Tuesday 10 January 2012

Daily Routine

This is my summer holiday daily routine:

7.00am: Wake up, silent. The sun or my family wake me up. I refuse to use a vibrating alarm clock. Usually my youngest son will start putting together my CI for me so he can talk to me. When I'm switched on I give the thumbs up and usually say "talk".

7.30am: Normal daily family breakfast choas.

7.40am: Read the papers with CI turned off so I can read in peace without anyone chatting or the TV interrupting my thoughts. Bliss.

8.00am: Head to the beach. Spend 10 minutes preparing CI in a plastic cover and then tuck it into a headband that I've cut a slit in so the CI can be tucked inside the fabric. Then I place my sunglasses (ones that have thin arms) over the headband and then a hat over that. My hat can't be too tight as it has to sit over the magnet.

8.15am: Beach. I don't swim at the beach anymore. Obviously I can't wear my CI swimming and if I take it off and swim I can't replace it while my hair is wet. To swim, I would have to leave the CI at home which I'm not comfortable doing yet, especially when I'm with people who usually want to talk to me (family and friends, we have a very social beach). I have to miss out on something when going to the beach so I'd rather have social interaction and listen to the sound of the waves and kids laughing than go for a swim. Often, I'll go for a beach run and leave Steve and the kids to their swimming.

10.00am: Home from the beach. Showers. I have to shower without the CI and it can't be replaced until my hair has been dried. It is more than likely that someone will want to speak to me while in the shower or while I'm drying my hair. We use lip-reading and signing during this grooming period. When my hair is dry and I'm all plugged in again there is usually a line waiting to talk to me. I give the command "talk" and we are away again.

2.00pm: Movie time. I will either watch a movie by myself plugged into the TV via my audio cable or watch a movie with the kids using the subtitles. Sometimes we will go to the cinema which is not too bad as long as it's a kids movie as they are easier to follow. Adult movies are too fast! My battery usually goes flat about half way through the movie - Murphy's Law.

6.00pm: Evening meal. We all sit down together to eat but I find it very difficult to hear during this time. Normally I'd chat to the kids, ask them questions etc but since going deaf this is such a chore as I can't keep the conversation flowing. I guess it doesn't hurt that my family have to learn to take turns speaking as the only way I can hear clearly is when there is no background noise, at all!

8.00am: Put kids to bed. I have the pleasure of reading to the youngest and hearing him say "I love you" and chatting to my eldest. These times are precious hearing times.

9.00am: My bed time by which time I fall into bed exhausted (yes, even on holidays). Put CI in drying box and turn it on, and put battery in charger. Everything is silent again.