hearing test video

Recorded most of the hearing test that went on in the sound booth yesterday and uploaded to youtube.  After watching it and listening to the words/sentences with both CI and hearing aid on, holy moly!  There were still words and sentences that I couldn't make sense of while watching, but wow I really did horribly with only one device on at a time.  Shew!  While sitting in the sound booth, listening and trying to make sense of what was being said via the computer, it all sounded like a bunch of mumbo jumbo to me, or a bunch of gibberish.  I could figure out when it's a male or female voice, but other than that it was hard to make sense of the words or sentences.  It's insane.  I would certainly hope for a big improvement when I go bilateral!

Appointments set.

After waiting to hear back from my stepdad on when would be a good time to go down to Denver, I shot off an email to the CI clinic with a couple of possible days for August, and she got back to me with 2 appointment times for Aug. 21.  I am booked to have testing done with the audiologist in the morning on the 21st of August, and to consult with the surgeon that afternoon about going bilateral.  I'm looking forward to this appointment, to see what comes out of it and see if it's possible to get the second implant with Medicare coverage.


Since that appointment is a ways off, I'll be keeping myself busy in the mean time.  There are plenty of days when my boss will be off on vacation so that'll be some extra work for me at work.  Of course, I'll have my iPod with me to make work more tolerable ha.  I do get tired of hearing phones ringing, people walking/talking, machines going, etc.  Music is always a nice change.




In other, more happier news... I am an aunt once again!  My sister had her baby girl last week... 5 weeks early, but baby is doing well.  Still in the hospital for a bit more care, but healthy and well.  She's such a cute, beautiful baby.




Also, I have been preparing for the Hear in the Dark 5k for Aug. 15.  I have been slowly adding to my glowy/light up stuffs... Let's say I really hit up the dollar store one day, buying a bunch of different glow necklaces and bracelets.  I also found some light-up swords at Walmart for like $5, so I bought a blue one.  They're kind of like the light sabers from Star Wars.  I'm pretty stoked for this 5K!  Had so much fun at last year's.  Wyoming Families for Hands and Voices also have some other fund-raising activities happening this summer, which I plan on going as well.  I so can't wait for all this fun stuff to happen!

 my stash of goodies for the 5K!

 my dog checking out my new light sword

 just having fun!

Ah, hearing aid news.  My audiologist's office ordered some of those colored hooks for the Phonak hearing aids.. so I may go in one of these days to get one of them, just for the fun of it.  Not sure what color I would get yet, I'll have to look at them and decide.  I also changed the tube for my earmold over the weekend.  I was watching some TV, and the hearing aid kept going ultra quiet on me all of a sudden.  Changing the tube resolved that issue.  Now there's an orange tube on my hearing aid, replacing the old green one I had.  Love that I can use different color tubes and such!

Colored tubes!

I finally broke down and ordered some colored tubes for ear molds from Emtech Laboratories (an ear mold maker in the United States).  They have a variety of tubes for sale through their online shop, including colored ones.  They've been selling the colored tubes for several years now.  I was pretty excited when I got the padded envelope in my mail box the other day from Emtech.  I used the green one for St. Patrick's Day.
Next... to get the colored hooks from Phonak for my Naida hearing aid... for even more colorful fun!  I emailed my hearing aid audiologist about this, but haven't heard back from her in more than a week, so I will have to try contacting her again. 

rainbow of colors!

green enough for St. Patrick's Day?

Hatis website

I was browsing on the Harris Communications website, taking a look at the dual Hatis Epic device and checking out the cost... when I noticed the Harris site says it's been discontinued. So I made my way over to the Hatis website, and on there it says out of stock.  But what caught my attention was this photo: 

 

Why, that's my ear!  With my old Phonak Supero hearing aid, with the smiley face stickers on it.  They must have gotten the photo from this blog perhaps.  Cool!

 

Am thinking I might spring for the dual NoizFree earhooks from TecEar... But then again, maybe not. Who knows.  All I know is, I don't want another Music Link, feels like it's more filmsy than the NoizFree.

Oohh technology...

Been 2 weeks of school so far... for the most part it's going well enough, although I do get a bit frustrated here and there. Frustrated with some of the math, trying to make sense of it. Seriously, fractions are NOT my friend! Also, the captioning set up for English is weird. Seems like I encounter some sort of issue with the set up during each English class. Last Monday, it was working fine for a few minutes, then boom nada.  Turns out I didn't have the microphone charged. Ok.  Last Wednesday and Friday, everything seemed to run smoothly enough, with hiccup here and there (the transcriber would disconnect the call on Skype, call me back and then it's running smoothly again).  This past Wednesday, it seems like there was some trouble with the internet connection?  The disabilities coordinator at the college had the IT department put in a blue network cable into the classroom so I could use it to connect my laptop to the internet instead of relying on wireless (the wireless signals in the room is very weak).  Set up worked fine at first, then we ran into issues, but got everything working again.  But today, nada.  No luck right from the start. We tried everything, reconnecting, restarting the laptop, no such luck. I sent an email to the disabilities coordinator about the troubles, and told him if we keep encountering problems that I just may not want to keep using the captioning service.  It's just not worth my time or the trouble, to have an issue arise and then having to spend time troubleshooting and trying to figure out what's going on, distracting me from the discussions going on in the classroom.  I may be able to get by in that class with the FM only.  The transcriber isn't able to hear the other students in the class when they have something to say, so either way I still miss out on what the students are saying. If I continue to encounter problems next week in English class with the captioning, I'm calling it quits with the service.  It's a great service when it works well, but if I'm just going to be encountering issues every so often, forget it.


Now, as for the FM set up... I went back to the audiologist the 14th... The ML10i came in, and we got that attached to my hearing aid. Tested it with the Smartlink+, and it worked great!  We tried fussing with the old MLx receiver for my Neptune yet again, and got no results. So we were quite stumped. The audiologist even spent some time on the phone with Phonak for some help as well.  Oh well, I was sent on my way with the Smartlink+ and the new receiver attached to my hearing aid.  We were starting to think perhaps the old receiver just isn't compatible with the Smartlink+.  But during the week, I played around with the FM system some more at home, and boom I got it working! Excellent, now I didn't have to worry about needing to get a new receiver afterall!

Today, I'm usig the FM set up with my ipod, and it's fantastic.  I connected the ipod to the Smartlink+, and music is playing in my ears without my needing to wear wires. Oh how nice it is to be wire-free!  I love it!  I don't need a separate set up for each ear device anymore. Sweet!

 

 

 

 

Update: The College's IT person checked the connection in the classroom, and even moved the network cable to a different desk. It seems my laptop was sharing the connection with the teacher/classroom computer, but now I should have my own network connection separate from the classroom computer. Will try it out on Monday and see how that goes, and hope the set up works better.

No luck with the FM today

Well, this morning was a mess with the FM.  Phonak sent the wrong receiver for my hearing aid (they sent the ML11i instead of the ML10i), and they also sent the SmartLink transmitter instead of the Inspiro.  They said the Smartlink is more sophisicated, and the Inspiro is old and outdated. Whichever, I can accept the Smartlink. 

We also tried getting the FM to work with the Neptune processor. No-go at all there.  We kept trying different things, audie even called Phonak for some support. Nada.  After the appointment (she kept the Smartlink, and I'll see her again Monday afternoon so we can be sure everything works with the proper receiver for my hearing aid).  I went home, and got out the old HandyMic transmitter and played with it to see if I could get the FM working with the Neptune. Again, nada.  What?!  I had it working in very late Oct./early Nov. when I tried it out with the T-Comm for the Neptune; plugged the MLx receiver into the Neptune controller, plugged transmitter into my iPod and music was flowing to my ear!  But today, I got absolutely nothing. So I'm wondering if there's something going on with the Neptune, at least with the controller.  I've taken the control off, put it back on and saw the green light flash saying it was synced to the Neptune, but I still was getting nothing. So I'm stumped.

I did email Allison about this, as well as the Wyo/Colo AB clinic specialist, see what they have to say.  Just weird.  If I end up just using the FM with the hearing aid only, and using the CI for hearing what's going around on around me in the classroom (like students saying something during a discussion or whichever), that might work too. But it would be nice to have the FM working for both ears.  Hmm......

Preparing for college

College classes start on Monday! Ack!  I'll be taking Elementary Algebra, English: Basic Writing II, and Medical Terminology. I want to go for the radiography program, but of course I need to get some classes out of the way first. So I'll be taking classes for the next year before I can apply for the Radiography program if all goes well.

The disabilities counselor has the college has been a great help, helping me get registered for classes and such. On Monday I met with him in his office, and he got me set up with the ACS Captioning service, and checked out a RevoLabs Xtag microphone to me to use for English class.  I will use Skype on my laptop to "call" the person that will be doing the captioning for me, log in at the ACS Caption website so I can see the captioning, and the instructor will wear the microphone (this is how the captioner hears what's going on).  It's a pretty useful program and I am really happy the college offers this.  No interpreter needed!  And after class is over, the person who did the captioning will email me the transcript so I can refer back to it! Excellent! The counselor also requested a network cable be available in the English classroom so I can use it with my laptop for better internet connection instead of relying on the WiFi.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be going to my hearing aid audiologist's office to get my Phonak FM system. I'm sure there will be some programming going on, adding an FM setting onto my hearing aid and all. I'll be sure to wear my Neptune processor tomorrow so I can test the Phonak MLx receiver on it with the Inspiro transmitter to make sure it works, along with the hearing aid's ML10i receiver as well.

When I go to campus on Monday, I will definitely be loaded with techology.

• Laptop
• Phonak FM unit
• RevoLabs Xtag mic for captioning
• Hearing aid
• Cochlear implant

Better make sure I have spare batteries in my backpack for my ears!

English is only 3 days a week, so I won't be needing to bring my laptop on campus every day, which is good. My laptop is 17 inches, so it's big and heavy.  The math course is mostly done on the computer, and there are occasional video lectures but I've been assured the videos are captioned.

This is what my schedule looks like:

• Monday - Math, English
• Tuesday - Math
• Wednesday - Math, English
• Thursday - Math
• Friday - English

Medical terminology is an online course so I'll be checking in frequently.

FMs

Vocational Rehab says they may be able to help with the costs on the FM unit for college.  I'm looking at the Inspirio transmitter from Phonak, and the ML10i receiver to use with my Naida hearing aid.  I already have an MLx receiver at home, which I used with my Supero hearing aid. I have tested it with the Neptune processor a few months ago, and it worked well.  My HandyMic transmitter is too old, and doesn't even hold a charge anymore. I first got it in 2000/01 when I got my Claro hearing aid (and it's been replaced a couple of times too). I didn't really quite like it enough for classroom use (after using it in different classes in 9th grade), so it was mostly used for listening to music with.  But with the Inspirio, it should be a better system.  I also have a Comtek FM unit at home as well, but the receiver is a bit beat up and I don't have a T-coil mode on my implant processors. Plus, I would rather use actual FM receivers instead of T-coil, you just never know if there will be electronic interferences on T-coil mode, which can interfere with listening to the instructors at college!

I have called my hearing aid audie's office and asked about costs, and the receptioninst said she would have the audie's assistant get back to me on the information. Hopefully I'll hear from them soon enough.  CI audie Allison did mention in an email that the cost for both FM and receiver would be around $2400. Once I have the cost info, I'll let my vocational rehab counselor know and we'll take it from there.



Will be doing the Compass test at the college at about 5 today. I went earlier, but found out they are doing some construction in the Compass testing room. So they told me to come back at about 5 to take it.

Listening practice

Tonight I decided I needed to check out the Listening Room at HearingJourney.com.  First, I just browsed around, seeing what the Listening Room had to offer. Navigated my way to the Teens/Adults section, Listening Activities, Discrimination Activities. Ooo Clix! I've heard/read of that while lurking through the HearingJourney.com forums. So I downloaded the Beginner's Clix program, and got that up and running.  I did the 10 lbs Warm Up first, repeating the sounds so I could get an idea of what they sounded like. Then I did the Test - On Your Own, which covers all 10 levels. Certain words or sounds were very tricky, but I ended up scoring 70%, which I think is not too bad at all! And I am hearing little bits of speech sounds here and there. Like 'aaaAAAaaa', I'd hear the AAA portion more than the aaa's. That sort of thing. Very interesting. I am really happy with the Clix program so far, and will continue to work with it. I wasn't hearing ALL of the sounds or words, just little bits here and there. Mostly I was experiencing the sensations, so during the test, I'd listen, look at the words, repeat the word/sound if necessary and click on what I think the word/sound is. It's definitely a tricky process, but hey, my left ear needs all the practice it can get, right?

I even played with Cochlear's Hope app on my iPod touch for a bit tonight as well. I have the lite (free limited) edition, which you can download to your ipod touch/iphone/ipad from iTunes or the App Store. I forget how much the full app costs, but I figured the lite edition would be fine for now. It may be more aimed for kids, but it's still listening practice. There's a picture that comes up, with a word under it. You tap the screen and the device will say the word. I will tap the picture a few times to repeat the same word over and over.

There is also another app available at the App Store/iTunes that's free and called Hear Coach. It's made by Starkey Labs, and several folks from HearingJourney were raving about it. I tried it the other day but couldn't make sense of anything so I think I'll wait and try Hear Coach again another time. Just level 1 is overwhelming for me so far.


I also got out my Phonak FM unit (the Handy-Mic transmitter, and the mlx receiver that I originally got with my Phonak Supero hearing aid), and it works great with the Neptune! That was a fun experiment. Have the transmitter charging up so it's ready to go whenever I want to use the FM.  I used the  audio interface cable that was in my Neptune box and plugged the Neptune into my laptop for the Clix program. Works great too! Of course, if I want to use the direct connect with either processor, I have to use it with battery operated devices. So I can use it with my ipod touch or my laptop if they're not plugged into the wall.




Here are the scores I got tonight:

iCom and telecoil

Got to play with telecoil over the weekend. Works great! And there is far less buzzing/electrical interference with telecoil on while I'm near a computer. I pretty much have to put my ear right next to the computer to even hear the buzzing, so that's a big improvement from the Supero.

Tried out the iCom tonight for the first time. It works well for listening to music on the ipod or computer. But will I actually get one for myself? I have no idea. It's an accessory, Medicaid wouldn't cover it, so I'd have to come up with about $300 for the iCom. I'll keep trying it out, but so far I'm thinking I'll just stick with Telecoil, since I already have the MusicLink, and I also still have my neckloop for backup (for use on the computer, the plug-in jack is different on the neckloop so it won't plug into my ipod).

I have noticed that I do have to turn up the volume on the computer or ipod more with the icom. With tcoil, the volume setting is pretty low and I can hear the music just fine, lower than with the Supero.

Oticon Sumo: Day 1

Day 1 of the Oticon Sumo DM hearing aid trial. So far, not too bad. Mom thinks I'm doing better with the Sumo, I'm responding more and not asking her to repeat as often as I did with the Supero. Definitely don't care for the telecoil on the Sumo when I'm close to electronics/computers, the buzzing is louder and more noticeable than the Supero's (and even more obnoxious sounding in the car!). Although, having a T+M setting is nice, but surely the Supero could be programmed to have T+M.... But yeah. I think I have been picking up a bit more without having to lipread with the Sumo than I did with the Supero. But sound-quality wise, I'm not really noticing much of a difference. Well, tonight when I was at Mom's house, she was tapping her fingers on the remote (a habit of hers), and I was REALLY hearing it. I've heard the tapping with the Supero too, but I'm not sure if it was louder with the Sumo or not.

I still think music sounds better with the Supero, with the telecoil setting. Volume is just right on. With the Sumo, I think the hearing aid was trying to suppress the volume from my ipod, so the music just wasn't as loud (as I normally like it). Even played with the volume setting on both the Sumo and the ipod. I still have a whole week to go to trial the Sumo. The Sumo may use older technology, but it is still a powerful hearing aid.

Next Tuesday, I'll trial Phonak's Naida IX UP. Yes, the Naida, the one I despised a couple years ago when I trialed it then (the V UP). Phonak and audiologist both say the glitches/issues that a batch of the early Naidas have since been resolved (Naida shutting off on its own, etc.). And audiologist has a few clients who are really liking the Naida and the benefits they're getting from the hearing aids. I'm hoping the upcoming trial period will be better. Yes, I'm very sure it'll still take several programming adjusting sessions to get the Naida tweaked just right (I don't think we had the V UP tweaked just right the first time, but with all the other problems I was having with it, I just couldn't be bothered with it after the 3 months of trialing).

Dilemma

After calling EqualityCare to discuss coverage for hearing aids, basically if I wanted to get a new hearing aid nowadays to replace my old one, I should have just requested the Otion Sumo hearing aid instead of Phonak sending back a replacement. So now I'm trying to get in contact with the audiology office again, and see if we can work something out. It wasn't a repair to my old hearing aid, it was fully replaced with a new Supero. Yes, it works, but sometimes I just wonder if another hearing aid might be better. So I'll call the office again in about half an hour or so (when they get done with lunch) and see if something can be worked out. My original Supero was already 6 years old when Telecoil went busted (and apparently Phonak couldn't fix it), so EqualityCare would have covered a new hearing aid to replace the old one (they will cover new hearing aids after the old one has been used for 5 years and the warranty has expired). The replacement Supero is technically a whole new hearing aid, right?


EDIT: called audiology back.. it's still the same old Supero, just has new parts. The way the audiologist said it this morning, I got confused. Mentioned that I would like to at least trial an Oticon hearing aid, yada yada. Yeah. Got that straightened out.

It's back!

I have my Supero hearing aid back! Yahoo! Well, actually, it's a whole new Supero hearing aid. Apparently Phonak couldn't repair my actual hearing aid, so they just replaced it instead. Hum. Wow. Anyway, I'm very glad to have the Supero back. And just in time for my sister's birthday too! Today ought to be a good day!

Phonak vs. Oticon

I've worn Phonak hearing aids since I became deaf at age 2, and have always been happy enough with their products (until I tried out the Naida for 3 months a couple years back, which I didn't much care for). Now I'm just wondering how the Oticon products compare to Phonak. I currently am wearing Phonak's Supero 413AZ, and have been looking at the specs of Oticon's Sumo (Sumo's MPO and gain is just slightly higher than the Supero's). Just wondering if there's much of a difference between Supero and Sumo, such as any difference with feedback control, how the aids work in noisy situations, etc. I've had the Supero since May 2004 (so 6 years). It still works fine, but nowadays it seems I have to take the hearing aid back to the audiologist for more repairs than ever (telecoil setting went busted a couple weeks back and just now has been sent back to audiologist's office after being sent to Phonak for repair; battery cover broke and had to be replaced for the first time ever last month, etc. etc.). I'm just curious about the Sumo.

How does Oticon's FM products compare to Phonak's FM? I've quit using the old Phonak T-Mic FM transmitter since it broke/quit working frequently and have resorted to using the Hatis Epic silhouette earhook for listen to music. How about DAI? I tried DAI with the Phonak "shoe" on the Supero and directly connecting to iPod, etc. and I didn't like the way it sounded (static-y sounding) but perhaps I needed to have the audiologist do some adjustments to the Supero to make DAI work properly. Not sure if I will actually get a new hearing aid anytime soon or not. Just something I like to think about every once in a while. Maybe I just need to trial a Sumo and see if there's any difference; will have to see if something can be worked out.

Also curious as to when people generally replace their hearing aids. 6 years? 10? Do some people wait until the old hearing aids are busted/un-repairable before getting new ones? Just curious. The Supero I've had for 6 years now, the Claro (before I got Supero) 4 years; purple analog Pico forte 8 years, beige analog pico forte (before I got the purple ones) 7 years.



Still trying to get left ear implanted, it just may be a while longer yet. Now Medicaid insists that I score 40% or worse with the word recognition testing of the hearing test at best. I scored around 52% in the right ear the lest time I was tested (last year). It doesn't matter that the left ear is at 0% and it's the left ear I want to implant, Medicaid won't cover the implant with my 52% scoring of the right ear. From I was told, Medicare says person has to score 40% or worse in the ear that is to be implanted, and Medicaid generally follows Medicare's guidelines, but Medicaid will have their own specific guidelines. It's kind of frustrating, but what can I do. My right ear's scoring has been pretty consistent too (last year's testing, and the testing in 2006?, right ear scored 52%).

telecoil is busted

The telecoil on my Supero hearing aid has gone kooky. How that happened, I have absolutely no clue at all whatsoever. One night, I was listening to music on the computer with the Hatis Epic silhouette earhook, everything working great. The next day at work when I try to listen to music on my iPod, I couldn't hear anything! If I maxed out the volume on the iPod, then I could barely hear something. And I found it odd that I didn't hear a buzzing sound when I put my ear close to the computer on the telecoil setting. That was when I knew something was wrong. Even just switching to telecoil has an odd sound now, that wasn't there before. I relay-called Phonak to see if there was anything I could possibly do. They said probably not, that it sounded like the hearing aid would have to be sent in for telecoil to be fixed. Oh great. Called and set up an appointment with local audiologist for ... Wednesday morning I think. Will see what happens then. I'm most definitely not happy to have to go back to the old analog for telecoil function. But what else can I do?

Oh no!

I was getting ready to leave the house to go to work when my hearing aid
beeped at me. Oh great! Took out the old battery, and the battery cover
broke. Crap! I wasn't too happy about that. I put a new battery in, and
the cover is still somewhat useable. But I know it'll break off
completely soon enough. Drove to the audiologist real quick, to see if
the assistant cold replace the cover. This unexpected errand is making
me late for work, but I want to get the battery cover taken cared of.
This is the first time the battery cover broke the whole time I've had
the Supero hearing aid (since May 2004). Wowza.


Audie's assistant doesn't have replacement covers for my hearing aid, she did put in an order for a new one to be sent to her. Hopefully within a couple of days or so the battery cover will be fixed.

Cord problem solved!

I think I finally solved the extremely LONG cord problem of my Hatis Epic ear hook that I use to listen to music with... it works pefectly with my hearing aid and I LOVE it, but the cord is so freakishingly long it drives me crazy! But today, I grabbed some post-it sticky notes, rolled it up, then wrapped the cord around it. Then I taped it all up so it would stay on instead of unraveling. Now I don't have all this extra cord hanging down near my feet anymore (or having to wrap it around my iPod every so often, since I do use the ear hook with the computer and DVD player too). Problem solved! I think. I hope!

As for the Phonak Naida hearing aid, I have given up on it. I decided it just wasn't worth the time or money. I hate having to open the battery door to turn it off, and I hate how slow it is to switch programmings on it. On the Supero, there's the on/off switch, which I use several times a day (if I'm on program 3, which is Telecoil, and I want to get back to program 1, I just turn off then turn on the hearing aid, which is real quick! Quicker than pushing the 1 button on the remote too, even!). With the Naida, I'd have to fuss with the battery door, fight with it until it opens, then close it, then wait oh about 5 seconds for it to turn on. And switching programs, it plays this odd little tune in between and is just slower than the Supero. I'll stick with the Supero for the time being, until something else comes along that might be even better, and has an on/off switch!

Oh, and as for my tinnitus... I am once again hearing a dog barking in my mind when I don't have my hearing aid on, but it's not my dog barking.. My dog would be sleeping or just being quiet while I hear this "barking" going on. I used to experience this with my first dog too. It's kind of funny, and odd.

So frustrating

I got to talking to my mom about the Naida hearing aid while we were having dinner at Red Lobster last night, and it's made me think... Right now, I haven't noticed any improvements with the Naida (being better than the Supero). I guess, once we get the replacement Naida in at the audie's office, I'll give it a try with adjustments for a few more weeks. And if it still doesn't prove to be any better than the Supero, even with further adjustments by the time the trial is up, that's it. I'm not going to spend money on a brand new hearing aid if it doesn't prove to be any better than the Supero for me. The past 3 weeks have been rather frustrating.

Sometimes new is not always better. Right now I'm still hoping with the new Naida replacement, things will improve, soundwise and all... it needs to actually be of more benefit to me than the Supero, and right now I'm not noticing any benefits. Hopefully we can get the replacement Naida working. I've sent off an email to my audie just a few minutes ago, so he would know of my thoughts on this.

I've worn Phonak hearing aids for 20 years now. And they all have been beneficial for me, up until now. I am still very dependent on visual support to make sense of what is being said, no matter what. Maybe if the Naida doesn't work out, perhaps it's time I tried a powerful hearing aid from another manufacturer, see if there's any difference, if there's any improvements to my hearing or not. I don't know if the Naida is the most powerful hearing aid out there, or if there's another one that's perhaps even better. I have basically no knowledge of the other manufacturer's products. We'll see what my audie says.

I've also decided I'm going to return the new remote. I used it the first few days I had the Naida, but since then it's been sitting on my desk. I prefer the old remote's functionality. With the old remote, you can just push one button for the desired programming (button 1 for normal setting, button 2 for noise setting, button 3 for telecoil, FM button, FM+M button). With the new one, you have to push the < or > button repeatedly until you get to the programming you want (normal/automatic, calm situoation, calm in noise, speech in noise, telecoil, FM). Eh, I just don't like the new remote. So I'll return it, and ask for a Dry and Store instead. The old Westone dry aid cannister isn't cutting it at all.

Ran into a friend

Well, I got up and very slowly got going. I was seeing my audiologist today so I could tell him what the Naida has been doing. I got to the medical complex where his office is, and entered the waiting room. Well, what do you know. There was my friend and enemy from the school years. That's right, friend and enemy. She's deaf too, a few months older than I am. Throughout our school years, we'd be friends for a few days, then we'd be complete enemies. Of course, it was nice that there was someone else at my grade level who was deaf and also signed, but we just didn't always get along. It wasn't too bad when we were at the deaf school, as there were other deaf students to be friends with as well. I do recall the times when we fought in middle school. Oh, those were not good days. Then in high school at Star Lane, I always hated how we'd end up in the same tutor group every so often, just because we're both deaf and needed an interpreter. The one year, where I was at Star Lane in the mornings, and she was there in the afternoons, oh that was great.

Everyone have their own persnalities and characteristics. This person though, she definitely had quite a few that I didn't care for while at school. But now that we're out of school, I've got my job and am just living my life and she's got her own life and her own family. I have no idea if she still has the same characteristics as she did in school, I have hardly spoken to her in the last few years. But it was just odd, seeing her waiting in the waiting room. I had no idea she saw the same audiologist I did. No idea at all. But it was nice, we sat and just visited for a few minutes. Of course, my signing skills have gotten rusty as I don't sign much anymore (who am I going to sign with?). Who knows, maybe we'll hang out sometime.


As for the Naida, well, no adjustments has been made today. And no new earmold either. But, I did tell the audiologist what was going on with the hearing aid, and of how music still sounded too odd and different that I still couldn't enjoy it. He's going to call Phonak, and even send them a fax of what adjustments he's done to the hearing aid, so hopefully they'll be able to give him some ideas. I also now have his email address, which is great. Now, anytime I have questions or concerns, I can just shoot him an email and he'll get back to me directly. No more receptionists getting in the way, delying things even further.

History of technology for my ears

Thought it'd be fun to post pictures of all my hearing aids and FM systems for this blog.


My very first pair of hearing aids ever! Or perhaps my second. I'm not too sure.


My lovely old purple hearing aids. Oh gosh, I remember being so proud of them in the 3rd grade at school. None of the other students at the deaf school had colored hearing aids. By about mid-4th grade, I stopped wearing the hearing aid in the left ear, as I realized I never heard anything out of the left ear with it on.


The Comtek FM unit my grandparents got for me. I used it a bit, at church in Sunday School and whatnot. But for the most part, after I had gotten a discman, I used the neckloop to listen to music. The Comteks hardly ever got any use. And we used the school district's Comteks all throughout school. Comteks were used as the school audiologist felt they were the most powerful FMs to use.


The Claro, my first digital hearing aid ever. My interpreter (she's deaf herself, and is now a very good friend of mine), she had gotten new Phonak hearing aids while I was in middle school. Programmable hearing aids. I thought they were so cool, I wanted them for myself! Ended up with the Claro as they were brand new at the time.


The FM transmitter that I also got to go with the Claro. Tried it at school, didn't like how it worked (the signal wasn't strong enough). But wonderful for listening to music with! I then ditched using my personal neckloop and used this FM transmitter, plugged into the discman. I still use it today, on my portable DVD player and at the computer.


The Supero, far more powerful than the Claro. Every time I had to switch back to the Claro so the Supero could be repaired, I was always shocked at how quiet the whole world sounded with the Claro. Wow.


And now, the Naida, Zebra-style! I had already done the different colored hearing aid... now, I wanted something more jazzier, the Zebra. It's pretty neat looking, and I like the new FM shoe too. Much better than the FM shoe I had for the Supero, for sure.


My remote controls. The white one is new, and very nice. The old one, I've been using it since I got the Claro. And only once out of 7 years the battery has been replaced, just ONCE. It's been a good old remote, even though I've dropped it and lost it on several occasions.


And that is how I listen to music now. I've decided I was going to use the Hatis Epic ear device for music only. The HandyMic transmitter has been damaged several times and replaced 3 or 4 times since I first got it. After the last time it was sent in for repair, I got the Epic. With the FM, volume will be maxed out on the DVD player or CD player, and sometimes I would even have to turn the volume up on my hearing aid to hear. But with Epic, the first time I turned on my iPod, I just about blasted my ear off and had to turn down the volume on the iPod. And the Epic is a lot more convenient for traveling. FM, I have to bring the charger for it when traveling, and it gets to be a pain to have to charge it up.

And now, I shall stop rambling. :)