TIME AND DATE
A few days after the balance test I received two letter from
the hospital. One called me to a pre-op
assessment and the other was gave the time and date of the actual
operation. I’m down for an early start,
7.15am in two months time.
As the operation gets closer I’ve returned to checking on
the Internet for information and thoughts from others. I came across some YouTube
videos of the actual operation and I almost wish I hadn’t seen them. All the gory detail is there with a great
deal of drilling going on. It’s no worse
than watching hospital soaps on TV but much easier to identify with the blood
and gore when it might be yours. The
YouTube links took me away from that to a much more encouraging area, videos of
children and adults being switched on for the first time. It’s a moving thing
to watch and a great reminder not only of the brilliance of CI’s but also of
the impact being deaf has on so many people.
I haven’t had to wait long for my operation. Much of the waiting time has been taken up
with the necessary protocols, which lead up to the operation itself. But it
can’t come soon enough really. When I am
with people I know who face me when they speak on a topic I’m aware of I manage
quite well and most of the time I am with these people. It’s when I’m in less
familiar circumstances that the extent of my hearing loss becomes all too apparent. A stranger engaging in an impromptu
conversation can leave me completely lost and more often than not I guess, nod
my head and pretend I’ve heard rather than cause offence or deter future
conversations. When it becomes clear that I’m not going to get away with this I
have to come clean and ask the person to repeat the words and then repeat the
words again. If my wife is nearby or a friend I am used to hearing I turn for a
‘translation’ at the risk of making the original speaker feel they are the
problem.
Today I called into the chemist’s with a prescription. A
simple thing except that this time the assistant began to ask how often I picked
up prescriptions and went on to describe a service offered to make things
easier. Well I think that’s what she was on about and she didn’t seem too upset
when I said I was happy with things as they are so I must have guessed
correctly what she was saying. But as I
wandered out of the shop I did wonder what it was that I was actually missing. Whilst waiting for my prescription to be made
up I called in to a local supermarket.
At the checkout all went well until I was asked a question. I thought it must be some sort of offer the
checkout person was on about so said no thank you. He smiled and repeated the
‘question’. Still unable to understand I
told him I was deaf by way of explanation. Other customers in the queue behind
me were showing signs of amusement by now. Once again he repeated himself and I
moved closer because this was now becoming an important issue. Then I got it. “Enjoy the rest of your day,”
he had been saying. A minor courtesy
becomes a major communication issue. The
cochlear implant can’t come soon enough.
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