Day after Switch On

Well, I had a huge sleep last night! So exhausted & still absolutely feeling it today. I am totally overwhelmed by the love & support I have received on Facebook & in my blog. Thank you!

I took some extra photos last night when I went to bed to give an idea of what happens at bed time. I finally got to take my aid off & put it to bed for the night. Taking it off, although it means I miss out on sound, my brain/body absolutely need that break! My ears have not been processing sound for 3yrs or more & now all of a sudden they have sounds knocking on the door so to speak.

I'm finding it really weird that I can actually stick my finger in my ear & yet still hear with no sound adjustments from it. In other words, when you put your hand over your ears, sound becomes a bit muffled yeah? Well for me it doesn't, coz the sound is not coming from the ear canal, its being transmitted through the Cochlear Implant / bone. Im still completely baffled in understanding completely how it words lol. It is such an amazing device & I love it!

Sound Processor ready for sleep! Ni night!

The above photo is of my battery charger (on the left) & the Dry & Store box (on the right). Both are essential things. The battery charger is a new thing to me. It is for rechargeable batteries. Each battery lasts a day before needing to be recharged. Well, approximately a day (probably a bit longer than 24hrs). Each battery can be recharged 365 times - so they last a year. The most common way people use these apparently is to rotate them, then all 3 batteries will last 3 years in total & at the end of the 3years I need to buy 3 new ones (At about $200 each!). BUT, if I wanted to I could use the single use battery option which comes with the set too (you beginning to see why I had so many boxes in that bag yesterday!?). But the single use one uses 2 batteries & it will last for 3days. So every 3days you will be replacing those batteries. A packet of batteries is about $5-6 & contains 4 batteries. So every week you will be spending $10-$12 on batteries. Times that by the number of weeks in a year & you see why it is cheaper to have a rechargeable battery at $200 a year ;)

The Dry & store box is something I have used over the years in various designs & brands. Nothing as posh looking as this though! It gets plugged into a power point & that yellow thing on the left of the box is the moisture collector which lasts 2months. After that, I need to replace it. Once the battery unit is taken off the processor & put onto the recharger, I then put the rest of the processor into the right hand side & shut the lid. Then after pressing power button a little fan that is underneath what you can see, will start up & basically dry out my processor. Being an aid that sits behind the ear - you are bound to get lots of moisture, whether it is sweating behind the ear or even just damp hair that hasn't been completely dried before putting the aid on. Moisture causes erosion of the processor insides, so it is vital to keep it dry.

I think I need a larger bedside table & power switchboard!! lol

What i'm hearing:

• how much my daughter giggles & talks to herself! LOVING IT! 
• Washing pegs being taken off the line & they click when I put them in my hand. also putting them into the peg bag. 
• Washing machine is so loud! Beeping when I press the buttons, I know it did that, but have haven't heard them in years.
• The dog barking at dogs walking down the street
• Dog panting when I came outside to see him & get the washing in 
• I think I heard a door open while I was outside getting the washing too! No idea where that was if it was a door opening, possibly the next door neighbour?
• lil miss drawing with felt tip pens - I can hear it squeak along the paper!
• All of lil miss' toys that make noises! First time i've heard them all. lil miss just told me to stop playing them a second ago LOL. I think i'm annoying her hehe 
• I am hearing some TV. I wouldn't be able to remove the captions & fully understand it all yet, but I am definitely hearing more than I thought I would at this early stage.
• (will update this list as the day goes on )

I have to keep in mind that there is still a long way to go, but I know now that what I am hearing won't get worse! Thats the awesome thing, it can only stay here or get better from here. My medical team was so excited & so amazed that i've can understand words right now. My specialist actually said she wasn't expecting me to understand her word for word. So i'm feeling pretty great! 

I actually kept lil miss home from Kindy today. I am not feeling the best with my cold etc that I still have. But also, it was such a fun day hanging out with my lil miss & having the entire day being able to hear her! Only doing that this one time, but its been such a blast having her here & chatting with her.

My brain is so tired though lol. Its amazing how much effort it is to learn to hear again. My eyes just want to drop & sleep. I keep feeling so so tempted to just remove the processor just for a little bit to rest my brain, but I know that the only one who is going to miss out from that is me. So, I am looking forward to bedtime!!