Praise the Lord Sharon great news. 

--
I would rather live my life as if there is a God, and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't, and die to find out there is. 
ABC's of Salvation 
Admit you are a sinner. Rom 3:23 
Believe on Christ. Acts 16:31 
Confess your faith. Rom 10:9-10 
Karen Carter 74' 

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: Sharon Hooley <[log in to unmask]> 

> 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 
>