Living with a Cochlear Implant

I have to say I feel very smug..LOL!!   I have a TV set that is about 6 years old now, (36" Sony Triniton XBR) and it came with wireless infared headphones.  I did not have my CI when I got the TV, and just tossed the headphones in a drawer.  I got them out about a year after activation...just slipped my mind that I had them!   The are wonderful for listening to the TV!!!    They work with T-mic or T-coil.

For Christmas last year I got some BOSE Quiet Comfort 2 "noise cancelling" headphones. They have a tremendous sound quality.  I have been trying to get them to work with the TV all this time...just to see if the sound quality was better than the other headphones.   We finally figured out ( it took a M.A.N. lol) to get this done...and it has to be done with a long cord ( Radio Shack) ...so it is not wireless. 

The sound quality for the TV is amazing!!   I was scrolling through the music channels on the satellite dish...and about to die from the exquisite sounds!!!  I am sure the new software also contributed to this!   So I am listening with the very latest in advanced music software and using the top of the line headphones...seems too good to be true!    I will probably watch more TV now, have discovered those PBS channels with the long winded ( but no commercials) funding drives...if you can find something to do when they are giving the 15 minute pledge talks....worth the while checking out because of the music shows!

Ho Ho Ho...got through Christmas intact!   This was my first Christmas with the 121 channel virtual programs and I did indeed have some CI moments to talk about!!  

Cooking in the kitchen with three people...background music blasting, assorted kitchen sounds, pots banging, water running etc.  I was able to carry on a conversation with my back turned, listening to music and could hear through the running water!   That has always been a challenge for me...running water seems like such a loud and rude sound...drowning out everything if I was close to it.  Not yesterday..the water ran and I was ok with it! 

Corona anyone?  One of my guests for Christmas dinner brought a six pack of Corona beer for his drinking pleasure.  He asked if I had a bottle opener...ME???  LOL  Yes, I sure had one, and handed him my newest kitchen gadget.   A bottle opener that talked every time you used it!!  LOL....I could hear him opening his beer from all over the house! 

Playing Scrabble...we set up the game....big long table with people talking on one end, music playing and the speakers about 10 feet away.  I was able to follow the conversation to my left, listen to music and carry on a conversation with my Scrabble partner!!   Now, to make this easier to understand why this is cool...anyone with a hearing aid or CI usually had the "hearing in noise" problem.   Meaning that background sounds can drown out speech, making it hard to understand without lipreading.   I do have a "noise" program on my CI that I can switch to that will effectively dampen down background sounds.  What it does it makes it so I can hear at the table...but everything from about 8 feet away would be cut out by lowering the sensitivity on the processor ( my program is -10 sensitivity).  What would have happened at home if I had used this noise program would be that I might be able to hear in the kitchen up to a certain distance..but would NOT have been able to also hear the music or anyone in other rooms.

Just using the normal 121 channel program I was able to hear the music ( we traded in the Christmas music for 60's rock n roll! ) listen in to chat on the left and enjoy a conversation at the game....all at once!   The important thing was not just "hearing" it....it is understanding it through the noise!  I totally feel my bionic hearing has taken a leap to the next level....move over Lindsay Wagner!! 

Been kind of busy these days, checked my blog and was shocked to see I haven't updated in ages!  In answer to Thema's question about the T-coil or T-mic.   Keep in mind the Auria already had an external T-coil that I have been using for a long time...assuming I wanted to use it! 

Right now, I just have to say I think the T-mic is more all purpose than a T-coil.  Yes, the T-coil works fine, but in my opinion there is not as much use for it here in the US.  Apparently it is a different story in Europe where, by law, everything is supposed to be "looped" for use with T-coil.  In the US I have not found too many places to use the thing!    It does work very well with my infared headphones that I use with the TV set....but so does the T-mic.  I don't really care much for the T-coil with the phone.  It works well, but the thing about it is that you have to hold the phone up to the "SPOT" and keep it there...the slightest movement away from the spot.....all is lost and you have to find it again.   Not being able to hear my voice using T-coil feels weird ( 100% setting) and I don't like talking to people that way.

I guess its all going to boil down to personal choice for the person using the device.  We will be able to have our processors mapped with whatever we like.  I suppose a person that has used hearing aids for a long time and is a seasoned T-coil user might insist on it...and that is fine as long as its what they want and like.   I personally don't have a lot of uses for it...but when I did use it the few times in a looped setting, it worked wonderfully well.   I don't think we will be giving up the T-mics any time soon!!