17 ALMOST ONE YEAR GONE

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.

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.

15. Back to work.

The rain has passed and on a bright but chilly morning I was off to join one of the Cotswold Voluntary Wardens work parties I mentioned in my last blog. I really enjoy being a Warden and not only because of the activities or the satisfaction of helping maintain our rural landscape but also because of the excellent company of fellow wardens. I haven’t missed the fact that my deafness doesn’t seem to bother anyone and that people do keep an eye out for me and don’t seem to mind repeating a few things when I ask.  The fact that I turned up mistakenly thinking I was going on a postponed activity was down to daftness not deafness on my part. The task involved coppicing and bonfires on Crickley Hill for the National Trust, an activity that I’ve done many times before but not with a transmitter on the side of my head.  The hard hat was the first problem because the headband of the hat passed right over the transmitter and the internal receiver making it unusable.  Still, there was always the fire to tend where a hard hat was not essential.   Later I tried a brush cutting hard hat, which had a large adjusting knob at the back, which allowed the headband to expand and contract easily.  With a beanie to cover the electronics I could expand the headband so that it went over my head without knocking the transmitter off and then tighten it until it was secure.  Problem solved!

I felt more confident talking to others and although the shrillness has diminished a little I still have to tell myself to concentrate on the chipmunks!  Lunchtime banter provided me with snippets of conversation, which had been beyond me previously, but I realise that I’m some distance from being able to comfortably engage and eavesdrop in that situation. However, talking in smallish groups was better than before.  The wind doesn’t help either as it whistles across the microphone so I’m going to look out for a furry cover like those used by sound recordists.

14. First Mapping Session.

First mapping session.

After ten days I returned to Bristol for the first mapping session.  It would have been a week but the Christmas festivities intervened.  I shared all of my observations with the audiologist and she told me that they were common experiences and that there was no reason for concern.  The loudness of the implant had reduced which was normal but adjustable.  So, wired up to the computer, I was presented with the sounds produced by the sixteen electrodes in the cochlear array and each one was turned up to the point that it was loud but comfortable.  It was good to see that all of the electrodes were working and amazing to hear those very high frequencies, which I feel I have never been able to hear at any time before.  The volume on all of the frequencies was similar which interested me because my hearing aid was set to boost high frequencies most.  The audiologist then saved the new settings as the default programme in the processor.  A second programme was also created with a further boost to volume should I need it.  I had no difficulty in hearing the audiologist; she came over loud and clear yet my wife told me on departure that she had spoken softly throughout.  Constant deterioration of natural hearing is unavoidable and inevitable but, I am reassured, the implant should remain stable without deterioration.  This is one of he reasons why I wanted the operation. So I returned home with a renewed hearing experience.  I tried the TV news without subtitles and got most of it but will still use the subtitles for a while yet. 

Today is New Year’s Day and it is pouring with rain. I’ve not mentioned this before but I am a Cotswolds Voluntary Warden and in that capacity I join my fellow wardens in keeping our beautiful part of the world in good order.  I’ve helped clear paths, installed bridges, stiles and gates and I look after a section of the Cotswold Way which runs through Crickley Hill overlooking Cheltenham.  But on this rainy day I’ve been one of four leaders guiding a walk for the general public.  I appreciated the interest shown by my colleagues this morning, which is the first time we’ve met since the switch on.  It will be interesting to re-join the work parties after the holiday to see if I can pick up more of the banter.  As I waited in the car for the intrepid walkers to arrive I tuned into Radio 4 and was able to enjoy a discussion about pantomimes.