Hi Sharon, Great news for you, keep up the good work.  I am praying for your 
dad.  I hope he gets well soon.

Virgie and Lady Hoshi
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sharon Hooley" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 7:59 PM
Subject: Third Sound Mapping, and Silence


> All right, guys,
>
> I've been waiting for someone in my family to review this special update, 
> but I guess they can correct me if I'm wrong on any point.  So here it is:
>
> Third Sound Mapping, and Silence
>
> Posted February 6, 2008
>
>
>
> Well folks,
>
>
>
> On January 17, my niece took me to see Jenna again for my third
>
> sound mapping. As we were walking toward the clinic, the mother of the 
> deaf
>
> little boy that Judy and I had befriended greeted us, telling us that he 
> did
>
> well on his activation! Jenna gave me even more sound to work with, and
>
> created the four programs to send alternative kinds of stimuli, rather 
> than
>
> to be progressive in the same type. Number 1 is what we thought was my
>
> favorite setting so far. Number 2 is an automated sensitivity adjuster 
> that
>
> changes according to my environmental needs. Number 3 is called adro, 
> which
>
> is an alternative setting to try in any situation. And number 4 has a lot
>
> of low pitches which, so far, I don't like. I'll have to play around with 
> the others to see which ones I like best for a given environment.
>
>
>
> I can now communicate more without using my regular hearing aid, and I 
> find
>
> that I'm able to recognize some sounds, and hear some voices beneath the 
> bells and whistles, which often seems to be decreased, and vary more 
> widely with the added stimulation I've been given! I also realize now that 
> voices do indeed sound cartoonish, as some have described them. Voices 
> that I would otherwise recognize can sound distorted. Since the settings 
> are not perfect,
>
> or my brain isn't fully adjusted, I hear some things in what I can best
>
> describe as a bad machine language accent. If I ask how you're doing, and
>
> you say, "I'm doing okay," it can sound somewhat like, "I'm doing o kerr." 
> Although music is often not very recognizable yet, I can sometimes hear 
> the rhythmic jingling and tinkling as my system picks out the beat, etc. 
> It got me thinking of just how complex our technological minds are; 
> whatever it is that makes the music source play, and the things that make 
> my electrodes stimulate to tap out the rhythm!
>
>
>
> When I first turn it on in the morning, the sounds are an awakening 
> shocker, sort of like when you sleepily walk into the bathroom and douse 
> your face in cold water. Otherwise, I don't remember any sounds driving me 
> really crazy, though I did feel tired, at least once. The most annoying 
> ones I can think of are when I've heard myself speaking high-pitched 
> consonants that I hadn't heard much of in a long time, like, "Thisss 
> nexxxt Sssattturrday" and the "er" sound when others speak. But I gladly 
> welcome the high pitches, which give me the ability to hear speech, and 
> the world, more clearly, and I aint goin back!
>
>
>
> I still often use my microphone system with my hearing aid I'd been using 
> before, but for part of the time, I turn my microphone off and leave my 
> hearing aid in the mode that only picks up sounds from that, and nothing 
> else. That way, my brain gets more of a workout with the processor.
>
>
>
> I don't have to go in for another mapping session until next month, 
> hopefully February 14, if I can get
>
> a ride. I hope we'll play around some more.
>
>
>
> After I finished my mapping session, my niece and I went to the hospital
>
> where my dad lay in the ICU ward, unable to speak. He'd gone in to have 
> his
>
> second carotid artery cleaned out, but the doctors discovered a hematoma
>
> near the surgery site, so he went back under the scalpel to get part of it
>
> removed. As a result, he swelled up so much that he could not breathe
>
> entirely on his own. Thus he was languishing on a ventilator, with a tube
>
> down his throat and toward his airways. It was the next day when we 
> dropped
>
> by, and I later returned home with Judy, and my mom, who has been staying 
> at
>
> her house at night.
>
> I appreciate the fact that I am capable of choosing how I view any given 
> circumstances. I see an inspirational, yet funny picture with the positive 
> and negative events that have occurred simultaneously: Me getting my 
> hearing improved so I can listen, as part of the communication process, 
> and my dad being unable to speak to me, the other side of the 
> communication process. It is crucial that we talk, and listen actively, to 
> one another, in order to boost our sense of well-being, and to keep any 
> kind of relationship alive and burning brightly!
>
> And that's the news for today.
>
> Sharon
>