Great news!

I have realized today I have not had to ask anyone to repeat a sentence in nearly 2 weeks. I'm not as worried about being around people anymore cause I'm always confident I'm going to hear them fine, and I do tend to. I also managed to hear Thomas say a sentence in the car, without looking at him. Though, I think he was talking like I was deaf cause he didn't seem to process I could possibly understand him in the car yet without looking at him. Nice. I must say it was convenient,.. and safe... as I was going off the road a lot less. :-)

On the flip side, we have not been practicing sounds. It's been 2 months since activation and I'm such a lagger. I've got my first official hearing test with the CI in just a month too.

Do I wear the CI all the time? No. I tend to put it on a few hours after I wake up if I'm going to watch tv or go somewhere, or I might just wait til night time when I watch tv. I might also put it on if I feel I need to be alert to something, such as UPS arriving, or even Thomas coming home. On rare days, I just won't wear it at all. I also take it off several hours before I go to bed because my ear just reaches a point where it kinda hurts from the device. Which by the way, seriously needs to be made smaller. Poor kids that wear these things.

Certainly have improvements

Well, I haven't posted much in a while. Nothing is necessarily blogable, but I can say my hearing has improved with the CI indefinitely. Rather, it's more noticeable of the improvements. I can simply listen to videos from the computer now without needing headphones (in fact, I prefer using the CI than headphones now), even though I do not bother to use the cable that will allow me to specifically hook the CI to the computer. I also do not bother to hook the CI to my Ipod when I go running, and just use headphones and my other ear. Mainly due to the sweat I develop when I exercise, but also because the CI is still picky in what music it likes and what sounds it is picking up.

I have been able to understand people a lot easier without having to ask anyone to repeat; however it can still be hard to hear someone who isn't within 6 feet of me, whose lips I can't see, and if there is a lot of background noise. My husband and I have not been practicing speech as much as we should be. Mainly cause he is never home and I'm always busy with schoolwork or just excited to get out of the house. But I can certainly hear when someone behind me is talking compared to me walking away from them in the past because I had no idea.

I have yet to try the phone. Although I have been capable of actually hearing people talk through speakerphone, although, I was only able to make out numbers compared to actual words. I have considered eavesdropping on my husbands speaker calls as "practice with the CI." Haha.

Music is still vague. If there is a lot of instruments going on, especially bass, the song will sound abnormal. A drum will sound like the high pitch keys on a piano. Therefore, the most simple songs tend to sound the best so far, such as Celine Dion's "It's all coming back to me," which sounds absolutely clear. Especially her amazing voice, which makes her songs anyway.

My next mapping is on the 21st, and I'll be mentioning all this to my audiologist and hoping she can make a few more adjustments that will make, at least, music, sound the way it should. Plus, some sounds in speech are still not as clear as they should be, and that might be because high frequencies need to be raised more in order to distinguish the differences.