaska, they said Cochlear is the one Dr. Heidi works with. She is super helpful and supportive. She helped me with flights to Seattle, appts in Alaska and shared with my husband and I the joy of the activation. She gets the good job!! She sees the result of the efforts of Stacey and Dr. Backous. I am sending Thank yous to all very soon!!! Maybe with new hairdo pics. 

Day 3 Oct. 26,2011

I am home. Colleen came up to say to get up and she was talking to her dad and I replied, her expression was priceless. She said OMGod, she heard me. IT was great!! Today was training at district office. The first group hearing environment. It went well. I had to first tune into the speaker, although it was hard to tune out the side conversations at times. But I could understand the speakers. They still sounds like munchkins at times. When I change channels they sounds kind of munchkin-like for a few minutes and then may sound different. I noticed certain woman's voices stay sounding munchkin-like and others sound close to OK.Men sound different. All have a bubbly sound at the end of what they say. But it is understandable. I told my Audiologist that sounds are easy for me since that is what I do all day long helping kids learn sounds and how to read. So my brain must be used to certain things and is saying oh yay I remember that!! How cool is that!! TV is still hard to process at times. But will work on that. I know I can hear people talking to me in the car now. I am told my voice is quieter. We will see tomorrow at school.
Getting a hair change next Wed. Cutting some of the underneath hair so fit processor easier-too much hair and it gets all tangled in processor at times and it hurts. My head hurts again tonight. Not sure if it is processor dangling at times, glasses(think going to contact and cheaters might be better) or just a long day!! Will be emailing Heidi to ask. All for today-it was good.

Day 2 Mapping Oct. 25,2011

This was done to fine tune the channels and see how well I had done the first day. I had three channels different volume levels. Audiologist said it was the same, a little change but it was good. I was doing great. She said some sounds would seem strange. I told her my head hurt, she changed strength of magnet. Will check and see if that is too weak or what for next time. These things will have to be changed periodically until the swelling goes down some more. She gave me four channels and each have its own volume to go down to where it is comfortable. She also gave me telecoil option to see how it works with my Blackberry. I have to hold the phone kind of in a weird spot but who cares I can hear on Mike's phone. Mike and I will experiment until Monday(Halloween) when we see Heidi again. I will have my hearing tested in a booth and she will work with my other hearing aid. I listened to more music on the way home. I have to learn to tune in to the person talking to me and I don't have to read their lips. It is awesome. The drive home was long. I had a bad headache by time we got home, but I wanted to keep on the processor til I talked to my girls. It is great to see their expressions. Shannon laughed and hugged me. Colleen was asleep. Well bedtime did not come too soon-I was exhausted again.Hearing is hard work!!

Activation Day Oct. 24,2011

It is truly amazing how little we take hearing for granted. I did until I gradually lost mine. Diagnosed with Meniere's at age 19 and hearing loss was just that-oh well nothing I can do. Was told no hearing aids would work. Jump ahead 27 years and a bicross later, hearing was bad enough that i was issued hearing aids. Jump ahead another 6 years and at age 51 years, no hearing at all, left some hearing with aid. Diagnosis: candidate for cochlear implant. Surgery Oct 17, 2011 to have internal implant and Oct. 24,2011 ACTIVATION DAY
Words can't express the joy, the thrill of hearing my husband make a cheek sound that he used to make to our children when they were little. Hadn't heard that sound in years. I cried when I heard him and my audiologist.It was truly amazing. She tested me on sounds of letter and vowels, I did well only missed one. That was real good. She set the levels on my processor to levels that is would not hurt but I could hear. I listened to music the rest of the night. Music with words and lyrics sounds very jumbled still. TV too much. I was exhausted by the days end. Slept 9 hours straight. Hearing is exhausting.

Today is THE DAY: ACTIVIATION of Cochlear implant

Today is the DAY for activation of cochlear implant. I am nervous and fearful that it won't work. After surgery to implant device and then it doesn't work. That is my fear. However I have faith that the Dr did what he was suppose to do, just praying that my body will do what it is suppose to do now. Hopefully it is healing right and no scar tissue will form over anything to stop it from working.
On the other hand I am excited to hear again after years of asking, "what, could you repeat that?" It does get old for all my friends and family.  I have faith that this too will be the beginning of a new me. I will start my journey with Northern Hearing and Dr. Heidi Sheridan at 9:00 today. It will be a long journey but so well worth it. I am off to my appointment to the world of hearing.

Presentations on cochlears to Tanana Junior High students

Several classes at TMS in Fairbanks have viewed a video on cochlear implants and a video on the surgical implantation. As a candidate for a cochlear implant I am sharing my pre-operation and information on cochlear implants and how I became a candidate. They asked so many questions about how I lost my hearing, how old was I, can I hear when I take out my hearing aids and how much it cost and am I scared. I was able to answer all of their questions. Am I scared? Not really, nervous to find out if I can hear better, but with no hearing, it is exciting to see how I do. It will be a learning curve to say the least. I am trying to stay positive and inspired. I am hopeful. I promised them I would return after getting it implanted and show them the real thing. I am excited!!

Everything is falling into place.

In order not to keep bugging my family and friends with all this news, I thought I would start a blog about my experience in going deaf and becoming a candidate for a cochlear.
The long journey started when I was 19 years old in 1979. I was a college student when I began to have dizzy spells and hearing issues. I would fall down, throw up as the room spun around in circles. Went to see a specialist-diagnosis Meniere's disease and nothing could be done for hearing loss except live with it. So I proceeded to complete my degree, take medication for dizziness and live with somewhat hearing people, but did not require hearing aids at that point as I could hear in most environments.
In 1983 I got married and moved to Texas. I still had occasional bouts of dizziness, now seeing allergists who attributed it to allergies. When I got pregnant with first child, all dizziness went away until after done being pregnant and it would come back. Each subsequent pregnancy, I had the same experience. Through dizziness the hearing and ringing would get worse, but get better too. In 1993 we moved to Alaska and I have my final and fourth child in 1995. I lived with the dizziness and hearing gradually getting worse, but did not come as often, In 2005 I had so much trouble I contacted an ENT who again did MRI and diagnosed Meniere's however hearing in right ear was non-existant at this point and some hearing loss in left ear-now I was fitted with hearing aids-bicros. I dealt with using them on and off until a year ago when I had to use them all the time. In Feb. 2011 I had another hearing test which revealed a slight drop in hearing in left side. Adjusted hearing aids. In April had the worst dizziness, ringing and hearing loss ever. This time the hearing did not get better after dizziness and it sounded tinny. ENT had me do another MRI and hearing tests. No difference in MRI by hearing is not longer classic for Meniere's -wrong diagnosis. Time to see a specialist in Seattle to see if candidate for cochlear and what hearing I have.
 August 30,2011, hearing test and examine by Dr. Douglas Backous at Swedish. I can hear at 84% in a very quiet environment and at 14 % in a noisy environment. He explained we do not live in a quiet environment. I am an candidate. What does that mean??
I talk more with Audiologist: Stacey Watson, who tells me all the pros and cons of cochlear implants, I pick out implant and such and now wait for insurance.
In the meantime of waiting for insurance, I contact audiology Drs in Anchorage to discuss the follow-ups after implantation. Insurance OK's implant and process begins
Appt made for surgery-Oct. 17,2011
Flights arranged
Hotel needs arranging
Subs are secured for my absences
THE JOURNEY BEGINS!!