-cochlear implant report - three months have come and gone and i went to iowa so they could examine my progress. they measured my hearing, both with and without, and said i was doing as expected and all was well. researchers did a number of tests and actually provided me with a hotel room in coralville so they could do more tests. at one point one researcher asked me how it was going, and i said, pretty well, and he said, i was nervous about asking because i asked one person and they broke out in tears.

so here's a more accurate overall picture. this device connects to my head by magnet and sometimes comes loose when i take off a sweater or brush my arm against by head. the device has a battery that i charge every night and that lasts almost fourteen hours; it's kind of a pain if my day lasts fourteen and a half (which it does) or fifteen, but the alternative is charging it during the day or switching over to another battery midstream which is difficult but not impossible. when it runs out of battery it makes annoying beeps and then simply dies. i have to get used to this.

there are plenty of times when i am using only the CI (on the left), or only the old hearing aid (on the right), and therefore know how much i catch with only one of them. in general my brain is becoming more accustomed to relying on the CI because it's better for picking out exactly what people say. the hearing aid is simply an amplifier for what is already unclear. they told me that in a year the right will probably be ready too but they'll take it as it comes and not make plans; also, that it takes about a full year for me to adjust completely to using and relying on a CI but that I am on the path to doing it.

deep under my skull an implant is picking up electric signals from the device and transferring them to my brain which is now responding to electric signals as opposed to just noise. the part deep inside my brain actually responds to other things too which means i get some signals from moving my hand near my ear, pressing on my ear lobe, etc. it's kind of like picking up radio waves in your fillings. these signals used to scare me in the shower because i was afraid my CI was still on, but it wasn't, wasn't anywhere near it. these sounds are not too bothersome but they couldn't explain them and said they would do their best to find out. i'm just curious - how can simple air movement, for example drying my hair with a towel, or pressing my hand on my skull, activate that little electric prod down there. it doesn't affect my daily life that much though, so i'll drop it.

as a door dasher i'm often in the situation when i'm in a crowded room and still have to hear what somebody is saying to me. often it is, "there's a drink with this too," or "don't forget the barbecue sauce," but whatever it is i need to hear it. i do better with the CI than with the hearing aids. i'm back in the game, so to speak. which was the point.