I absolutely LOVE my Esteem. This has been the best decision I've made by far. The last time we tested my hearing a couple weeks ago we were mainly testing for speech understanding. Before surgery, in my Esteem ear I was at 44% understanding, 68% understanding a month after activation, and now 3 months post activation I am hearing with 76% understanding!! This is incredible! God is so good! I cannot describe the difference this implant has made. While I am having a lot of success, it is not perfect. Don't get me wrong I'm hearing things haven't heard and things I wouldn't normally hear but I am not at 100% perfect hearing. Sometimes people think just because I have had surgery that my hearing is "fixed". I've had severe to profound loss since the age of 2 and a half. My hearing will never be perfect. But I will definitely say it has improved a whole lot! I want to list some things I've been able to hear just to share some of my excitement. My kids at work when they talk to me, before it was really hard to understand what kids were saying to me, now I can understand most of what they say and don't have to ask them to repeat as often. This is huge considering I want to be a teacher and will need to be able to have a conversation with kids on a daily basis. One of the things that has been great for me is being able to wake up to an alarm. Before surgery, I couldn't use an alarm with sound because for me to hear it, it had to be turn up extremely loud and woke everyone else up. So mostly I had to rely on a vibrating alarm clock to wake me up, but now I can set a normal alarm on my phone and set it to a song from my iPod and be able to wake up no problem. This is a huge relief especially since I live on my own now. I don't have to rely on someone to make sure I'm up in case I didn't hear or feel my alarm. Another thing that is pretty exciting for me is being able to hear a train from about 2 miles away while I'm sitting in my bedroom. I've been woken up at night hearing the train horn go through town. Before surgery when I was staying in the dorms we were about half a mile from the tracks and not once did I hear the train at night. Something that has been weird to me is the sound of brush my hair or simply hearing myself swallow. Things most people don't think about because you're used to these sounds, I'm having to be come accustomed to hearing little things like that. The first sounds that freaked me out was hearing the water hit my head in the shower. Never in my life have I been able to hear while showering and the fact that I can hear the water hit my head was extremely weird. I'm getting used to the little sounds now. sounds such as the dishwasher or the mechanic down the street sawing something. I find myself asking people what noises are because even though I may have heard it before I'm hearing things with more clarity now. Another thing that is huge for me is being outside on a windy day. With a hearing aid, the microphone is on top and with the wind blowing basically all I could hear was the wind. It sounded like someone was blowing in my ear. It was next to impossible for me to have a conversation outside on a windy day because I couldn't understand anything that was being said. Know I still hear the wind but I hear conversation as well. It's nice being able to take my kids to the playground and not have to worry about whether or not I'll be able to understand everything going on.
Thats just to list a few things! I could go on about little things I've been able to hear but I don't have time to write a novel! 😜 I am absolutely beyond blessed to have been given this opportunity and everyday I am thankful for the chance to be able to hear better. Thank you guys for all your support and prayers. They are truly appreciated!
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