Denver Trip #2!

Sunday morning rolled by, and I was up and at them early once again.  We were on the road at 9 a.m. heading back to Denver!  Quick stop in Cheyenne, made it to Denver.  After getting checked in at the hotel, mom and I stayed while stepdad went to the Rockies game with his son and grandson (hey hey, the Rockies won!).  Mom and I had lunch at Chili's, got a few things at King Soopers, and just hung out in the hotel, relaxing and taking it easy.  After the game, we all headed over to Casa Bonita for dinner.  I remember my first time going with the middle school class 13 years ago for our Spring Trip, and the fun I had with my friends.  It was fun watching a gorilla pick on a lady and a zoo keeper guy trying to catch the gorilla running amuck in the restaurant (there are several performances in that joint!).  Lady ended up off a cliff into a pool... haha.  I don't really know what the story was, I couldn't hear a word!  It was so noisy inside, it was nuts.  After we finished eating, we got up and roamed around, did some exploring.  There's a cave to explore, which was fun!  We watched another performance (Black Bart and a sheriff), which resulted in Bart ending up in the pool.  More exploring, and we hit up the arcade so my nephew could play some games for tickets to redeem for prizes.  It was pretty fun!

on the road!

 

Casa Bonita!

the water fountain in front of Casa Bonita

got a new light saber from Casa Bonita!

Next day, up and at'em early on, once again!  Made our way down to Swedish Hospital and got to the clinic.  I filled out some paperwork, updated information, blah blah blah... Then I was called back and led to a room.  I chatted a bit with the surgeon's assistant while she got some information from me and verified stuff (and confirmed I did indeed get the Prevnar 13!).  Then she left, and I sat and waited.. and waited... and waited.  Good thing I had my iPad with me, I played on games on it while I waited.  Finally the surgeon came in, and we discussed implanting the right ear.  He's all for it (good candidate and all).  Mentioned that since he did run into some ossification with the left ear, there is that possibility of it happening again with the right ear (MRI and CT scan both didn't catch the ossification of the left ear).  Confirmed that it'll be Advanced Bionics again, he mentioned the newer implant (the Mid Scala), and I told him I was thinking maybe October would be a good time to do all this.  He was cool with that.  Then we were done discussing, and the surgeon's scheduler walked me to her office, and from there she scheduled everything!  Pre-op for Oct. 14, surgery morning of Oct. 15, activation and post-op for morning of Oct. 28.  Whoa!  She wrote down all the times/dates onto a dark pink sheet of paper and handed it to me, and told me to call if I had any questions, and then I was free to go.  Mom and stepdad certainly weren't expecting for everything to have been scheduled already, I wasn't either. 

ready for the day!

everything's all scheduled and on this piece of paper

After we left the clinic, we headed back to the hotel so my stepbro could follow us as we made our way to the Denver Zoo. It's been 13 years since I last visited the Denver Zoo, but I enjoyed it.  Lots of walking, seeing all the different animals.  We even rode the mini train as well, which was fun!  My request was to see the primates, which we did last. Yay!  Didn't see very many monkeys/primates though... Oh well.  Was still fun anyway.  After spending a few hours at the zoo, we exited and sat on the benches and chatted for a bit with stepdad's sister and niece (his niece joined us at the zoo).  I scoped out the gift shop, and even bought a stuffed Gorilla. I collect monkeys, and wanted to add a gorilla to my collection!  From there, mom, stepdad, and I hit the road to head home, finally.  It was a long day, and a long trip home.  We did stop in Cheyenne to have dinner at Chili's, and to fuel up.  Ran into some rain storms, but we made it back into town at about 9.  Ooohh it was a long day.  Was really nice to get back home... of course I had to go to college classes the very next day!  I missed the first day of classes due to the appointment with the surgeon, but first day is usually orientation stuff, getting familiar with the class, that sort of thing.  So I wasn't worried about missing anything important.

Denver Zoo!

about to be kissed by a bronze snake!

new gorilla friend!

Hear in the Dark 5k video

Here's my video footage from the Hear in the Dark 5k! Enjoy!

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!

Hear in the Dark 5K: a success!

The Hear in the Dark 5k was held on August 15 (last Friday), and it was a great success!  I don't know how many participants there were this year, but a bunch!  It's was another fun night for all, for sure.  Schwan's was available to sell frozen treats, and a farming group were also available, selling drinks and food.  There were bounce houses and face painting for the kids.  I helped at the registration table, which was quite busy!  Runners started running at around 8:30 if I remember that right, with walkers following suit.  It was a long walk, but it was fun!  I had fun passing people on the path and checking out their glowy decor (light up wigs or hair strands, glow sticks/bracelets/necklaces, etc.). It was great!  I had a lot of fun getting myself glowy for the 5K, and even found a use for the finger lights that I still had from last year's 5K.... I put them on my ears!  There are elastic bands attached to the finger lights, so I put one on my Harmony CI processor, and one on my Phonak hearing aid, and voila!  Lit up ears!  I thought that was great and wish I had thought of it last year!

my stash before I headed out to the park

school mascots dancing and having fun!

finger light on my Harmony

both ears lit up!

ready to walk!

the line of walkers

during the walk, runners passing us by

I followed these two girls for a while

green glowy wig, I thought it was neat

at the half-way point

two girls chained themselves together with their glow sticks

a small foot print on the path

more prints!

one of the signs

Run Forrest, RUN!

after the walk, cleaning up.

my glowy stash

the number of steps I made all day Aug. 15! shew!

I had some pictures that I took with my Canon powershot camera, but unfortunately, the SD card that was in it is busted (as in I can't use it anymore, computer won't even format it).  Darn it!  But I did get some good shots with my Sony Handycam, so it's all good!  Even got some video footage, which I will upload to youtube at some point.

Denver Trip #1

Got up at about 8:30 in the morning yesterday, and rushed around to make sure I had everything I needed packed for the first trip to Denver of the week.  Drove out to the vet to drop  off my dog for boarding, then drove over to my mom's.  We loaded up our stuff into my stepdad's truck, and we took off (after making three stops before we got on the highway). Did a stop at a gas station in Cheyenne, and continued on our way.  I pulled out my laptop and watched Flubber (the Robin Williams version), using my FM system to listen to it.  Was nice!  We arrived to Denver before the movie was over, but with the traffic and such on the highway, I was able to finish watching it before we got to the Colorado Rockies stadium.  Stepdad bought 3 tickets to the Rockies game for himself, his son and grandson (boys' afternoon out at a ball game).  Got to the hotel and got all checked in.  Drove around quite a bit, hit up a Macy's so stepdad could do some clearance shopping.  Then we went to the hair salon stepdad's sister works at.  While mom was getting her hair cut, stepdad, his niece, and I walked around a bit and ended up at Wizard's Chest.  I had never even heard of Wizard's Chest.  It's a neat store full of a variety of toys/games/gadgets.  Headed back to the salon, hung out until mom was done getting her hair done.  We all went to dinner at Patxi's Pizza, which was pretty good.  Back to the salon so stepdad could get his hair cut, then we headed back to the hotel for the night.

Melody and I are ready to go!

watching Flubber on my laptop

Melody's just chilling

Colorado Rockies vehicles on display

checked in at the hotel

The Wizard's Chest!

giant lady bugs in trees in the Cherry Creek area

Today, mom got me up bright and early, of course!  Stepdad and I grabbed some breakfast from the continental breakfast set up in the hotel lobby, then headed out to Swedish Hospital for my appointment with the CI audiologist.  Mom and I went in while stepdad went to get some stuff for the flower mart.  I checked in, and receptionist mentioned that my appointment wasn't until Monday.  I had to tell her I was seeing the audiologist.  Short wait, then I was led to a sound booth.  Audie did some quick testing.  Hearing aid alone, CI alone, then both devices off but tested with the headphones on.  I failed!  I got a few words and one full sentence with the hearing aid; few words with the CI but none of the sentences, and listened for the beeps/tones.  Then the audie went and got my mom so we could talk, and she could do some counseling.  She said I qualify for the second implant, since I did poorly with the left implant.  Should be no problem with Medicare covering the second implant.  She talked of the Naida and the Mid-Scala array which can help preserve residual hearing of the implanted ear (though it's not always the case).  Mom had some concerns of my going bilateral and the implant destroy what little hearing I have left, which is understandable.  Audie said I should do much better with the implant in the right ear, since I've worn a hearing aid on that ear since shortly after becoming deaf and having usable hearing (whereas with the left ear, it was a dead ear, no usable hearing, didn't wear a hearing aid since 4th grade, etc.) so doing the left ear was a big gamble.   But with the right ear being implanted, we should see improved results more quickly.  She also recommended that I get 2 Naidas, instead of one Naida and one Neptune.. I was already considering getting two Naidas myself, it just makes the most sense.  I would put a Naida on my left ear, one the right, and be able to take advantage of the newer features and bilateral features of two Naidas.  My thinking is that I would have the current Neptune that I have programmed to be a back up for the right ear, and leave the Harmony as is for the left.  Just have to decide which color, battery types, and accessories (which I will get all figured out at a later date).

in the sound booth!

being tested

After that, we were on our way.  Mom and I chatted some more about all this while we waited for stepdad to come pick us up.  After being picked up, we hit up Hobby Lobby, then we hit the road (after navigating traffic jams due to road work and all that insanity!).  Ended up in Loveland and had burgers at Red Robin (I had a crispy chicken sandwich instead), and roamed the promenade.  Mom and I went into Barnes & Nobel while Rob went over to Macy's to check out their clearance racks.  She and I also hit up Famous Footwear before meeting with Rob.  Headed over to the Outlet Mall... Rob hit up the Tommy Hilfiger store, mom and I went to Dress Barn and Rocky Mountain Chocolate.  Then back on the road again! We stopped in Wheatland to gas up and grab a quick bite from Taco John's, and kept going until we made it home.

bought a Stephen King book!

hanging out at the Dress Barn, waiting for mom.

corn fields!

uh, there's a buffalo on the hill...

Yay!  Denver trip #1 is done!  Home for a couple of days, then we take off again Sunday morning for Denver, for appointment #2, to meet with the surgeon and take it from there.  I would like to get the second implant done this coming fall, before November if possible (mom and stepdad both have November birthdays, and with holidays coming up meaning busy schedule for stepdad at the flower mart, and winter = icky winter weather for driving so best to avoid that...) I don't know, we'll see.  Let's at least meet with the surgeon and we'll take it from there.

Just nuts... to go all the way down to Denver for a short audiologist appointment...  But surgeon is out this week, and audie isn't on office on Monday, so there was just no way to get both appointments done in one day (like was originally planned).  ah well, things happen.