Hello all who might be reading this :)
My last blog ended with me saying "what a difference a year makes!"
As I continue to recap some of the important milestones as they approach (or pass) since I first discussed getting a cochlear implant, I'd like to say it again: what a difference a year makes!
I spent this past weekend at Ocean City for an Athletic Directors conference. When I attended last year, the realization of possibly losing my hearing and and researching this new (to me) device had begun to sink in and I was experiencing some anxiety and (just a little) self pity. Maybe it was something about the waves crashing, but as I walking on the beach at some point with my wife and daughter I just let loose and began to cry. I was really trying to be strong so as not to worry my wife, and especially my daughter, but I could not hold it in. I spent the weekend not being very social, at an event that demands sociability as you meet and mingle with colleagues from around the state. So this past weekend was a complete 180! I had a blast. I took a profesisonal development class, attended a seminar, took several walks around the vendors area, won a couple of small prizes, and still had time to swim in the pool, attend a seafood dinner, and walk on the boardwalk and spend a few hours on the beach with my wife and daughter again. Just one person asked me about the implant which of course I was happy to talk about.
I hope to get to go again next year.
Take care,
Dan