Being connected to the CI processor since 01-05-2015 & Explanation

Hii everyone!

I'm now connected to the CI processor since Friday last week. It's really nice that you guys are all happy for me and wishing I can hear now better & get to hear the birds whistling again & such.


I'm glad that you guys want the best for me and expect me to hear things now again I couldn't hear before the operation.



But unfortunately it does NOT work like that, I'm sorry to say this, but it simply doesn't go that fast.



Let's say, a person who isn't able to walk for years, now is able to learn to walk again, will not walk over mileeeeeees on the first day again, he will maybe only be able to take two steps on the first day. So no, it does not work like that. It is a learning process, just like me.



I am born with hearing disabilities. Since age of 9 my hearing became very bad but before age of 9, I was deaf on high tones for about 65%. This went rapidly to less hearing after age of 9 as the years passed till 96% deaf on high tones.




I am 20 now, I was about 94% deaf on high tones on my 16th, before the operation I was 96% deaf on high tones.




I already walk around with this huge loss for many years and won't go immediately hear high tones again. I can't recognize sounds yet and I still can not understand/hear with the CI yet. My brains have to work hard now to be able to recognize those high tones I haven't heard for my whole life, but I just cannot simply recognize them without the help of someone else because I don't ''know'' the sounds.


At the moment, I hear more with my right ear without hearing aids then with my left ear with CI connected, that already says much.



Please keep in mind, not every deaf person has the same loss, not every hearing impaired person has the same loss, every person is different, don't put us all in the same booth because we're all different. That for example your grandma has a hearing aid and I too, does not mean we hear the same, of course.



Lets say, we have suddenly deaf people who have been hearing very well their whole life, then suddenly became deaf (we call that plotsdoven here in the netherlands, not sure what is the right word for that in english) then have been deaf for like a year, then get connected to the CI,


those people will learn to hear sounds faster, pick them up way faster than a person born hearing impaired their whole life. It's impossible for the brains to learn that fast.


And this is why the recovery lasts a half year till a year. I simply cannot hear and recognize sounds, pick them up within a day. It's a learning process, it's different for everyone. Some people learn it faster than others, others are being slow with it and this simply has nothing to do with that they're being lazy, it has to do with because they have been deaf for so long on some tones.



I hope I explained enough, you can always ask me more things to understand it better than to assume I can now hear everything again, no I can't.




I have to go to a speech therapist like almost every week for that and have to practice also on learning not to automatically read lips when someone speaks. But all this, will come later as it's yet still too early to do that, I don't hear proper yet with the CI.




Yes, it's complicated, that's me, that's my hearing disability, it IS complicated and a thing no one ever can completely understand than only me myself.



I cannot really explain to you guys what I hear at the moment, but it are really high beeps, all the time. When I listen to music, I sometimes notice that some high beeps go along with beat of the music, but it are still high beeps. I still do have tinnitus too.



I'm doing fine at the moment, taking it easy and I wear my CI with proud now. I'm satisfied with it and just living from day to day, looking forward to upcoming events & things I've planned.



Hope you all are informed better now, questions always can be asked of course.



xxx


Yuu San.