Activation Scheduled for Oct 15th

at 9am, that is. My husband will be with me- yay!

I watched a few activation videos that someone suggested to me, and noticed how, well, either the person is really emotional and cries about it, or it seems to resemble getting hearing aids tuned. I'm not a happy crier, so I don't expect to burst out any tears during the experience, therefore, I feel like I will certainly fall into the latter. Those of you that have/had hearing aids, especially the more modern ones, like Oticon, that required computerized adjustments to suit your needs, would know what I'm talking about. Getting the implant turned on and mapped is going to be an equal experience of approvals and disapprovals of sound settings until it's set in a way I'm satisfied with.

I need to remember to be conscientious with the audiologist about this because in my past experience, I have had my hearing aids tuned to settings that were fine - in the office - until I leave the building and wanted to kill myself. Offices are typically pretty silent compared to stepping outside and being in the public, and my experience says the settings are always too loud in public and I got headaches after only a few hours to the point I would stop wearing the hearing aids. I don't expect the CI mapping to be much difference; what's going to sound fine in the office is going to sound like an orchestra outside. So I figure I'm going to need to see if they can start the loud pitch noises on the soft side and gradually build it up to a volume I can tolerate. If possible.

I could clarify and say that with my hearing aids, I was hearing up to 50 decibels, and merely 15 years ago, I was hearing 20 decibels with them. I do have some memories of sounds I use to hear, so it's not like I really don't know what I'm going to start hearing again because I have a pretty good idea. It's just going to come down to how my brain wants to adapt to hearing it all again and how well I can handle it all, which hopefully I'll manage after a while and be like normal people who complain about loud traffic, loud music, loud birds... or like my husband, who can't stand when I chew. I'd love to backfire his complaints and tell him he chews too loud too. I don't know how I'm going to get him to stop turning the TV up so loud though.. without my hearing aids, a comfortable TV volume is 36 (on our TV), but to my husband, he likes it at 48. What gives? Imagine how loud it's going to sound at 48 with the implant!