Just curious...

How would the cochlear implant affect my ear, maybe brain, (and motion sickness) while on a plane?

What about when I go to the dentist and they inject those shots deep in the back of my jaw that tend to numb my ear... would it affect the implant in anyway?

How about when I'm at the dentist and they are drilling my tooth... is the sound of the drill while wearing the cochlear going to be very uncomfortable??

What about when I get an xray of my teeth... would it do something to the magnet in my head?

Does anyone even dare leave their CI's on while at the dentist?

Is the first month after the surgery really uncomfortable? I mean, about being completely deaf in that ear... considering I'm not completely deaf in that ear currently...

How long will it take for the shaved hair to grow back so I can look like a girl again? If I had the bone structure, I'd certainly go for a Demi Moore/Natalie Portman shaved look. But I don't.

When going through the security gates at airports, will they make me stand in those round things to scan my entire body?

Do people stare at you when wearing the CI?

Do they treat you even more different when they figure out what's on your head compared to when they find out you simply have a hearing loss?

Writing a book

I've been planning and slowly writing a book for the past 2 years now. And I mean slowly because I literally write an hours worth once a year. My dilemma? I don't have a direct plot yet, so trying to keep up the writing pace with a certain direction in mind is complicated. More or less, I've been writing about my hearing loss and growing up with it. But I don't want it to be another boring book about Deaf/HOH facts, because I don't know about you, but almost every book I've read about deaf culture, or a hearing loss, has been kind've boring and I just couldn't wait to finish it. In fact, I read this book called Inside Deaf Culture which really was, just 250 pages of facts about "deaf culture" and it really took me a year to finish because I didn't have the interest to read it all at once- so I read it sparingly while reading other books more.

Alas, the book by Michael Chorost, Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me Part Human, was actually pretty captivating. I was given this book by an ex-boyfriend who was pretty much a computer nerd and somehow owned this book. Upon finishing it, Chorost's story actually made me NOT want to get the cochlear implant. (This was 5 years ago when I wasn't even considering it, really). But he wrote about it in what felt like a negative tone- although that can be understood considering he had one of the first cochlear implant's ever invented, and we can all quite assume it must've been somewhat bizarre and crappy, as far as new technology goes. Granted, Chorost has had his implant upgraded and is probably pretty happy today with it than he was 10 years ago (or so).

Anyway, so yaaaaa. On a side note, is it really going to be worth publishing another book about receiving a cochlear implant when dozens of people in my situation are doing the same thing? It might benefit me to accomplish it because I want to and I don't know what else I'm capable of writing a book about (my creative side is complete crap, so writing fiction is nearly too complicated for me), but the publishing world is expensive and tough and in the end it may not pay off.

Anyone got a suggestion on some "direction" I could take with my book? So far, it's just stories of my childhood being hard of hearing (kind've) and continues as I grow up and eventually get the cochlear. But I feel like it's lacking.

Which cochlear did I decide to get?

As most people that have the cochlear or have been considering it know, there are 3 companies that make and sell cochlear implants. They are all different in their own rights, but they each also focus on a certain element to sell itself above the other brands. The 3 brands are Med-El, Advanced Bionics, and Cochlear. Currently, their newest products are:
Med-El's Maestro


AB's Harmony

Cochlear's Nucleus 5

Many people I have talked to about these note that the most important part to pay attention to is the internal processor because you "marry it and the company." The internal processor is the piece that will go inside my cochlea and be implanted in the base of my skull, with a magnet embedded. The images you see above are the external processors that go behind the ear and attach to the magnet. The reason you marry the company though is because the surgeon will typically never go back inside the ear and upgrade the internal piece, except maybe, very rarely, or if it needs to be taken out due to complications. But the external processors can be upgraded as newer models are released.

Externally, the biggest difference between the 3 is that the Nucleus is the smallest one yet, but comes with a remote, of a sort, to change settings. The Med-El is pretty typical in size and there's nothing fancy to it, but it has the option for 3 different kind of cochlea implant stems and also comes with a remote. The Harmony is the biggest in size, unfortunately, but does not come with a remote... it has sensors to switch settings on its own. As far as the important things go, like pitch potential, temporal and spectral resolutions, decibel range, this chart is the best thing I can find to summarize the difference between the Nucleus and Harmony. The Maestro is kinda in between the two of them.

Which one did I choose? The Harmony. That chart was the reason why. It has a wider range of potential sounds than the other two have and that's ideally, what I want, as I don't want to be able to just hear people and converse better, but I want to be able to hear as close to normal as possible. I know I won't hear "normal" whatsoever, ever again, but it gives more benefits for the possibility of hearing more than the other two provide. With that said, I can't even process why people pick the Nucleus... it's like picking glasses that see 25/20 instead of 20/20, or 15/20. I know this processor I'm choosing is on the big side, but there's a good chance a smaller version will be released in the next 5 years, probably.

Any questions?

Still waiting

It has been almost three weeks since my last hearing appointment and I have not heard back from insurance yet of approval. Is it suppose to take this long? I really thought it'd take barely a week.

There was a moment just two days ago when I walked in my bedroom to find my husband on his cell phone and he said it was "insurance" and I actually thought it was Medicare or Tricare even, but it turns out it was only car insurance trying to make more money off of us. Bummer. Haha.

More to write eventually...

Final Layout (I hope)

After 3 hours of template hunting, I feel like this is the perfect one for the topic and title. What do you think? Also, do you understand the title? What does it say about me? (I know what it means, but I want to know how you perceive it and if the point gets across appropriately).

Whew. The things I do instead of schoolwork.

P.s. I did not get anything from Medicare yet.

Waiting...

It has been 9 days since I had the pneumonia shot. I went in to see the doctor last friday since the inflammation on my arm had spread down my whole arm and was beginning to seep to the inside. I was also having orange urine. Now, I know dark yellow urine means dehydration, and I can tell the difference from yellow and orange, so I thought it was strange and decided it was time to see the doctor. The doctor said the inflammation should be gone by monday, or go see him again, and that the orange pee was just simply dehydration. Ya, whatever. It doesn't help when your doctor looks like you're wasting his time and he just prescribes you THREE drugs as if that's the whole reason you came in. Which, if you know me, I hate prescription drugs, and I never want them unless it's without a doubt I've got an infection and need an antibiotic or some seriously strong pain pills (which I only need one or the other every 5 years or so). The reason I go to the doctor is because I would like a diagnosis, not a thing more. I would like him to say, "this is a result of ... and that is from ... and you should be fine in ...." that's all I want! Not, "this is normal. Does that hurt? Only when you touch it (which he was touching it). I don't think it's an infection but I'll prescribe you an antibiotic just in case and some tylenol for the pain. Ok? Fine. Does anything else hurt? No, just my arm. I'll write you up for some ibuprofin too, ok? ... k... " Really? Needless to say, the pain went away saturday morning, and the redness was gone sunday night. Although I've been having some odd itching where the inflammation use to be, I'm doing fine. And I never bothered to take the pills.

What am I "waiting" for? The mail. Every day I wake up like a little kid that is excited to check the mail. I love mail. I hate junk mail, but I love mail. I like getting bills (because they make me feel like I'm doing something right with my life, even if they're too high sometimes), and I like tracking my expenses on excel. I should mention I almost majored in accounting in college- yea, go figure- except, I nearly failed my very first class on it and was like "screw this." If I find an affordable online college to get my accounting degree though, I just may go back for it- accountants are always needed in this world, I just have to be able to do it at my own pace and not in a classroom setting (because of the hearing loss, classroom settings are just not ideal, although maybe someday they'll be fine once I get the cochlear).

Anyway, what I'm really waiting for in the mail is a letter from Medicare of approval for the cochlear. It's just simply the next step of the process and I'd like to find out the answer and when to expect the phone call for scheduling the surgery. I'm hoping to have it scheduled for the end of June, say, on about June 25th, right after seeing the Dbacks Vs Yankees for 3 days (and watching the Yankees win), and while my husband is on leave from work so he can be there for me. And also because it would be turned on before my mom visits at the end of July.

Well, now it's actually time to go check today's mail and see what lies within.