Travel, travel, travel

I'm off overseas again, this time to Singapore for a girls weekend. I'm prepared with my CI ID card, spare batteries and a travel case with a spare ear hook and drying capsule. I'm hoping security will detect my magnet this time for a bit of attention but I suspect I will walk straight through without much fuss. We are taking an overnight flight which means sleeping but I'm not sure if I should take my CI off so I can sleep in quiet or leave it on so I'm aware of what's going on. Hearing people would say leave it on but I just can't sleep without complete silence now! Ah well, I'll report back in three days!!!

It's lost!!!

I had a bit of a drama the other day. I was watching my son play soccer and my battery gave me a warning that I was about to go flat. I took out a spare battery from my purse, changed it over and as I went to put the coil back on my head I realised the magnet was missing. The magnet, the bit that keeps the coil attached to my head had fallen out!! This is a small disaster as without the magnet there is no way to keep the coil on my head and if I don't keep the coil on my head I can't hear. So what followed was a bit of a panic with all the people sitting around me court-side searching for a tiny black magnet half the size of a 5c coin!!! I must admit I did start to panic a bit. Going back to being deaf is no longer an option for me. Luckily, one smart mum realised that a magnet was most likely attached to something metal and found it attached to the handles of my bag, phew!

Anniversary

Today marks the anniversary of my implant surgery and the day that changed how the rest of my life would turn out. Thank you Cochlear, Ear Science Institute, Prof Atlas, mum and dad, kids and husband, I heart you!

Survival!

I survived my birthday, it was actually a great day. I spent the day attending a work conference where I had to give a presentation on higher education. The presentation was fine and at the end I put up a slide with my mobile number on it for people to text me their questions. I've used this strategy a number of times and it has been successful. It saves me the stress of trying to hear the question and allows me to "filter" the questions. It also keeps an audience on task and I usually make it entertaining. After my presentation I was told that there were a few people who questioned why they couldn't just put their hand up and ask a question the old fashioned way. I guess you can't win them all!

Another year gone!!!

Well, tomorrow is my birthday, my 41st birthday in fact. I think the last year has been the most hectic of my entire life; adjusting to my cochlear implant, returning to part time study, full time lecturing (and hasn't that been an adventure!), the kids and husband adjusting to living with a deaf person, the dog and well, just life.
In two days it will be the one year anniversary of my implant surgery. Just those two hours on the surgery table one year ago dramatically changed what my life has become. Imagine if I had decided not to have the surgery (and many people make this decision)? As it turns out, apart from my little daily struggles, my life pretty much went back to normal.
I walked back into my lecturing job (which I love), I still manage my family well (they may not agree with that), I have all the same friends, I still ride my bike, go for runs, go to the beach, I study online, I go to parties and out to dinner ............. in fact I can't really think of many things I want to do that I can't! One thing I can do is turn everything off when I want some quiet. That's the best thing about the implant, I can turn it on and off as it suits me, he he he he he.

Turn it off ......

Have you ever wished that you had a remote control in your pocket that you could use to turn someone off? I've wished that many times over the years. You know, turn your mum down when she keeps asking you to clean your room, turn your maths teacher off when it just gets too hard, turn your husband off when he starts talking about the features of new cars, turn the kid's noise off when you are trying to read the paper ............................................. well, be careful what you wish for because now I have a remote control that can do just that! Ohh, the power!!!!

So excited!

I'm so excited today. I've just come back from an appointment with my other audi (yes, I have two), and she showed me how to use the bluetooth function on my FM with my iPhone. This means that any sound coming from the iPhone can be projected through the FM to my processor. It's wonderful! For the first time in longer than a year I can hold a conversation over the phone! I can also listen to music through the iPhone and I can also connect it up to my iPad to listen to movies and videos. I can't tell you what a difference to my life this will make. I intend to practice often!!!