I didn't want to keep blogging when there was little new to say which is why there has been quite a gap since my last blog. However, it's almost a year since I was switched on so I thought I'd give an update.
I've completely given up using an hearing aid in my left ear. That ear is now beyond help with hearing aids and although there is till some residual hearing left it is too distorted for me to cope with speech using an aid and without it there is very little sound at all. However the cochlear implant more than makes up for this and I'm now totally dependent on it. So every morning I switch on, attach it to my head and ease the processor behind my ear and then from total silence crystal clear sound awaits. I've mentioned before the circumstances when I still find things less than perfect but I think that many people my age would find some difficulty in the same situation. Yesterday I attended a large meeting of around fifty people. I switched the processor to the Super Zoom mode and even those from twenty feet away were clear. And then the person sitting beside me stood up to speak and as he did so turned away from me and became too quiet for me to hear. I can now listen to Radio 4 easily and also use my iPhone without too much anxiety. I also find myself able to engage in casual conversations with people when previously I would have avoided that situation. All told I regard myself as having normal hearing. Originally sounds were shrill and mechanical in nature but now they are much more natural. I can even enjoy regional accents. My own voice sounds a bit harsh but that's not a problem. The implant is designed to improve speech so music was never a priority. However I do enjoy music, especially familiar music when I can remember the tunes. There's no bass though and I have difficulty in picking out the melodies but perhaps that will improve as everything else has done.
So I continue to be a a very contented and grateful recipient of a cochlear implant. Thank you Advanced Bionics for the Naida Q70 electronics and thank you to Mr Robinson my surgeon and all the superb people on the West of England Cochlear Implant team at Bristol.
