Being deaf requires thought in how to navigate the every day. When I get up in the morning I'm deaf. I hop straight in the shower and wash my hair, still deaf. I don't put my CI on until my hair is dry so essentially, for the first half hour of the morning I'm deaf. This means that my communication with the family is limited until my hair is dry and I have the CI on.
Then when I'm heading out the door for work I need to make sure I have a charged battery (mine always die right in the middle of something important). I also need my remote control which controls the settings on the CI. I use this to turn sound up and down or change the setting to match the environment I'm in (noisy, quiet etc).
Once at work I find that I need to be more alert. I can't tell who is talking to me unless they are standing in front of me which is tricky in an open office. Sometimes I'll go walking around the office trying to find the person talking. I also can't hear if two or more people talk at the same time (common problem in an open office with seven women who are all good friends). I also spend the day saying "bless you" to any noise I hear just in case it's a sneeze. I don't want to appear rude!
When I sit down for a meeting I need to think about where I'll sit to maximise the chances of me catching sound. For me that means that other people have to be on my left side as my right ear is still deaf. Therefore, I make sure I'm early to every meeting so I can choose the best seating position.
In the afternoon it's time to pick up the kids from school. If it's windy then I'll avoid stopping to talk to people as the wind makes it impossible to understand speech. The kids will start talking to me, telling me about school things but we have to wait until we get in the car where I can block outside noise.
In the car, I can't have the radio on as I can't understand speech with noise in the background and the radio is the worst.
Back at home, all is well again unless there is a knock on the door or the phone rings .....................
