Hello all who might still be checking this blog!
I know it had been a while since I last posted, but things have been pretty quiet on the CI front this summer. No major CI moments (although I heard the cicada's earlier this summer and the racket they make - and it's not even their seven year cycle or whatever it is when they all come out. Not looking forward to that now, never bothered me before). I have been working some relatively easy part time jobs this summer, staying away from the school. But school is starting up again soon and I wanted to put something in here before then.
I have had the pleasure of talking to several people about my implant on different occasions. The first time was at my nephew's baseball game. I had stopped to talk to a friends mom and noticed a gentleman waiting patiently to talk to me. So when I was done I turned to him and he immediately asked me about my implant. He explained that his mother was losing her hearing and he was intrigued by my device and how normal I seemed with it. I told him as much as I could about it and encouraged him to talk to his mother about it. It's because of conversations like this that I am not as inclined to wear my baseball hat as much, except to protect my bald head from the sun. If someone is intrigued by my very noticeable CI on my very noticeable head, then I am happy to talk to them.
Another time was after we had a family birthday celebration for my daughter by having lunch at Macaroni Grill in Silver Spring, on a Saturday afternoon, at the beginning of this month. Walking back to the car, my wife noticed a woman ahead of us who had a CI. I introduced myself and we, along with her husband, had a nice conversation. Turns out she recieved hers about seven years ago but just recently upgraded to the Nucleas Freedom. She also had her CI done at Johns Hopkins (Dr. Niparko, I believe). It's always nice to talk to people with common interests, like the stranger I saw and approached in Arizona because he had on a Redskins shirt on!
And finally, just a week ago, I was headed to downtown DC with the family to visit the Newseum (see attached video) when someone approached me just before we got on the metro. He was a Vietnam veteran who was suffering from hearing loss and tinnitus. I explained that I did too, but that the CI covered it up for the most part. I gave him my card with the link to this blog, so if you are reading this - Hi!
Well, as far as anniversaries go, which I have been trying to keep track of leading up to the one year mark of the surgery, it was about this time that I made my final decision to go ahead with the surgery. I had talked to Dr. della Santina and my audiologist Jennifer and needed to let them know so they could schedule the surgery and all post-op appointments. I was still hesitant however and was willing to put it off, but my wonderful wife pushed me to go ahead with it. It pays to listen to women sometimes you know?! So I finally took a deep breath, said okay, and began signing the paperwork. October 6 was chosen as the surgery date. Of course, I could still change my mind all the way up to this date, but I was now commited to it, I was not going to turn back. Am I ever glad I didn't!