16. Mapping and assessment.

I’ve just returned from the audiology department at Bristol.  This session was with Sarah the senior audiologist and was for checking progress as well as  mapping the processor. As usual we began with a sound check where Sarah turned up the volume for each frequency to a point where I thought it loud but comfortable. She then created and installed four programmes.

Programme 1 is the default programme, which uses two microphones, one on top of the processor and the T mic, which sits near the ear canal. Clear Voice was also switched on.

Programme 2 is similar to programme one but with the T mic only which allows me to focus the sound from my mobile phone onto that microphone exclusively.

Programme 3 Uses Clear voice but with Super Zoom.  Here the processor picks up sound directly in front of me so I can turn towards a speaker to hear more effectively.

Programme 4 is a Telecoil programme for use with loop systems where it is available.

 I will need to experiment with the programmes over the next six weeks but what about progress so far?

I was presented with a TV screen from which the totally impassive face of a man spoke sentences on a stated topic. I was asked to repeat the sentence.  Then he spoke without the topic prompt and finally the image was removed and it was sound only. The results?  Well you may recall I am a good lip reader so my score on the visible man was good just as it was during those initial tests. But during those initial tests I scored zero when it was sound only.  Today, on that test, I recorded a score of 77%, which is a massive improvement. There were smiles all round not least from Marjorie, my wife and Sarah who said that I was bang on target.  Next I was presented with a variety of sounds and asked to identify them. The final test was the traditional press the button when you hear the sound test but using only the implant. Prior to the implant my score for my right ear was zilch, well into the profoundly deaf area with over 90db of hearing loss but today the hearing loss was around 40bd, a massive improvement.

So I’ve returned home with a few things to play with and the proof of what I knew already, that the implant has restored significant hearing to my defunct right ear.  That formal assessment is great news and, I am told, there is scope for further progress.  So where am I now from a personal point of view?

I often use only the implant for whole days and manage quite well. When I do use my hearing aid I turn it down so that it provides a background sound only and the implant picks up the details.  There is no doubt, in my mind, which produces the better result. After a temporary battery failure left me with the hearing aid only I couldn’t believe how I managed before.  There are issues of course.  Background noise and distracting sounds make it difficult to hear without intense concentration but when my wife whispered to avoid waking grandchildren, in the absence of no other sounds, I heard her clearly.  The shrill voices of Annie and George my grandchildren come over much better and I feel that they are a bit more confident that I will hear them so our conversations are longer. If I use earphones with my iPhone I can hear Radio 4 in my implanted ear very well in most cases and quite often I can hear the spoken word directly from the phone. I can hear my mobile phone quite well but after years of not using the phone I’m a bit short of contacts. The only downside I can think of is the effect on my sense of taste, which still persists. All told, seven weeks after switch on, I’m a very happy man.