Tag, You're It!
This is a fun way to get to know other bloggers better. Kim, Living the Questions, tagged me and now it's my turn to tag others. So here are the RULES.
1) Each player must post the rules at the top.
2) Answer the questions in bold
3) Tag five people you would like to know better, go to their blogs, let them know they've been tagged and ask them to read your blog.
This just for fun, so don't feel like you MUST play. I won't be hurt if you're too busy. Here are my answers to the questions. . .
What I was doing ten years ago.
I was a Senior Data Analyst/Programmer, and Manager of my department for a busy Market Research company - ACNielsen. I specialied in Customised Research, and in particular social research.
Five Snacks I enjoy:
1) Chocolate biscuits
2) Hokey Pokey Ice-Cream with Milo sprinkled over
3) Roasted peanuts with lots ofsalt
4) Potato chips or crisps - with onion dip
5) Caramel Slice
Healthier Snacks:
1) Turkish Pide with Hummus
2) Frozen Yoghurt
3) Strawberries dipped in Dark Chocolate
4) Carrot slices with Hummus
5) Weight Watcher Tuna on Toast
Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1) Donate money to the Cochlear Implant Program so more people could have them
2) Travel Extensively
3) Upgrade my camera equipment
4) Buy a new house
5) Upgrade my car
Jobs I have had:
1) Fruit Stacker in a fruit shop
2) Supermarket Checkout operator
3) Bank Officer
4) Data Entry Operator
4) Research Analyst/programmer
Three habits;
1) Internet/email
2) Bite my fingernails when stressed
3) Go to bed far too late
Five places I have lived:
1) Wellington - Lower Hutt
2) Wellington - Churton Park
3) Barbados
4) Auckland - Mt Roskill
5) Auckland - North Shore
Five people I would like to get to know better:
1) Bronspeak - Bronni
2) The Lifewreck Blog - Paul
3) A Radical Sabatical - Pearl
4) Rhyme & Reason - Lia
5) Get up and Play - Barb
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Butterfly House
The day before my operation, I went down with 5 other Photographic Society members to the Thames Butterfly House on the Coromandel Peninsula. It's a small affair - one small barn full of butterflies, situated within the local caravan park. However it's miles better than the one in Auckland for several reasons. Firstly, the Auckland one is big, so big that you just simply can't get close up to the butterflies to take good macro shots. Secondly - every photographers nightmare is at the Auckland one - wild kids that aren't checked by their parents, left to run in and out between the tripods. You always feel that the camera gear is going to go flying.
The Thames one, is not only smaller, there were very few kids, and there were literally hundreds more butterflies. Unfortunately he can't breed them there, as many of them need specific plants to eat. New Zealands border control will not allow plants to come in, no matter how carefully everything is controlled, so the owners have to import the butterflies in twice a week. They do a fabulous job though including a lovely morning tea with homemade muffins!
We headed down fairly early, leaving Auckland at 9, and arriving at Thames just after 10. We placed all our camera gear in the corner of the butterfly house to 'warm up' then went and had morning tea while we waiting for the cameras to stop condensating. It worked really well to do this - for once I wasn't waiting for up to an hour with misty lenses.
The results? I was actually really pleased with the results as the last few times I've been doing macro shops, not many have been turning out. But this time I got some great ones!
Here they are....
I have no idea what kind of butterfly this is or where it comes from, so if anybody out there does know, I would love it if you could let me know!
Thought the eyes looked great on this one!
Owl Butterfly. These ones are great models as they tend to be still for a bit longer than the others.
Owl Butterflies didn't seem to mind landing on hairy arms either!
I changed the background in this one as it made it look a bit more simple. I'm quite pleased with the result as it has brought out the butterfly a bit more. I'm wondering whether the background should be a darker green or not. What do you think?
Here's that Owl Butterfly on the arm again - hunkered down even closer to the hairy beasts. I really like it for some reason, which is why I've put two very similar images up. I can't decide which is best. What do you think?
It was a fun day and well worth going down. In all - we spent about 2 hours photographing in the tropical heat of the barn!
The Thames one, is not only smaller, there were very few kids, and there were literally hundreds more butterflies. Unfortunately he can't breed them there, as many of them need specific plants to eat. New Zealands border control will not allow plants to come in, no matter how carefully everything is controlled, so the owners have to import the butterflies in twice a week. They do a fabulous job though including a lovely morning tea with homemade muffins!
We headed down fairly early, leaving Auckland at 9, and arriving at Thames just after 10. We placed all our camera gear in the corner of the butterfly house to 'warm up' then went and had morning tea while we waiting for the cameras to stop condensating. It worked really well to do this - for once I wasn't waiting for up to an hour with misty lenses.
The results? I was actually really pleased with the results as the last few times I've been doing macro shops, not many have been turning out. But this time I got some great ones!
Here they are....
I have no idea what kind of butterfly this is or where it comes from, so if anybody out there does know, I would love it if you could let me know!
Thought the eyes looked great on this one!
Owl Butterfly. These ones are great models as they tend to be still for a bit longer than the others.
Owl Butterflies didn't seem to mind landing on hairy arms either!
I changed the background in this one as it made it look a bit more simple. I'm quite pleased with the result as it has brought out the butterfly a bit more. I'm wondering whether the background should be a darker green or not. What do you think?
Here's that Owl Butterfly on the arm again - hunkered down even closer to the hairy beasts. I really like it for some reason, which is why I've put two very similar images up. I can't decide which is best. What do you think?It was a fun day and well worth going down. In all - we spent about 2 hours photographing in the tropical heat of the barn!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Day Two of Switch-On/Activation
I've just poured myself a cold beer. Which is weird because I don't drink beer. Ever. But people keep leaving them in my fridge when they come visiting, and I don't like wasting things by throwing them away. It's still hot, I'm thirsty, and everybody sounds like a female. Beer is usually associated with males, so perhaps the reason I'm craving one is because I'm sick of hearing everything in female pitches.
The beer is going down quite quickly - hopefully it'll help me sleep as I haven't had too much of that lately either. I do get to sleep, but when I go to turn over, the wound hurts a bit and I wake up. So I never really get into a deep long sleep, and thats making me tired. I'm not grumpy though. In fact after tonight, I'm quite excited.
The reason? Well - I've just been on the phone to my Dad and his wife Delphine. I rang my brother's wife Beth and talked briefly with her. Then I rang my friend Nikki and had quite a long conversation with her. I went overboard then, and decided to ring everyone else, so rang my friend Bron (she really did sound like a chipmunk and I believe she's changed her MSN handle to 'Alvin the Chipmunk'), then I rang Elena and left a message on her cellphone, then Jeremy, my old audiologist who originally switched me on fifteen years ago. I wanted to hear if he still sounded like a woman. He didn't answer - but his message on his answerphone I heard very clearly. Unfortunatley he did still sound like a woman, so I left a message to say so, and I'll ring back tomorrow to see if he has macho'd up overnight!! Then I rang my friend Linda and had a short talk with her, organising to see her on Friday morning. Then I rang my friend Clare, up on the farm. She was by far the hardest to understand. Perhaps it was the line quality. It may be she just has been countrified, and has forgotten to speak like a city person!! I then rang Sally - and spoke with her. I would't say it was trouble free - but she was by far the easiest to understand. She sounded half human and half chipmunk. Perhaps I'm getting better with practise? Lastly I got onto Skype and rang my very good friend in South Africa. Tony actually sounded all MALE. Such a sexy deep voice. No chipmunk sounds either. It was bliss and I had no problem hearing him at all. I was rapt.
It's probably why I'm drinking a beer - celebrating with that as I have no champagne in the fridge.
Anyway - I went back to Audiology this morning for my second mapping.
As you can see from the above - there were some big changes. The threshold of just hearing didn't change much in the lower frequencies, but in the higher frequencies they did change quite a lot. The Comfort levels or the top band changed quite considerably, and I now have a large dyanamic range band in which I'm hearing. I've put yesterday's final map just below so you can compare easily without having to go to yesterdays blog. Aren't I nice to you all?
Yesterday, electrodes 7 to 22 were switched on. The software indicates that electrode 6 is in the cochlear and able to be used, as you can see from the photo below. The green lights are the electrodes that can be used.
However, when we tried to switch 6 on yesterday, I heard nothing from it. We wondered if in fact it was in the cochlear or not. We tried electrode 6 again today, and today I did hear something. But it took a some big jumps before the volume of that electrode increased for me, and when it finally got to something I could work with, I got a pain that travelled down my neck. We surmised it probably isn't in the cochlear properly, and it's stimulating some other nerve, so we switched that one off and we'll look at it again at a later date.
After I was mapped, I was given four programs. One a bit softer in case things became too loud. The second one the one I was currently wearing. Then one 3 stops louder. The last one 3 stops louder again. We broke at midday for lunch. I met up with Gayle at 1pm for some speech testing. However by 1pm Program 2 and 3 sounded the same, and program 4 was sounding a bit soft. So back into the mapping room where it was adjusted yet again. This time with three maps, one with my program 4, one 5 stops louder, and one 5 stops louder again. I'm already on the second program. So my brain is tolerating, getting used to, and wanting more sound very quickly.
I was given an aided threshold test after the mapping in the morning, and another one after the mapping 2 hours later to find out what I was hearing - and I have hearing right across all speech range - so that's very promising. It just has to stop sounding like chipmunks now. There were some changes albeit little ones between the two. Here's the first one..
And the 2nd one..
You can see the small changes (5db) in the middle - but the large change at the right hand side.
We then did some standard open set sentencing testing like yesterday. Yesterday I got 15/36 for those tests, however today everyone was blown away how I did. I got a cool 90% for open set sentences (94% in one, 86% in the other which gave an average of 90%). Wow - 2nd day and 90% - unheard of and very exciting. Gayle then decided to try in me in background noise as well, which was much harder but I still managed to clock in at 58%. Not too bad. Looking back at previous tests, they are similar to what I tested at in March 2005 with the old N22. (91%, 60%). Single word testing I did well today too. 29% on single words but 53% with words and phenomes combined. But the single word testing is really hard, and I've never liked that particular test.
So all up a very successful day today, and a rather exciting one. However, I just wish males sounded like males and the chipmunks would disappear. I just have to be patient. One thing I do notice is that when the map becomes quiet and I need more sound, the quieter the map becomes, the more chipmunky it sounds. The more volume I get, the closer to normal things start sounding.
The only downfall with the volume I'm needing for my maps, is that it's wanting quite a bit of power, which is compromising the battery life. So much so that it's not looking likely that I will be able to use a two battery controller, nor is it likely if I go much higher, that I'll even be able to use the BTE 3 battery controller processor - I may need to have the bodyworn processor for the amount of power I need. Disappointing as I was looking forward to the two battery controller so I could change colours on the processor with what I'm wearing. Something I really enjoyed doing with my old 3G for the N22.
Some people have asked me if because I'm an experienced cochlear implant user from the N22, is this making a difference to how I'm hearing with the new implant? I put the question to Ellen, my audiologist, but she is inclined to think that it's not making any difference as the two implants are totally different. The old N22 I had, had only one speech strategy, SPEAK. This ran at 250hz, and the only type of mapping that I could have was a bi-polar map, where each electrode was paired up with each other. Electrode 2 was with 4, 3 with 5, 4 with 6 etc.... My new implant is the Freedom. It has 24 electrodes (N24). Three speech strategies are available, SPEAK, ACE and CIS. SPEAK still at 250hz, ACE at 900hz and CIS at 2400hz. I've been programmed on ACE at 900hz as that's the one that has been clinically proven to be the best. The electrodes are monopolar too, not bi-polar, so each electrode works singularly in it's own right. Totally different to the way my first one worked. So basically - my experience this time is as a brand new user all over again. Fascinating stuff if you're into all that science!
Anyway - I'm definitely back in the world of sound!! Many thanks to Ellen and Gayle to getting me there!
Gayle on Left, Ellen on Right - Best team in the world!
PS - the beer is gone, straight to my head too!
The beer is going down quite quickly - hopefully it'll help me sleep as I haven't had too much of that lately either. I do get to sleep, but when I go to turn over, the wound hurts a bit and I wake up. So I never really get into a deep long sleep, and thats making me tired. I'm not grumpy though. In fact after tonight, I'm quite excited.
The reason? Well - I've just been on the phone to my Dad and his wife Delphine. I rang my brother's wife Beth and talked briefly with her. Then I rang my friend Nikki and had quite a long conversation with her. I went overboard then, and decided to ring everyone else, so rang my friend Bron (she really did sound like a chipmunk and I believe she's changed her MSN handle to 'Alvin the Chipmunk'), then I rang Elena and left a message on her cellphone, then Jeremy, my old audiologist who originally switched me on fifteen years ago. I wanted to hear if he still sounded like a woman. He didn't answer - but his message on his answerphone I heard very clearly. Unfortunatley he did still sound like a woman, so I left a message to say so, and I'll ring back tomorrow to see if he has macho'd up overnight!! Then I rang my friend Linda and had a short talk with her, organising to see her on Friday morning. Then I rang my friend Clare, up on the farm. She was by far the hardest to understand. Perhaps it was the line quality. It may be she just has been countrified, and has forgotten to speak like a city person!! I then rang Sally - and spoke with her. I would't say it was trouble free - but she was by far the easiest to understand. She sounded half human and half chipmunk. Perhaps I'm getting better with practise? Lastly I got onto Skype and rang my very good friend in South Africa. Tony actually sounded all MALE. Such a sexy deep voice. No chipmunk sounds either. It was bliss and I had no problem hearing him at all. I was rapt.It's probably why I'm drinking a beer - celebrating with that as I have no champagne in the fridge.
Anyway - I went back to Audiology this morning for my second mapping.
As you can see from the above - there were some big changes. The threshold of just hearing didn't change much in the lower frequencies, but in the higher frequencies they did change quite a lot. The Comfort levels or the top band changed quite considerably, and I now have a large dyanamic range band in which I'm hearing. I've put yesterday's final map just below so you can compare easily without having to go to yesterdays blog. Aren't I nice to you all?
Yesterday, electrodes 7 to 22 were switched on. The software indicates that electrode 6 is in the cochlear and able to be used, as you can see from the photo below. The green lights are the electrodes that can be used.
However, when we tried to switch 6 on yesterday, I heard nothing from it. We wondered if in fact it was in the cochlear or not. We tried electrode 6 again today, and today I did hear something. But it took a some big jumps before the volume of that electrode increased for me, and when it finally got to something I could work with, I got a pain that travelled down my neck. We surmised it probably isn't in the cochlear properly, and it's stimulating some other nerve, so we switched that one off and we'll look at it again at a later date.After I was mapped, I was given four programs. One a bit softer in case things became too loud. The second one the one I was currently wearing. Then one 3 stops louder. The last one 3 stops louder again. We broke at midday for lunch. I met up with Gayle at 1pm for some speech testing. However by 1pm Program 2 and 3 sounded the same, and program 4 was sounding a bit soft. So back into the mapping room where it was adjusted yet again. This time with three maps, one with my program 4, one 5 stops louder, and one 5 stops louder again. I'm already on the second program. So my brain is tolerating, getting used to, and wanting more sound very quickly.
I was given an aided threshold test after the mapping in the morning, and another one after the mapping 2 hours later to find out what I was hearing - and I have hearing right across all speech range - so that's very promising. It just has to stop sounding like chipmunks now. There were some changes albeit little ones between the two. Here's the first one..
And the 2nd one..
You can see the small changes (5db) in the middle - but the large change at the right hand side.
We then did some standard open set sentencing testing like yesterday. Yesterday I got 15/36 for those tests, however today everyone was blown away how I did. I got a cool 90% for open set sentences (94% in one, 86% in the other which gave an average of 90%). Wow - 2nd day and 90% - unheard of and very exciting. Gayle then decided to try in me in background noise as well, which was much harder but I still managed to clock in at 58%. Not too bad. Looking back at previous tests, they are similar to what I tested at in March 2005 with the old N22. (91%, 60%). Single word testing I did well today too. 29% on single words but 53% with words and phenomes combined. But the single word testing is really hard, and I've never liked that particular test.
So all up a very successful day today, and a rather exciting one. However, I just wish males sounded like males and the chipmunks would disappear. I just have to be patient. One thing I do notice is that when the map becomes quiet and I need more sound, the quieter the map becomes, the more chipmunky it sounds. The more volume I get, the closer to normal things start sounding.The only downfall with the volume I'm needing for my maps, is that it's wanting quite a bit of power, which is compromising the battery life. So much so that it's not looking likely that I will be able to use a two battery controller, nor is it likely if I go much higher, that I'll even be able to use the BTE 3 battery controller processor - I may need to have the bodyworn processor for the amount of power I need. Disappointing as I was looking forward to the two battery controller so I could change colours on the processor with what I'm wearing. Something I really enjoyed doing with my old 3G for the N22.
Some people have asked me if because I'm an experienced cochlear implant user from the N22, is this making a difference to how I'm hearing with the new implant? I put the question to Ellen, my audiologist, but she is inclined to think that it's not making any difference as the two implants are totally different. The old N22 I had, had only one speech strategy, SPEAK. This ran at 250hz, and the only type of mapping that I could have was a bi-polar map, where each electrode was paired up with each other. Electrode 2 was with 4, 3 with 5, 4 with 6 etc.... My new implant is the Freedom. It has 24 electrodes (N24). Three speech strategies are available, SPEAK, ACE and CIS. SPEAK still at 250hz, ACE at 900hz and CIS at 2400hz. I've been programmed on ACE at 900hz as that's the one that has been clinically proven to be the best. The electrodes are monopolar too, not bi-polar, so each electrode works singularly in it's own right. Totally different to the way my first one worked. So basically - my experience this time is as a brand new user all over again. Fascinating stuff if you're into all that science!
Anyway - I'm definitely back in the world of sound!! Many thanks to Ellen and Gayle to getting me there!
Gayle on Left, Ellen on Right - Best team in the world!
PS - the beer is gone, straight to my head too!
Switch-on or Activation Day
Monday 7th April....
Firstly, I actually got used to hearing with absolutely no sound. I thought it would be extremely difficult - but found it much easier than I thought I would. I am obviously a better lipreader than I thought I was.
There were a few times I got lost - but not many. I didn't miss sound per se - but I hated the symphony orchestra that no sound gave me - those musical hallucinations. But, if anything, this 3 week period has made me much more comfortable with my degree of hearing loss and not so panicky, so if (heaven forbid), anything happened to this implant then I know I can cope whatever is thrown my way.
Anyway - I got switched on this morning and thought you might like to hear the results. Right now my two cats are having a lovely big catfight, and I actually heard it, although it was very 'quiet'. (They're fighting over a small patch of sun). Traffic sounds like running water. Voices sound like chipmunks. My keyboard typing sounds 'flat'. Driving home from Greenlane I could hear the click when I turned the indicator on in my car, but I couldn't hear the indicators. By the time I got home (25 mins), I was starting to hear the indicators as well, so sounds are starting to filter through. I can hear the traffic going past my house - at least that's what I think it is. Even with my old implant I never heard that, but whether that was because I was able to 'filter' it out I'm not sure.
Sound is not nearly loud enough now, but I knew that before I left Greenlane but was too tired to do anything about it. Will start afresh at tomorrow's appointment. (I'm still not 100% from my hospital visit - legs still feel like they're going to collapse under me and I feel nauseous pretty much all the time. But I am eating and drinking.)
I'm still getting a bit of pain from the wound site. It's looking good except for the bit down behind the ear - it's still quite swollen and that's where the pain is largely coming from. It was nearly gone - but it has come back today from wearing the processor. If it's still there tomorrow I will get it checked out. Ellen (Audiologist) has put the processor on my other ear with a long cord on the magnet going round the back of my head. This is more comfortable for now, but it did confuse me when I tried to hear on my cellphone and wondered why I couldn't hear ANYTHING at all. We (my daughter and I) had it up to the implanted ear, but not up to the implant on the other ear. I am BLONDE you know!!! Very tired too!
The first several electrodes don't make any sense like the others. Instead of going do-re me-fa like all the others - they are all over the show. They're the much important low tones so I suspect over time they'll improve (I hope so anyway) - but right now - all men do not sound like men. Some do, but most don't. Jeremy (audiologist) has been accused of sounding like a woman once before by me, so I guess he won't want to talk to me right now!
Within seconds of switch on I was able to hear an open set sentence without lipreading so that's extremely positive and encouraging. Gone are those horrible sensations I was getting from the old N22 as it 'failed' or 'stopped working' or 'whatever it did', so I'm pleased about that. Initial word testing that they do upon switch-on I got 100% on all of them. Open set sentences I 'failed' at 15/36. (I'm really hard on myself - anything less than 98% is a failure for me!!!) Gayle and Ellen (audiologists) assure me that 15/36 on the first day is good. I remain skeptical - it would be interesting to see how I faired on my first day 15 years ago, except I don't think any testing was done back then - it was switch-on, here's the box of goodies - goodbye - happy hearing!!! I didn't see anyone for a month after that!
I do remember that at my initial switch on 15 years ago I only heard one word without lipreading, and that was the word 'interesting' I forgot to ask Ellen and Gayle to test me on that word today.
So it's a positive start, and one that I hope improves by tomorrow, I mean - over time!!
Here's some photos of the event...
Ellen - my lovely audiologist.
Listening for just hearing threshold. It's really hard to do, as sometimes you're not sure if it's tinnitus you're hearing, or if you really are hearing those two beeps you are supposed to hear. I 'think' I can hear this!
This is my map at the start. The left bit which is higher is where I've heard the beeps at that level - the lower right hand side hasn't been done yet.
Dad & Delphine came to see what the process was all about.
After listening to all the just hearing thresholds, we are now setting the comfort levels - around the medium sound level. The area between the red and the green is the band that in which I have sounds, or the dynamic range.
Just before activation or Go Live. I think my nerves are shot!
Looking more relaxed now - I can hear, even though it does sound like The Chipmunks!
This is what my final map looked like on the first day.
My lovely daughter Anne. She was taking the photos on the day, but then decided she had to be included too, so took this one of herself. For her efforts, I'm including this one in the blog
That's it. Now I'm just off for my second mapping. I'm taking the camera again....
Oh - and I heard myself eating breakfast this morning - a new sound, and my keyboard is a little louder also. I'll update you on my 2nd mapping later :)
Firstly, I actually got used to hearing with absolutely no sound. I thought it would be extremely difficult - but found it much easier than I thought I would. I am obviously a better lipreader than I thought I was.
There were a few times I got lost - but not many. I didn't miss sound per se - but I hated the symphony orchestra that no sound gave me - those musical hallucinations. But, if anything, this 3 week period has made me much more comfortable with my degree of hearing loss and not so panicky, so if (heaven forbid), anything happened to this implant then I know I can cope whatever is thrown my way.
Anyway - I got switched on this morning and thought you might like to hear the results. Right now my two cats are having a lovely big catfight, and I actually heard it, although it was very 'quiet'. (They're fighting over a small patch of sun). Traffic sounds like running water. Voices sound like chipmunks. My keyboard typing sounds 'flat'. Driving home from Greenlane I could hear the click when I turned the indicator on in my car, but I couldn't hear the indicators. By the time I got home (25 mins), I was starting to hear the indicators as well, so sounds are starting to filter through. I can hear the traffic going past my house - at least that's what I think it is. Even with my old implant I never heard that, but whether that was because I was able to 'filter' it out I'm not sure.
Sound is not nearly loud enough now, but I knew that before I left Greenlane but was too tired to do anything about it. Will start afresh at tomorrow's appointment. (I'm still not 100% from my hospital visit - legs still feel like they're going to collapse under me and I feel nauseous pretty much all the time. But I am eating and drinking.)
I'm still getting a bit of pain from the wound site. It's looking good except for the bit down behind the ear - it's still quite swollen and that's where the pain is largely coming from. It was nearly gone - but it has come back today from wearing the processor. If it's still there tomorrow I will get it checked out. Ellen (Audiologist) has put the processor on my other ear with a long cord on the magnet going round the back of my head. This is more comfortable for now, but it did confuse me when I tried to hear on my cellphone and wondered why I couldn't hear ANYTHING at all. We (my daughter and I) had it up to the implanted ear, but not up to the implant on the other ear. I am BLONDE you know!!! Very tired too!
The first several electrodes don't make any sense like the others. Instead of going do-re me-fa like all the others - they are all over the show. They're the much important low tones so I suspect over time they'll improve (I hope so anyway) - but right now - all men do not sound like men. Some do, but most don't. Jeremy (audiologist) has been accused of sounding like a woman once before by me, so I guess he won't want to talk to me right now!
Within seconds of switch on I was able to hear an open set sentence without lipreading so that's extremely positive and encouraging. Gone are those horrible sensations I was getting from the old N22 as it 'failed' or 'stopped working' or 'whatever it did', so I'm pleased about that. Initial word testing that they do upon switch-on I got 100% on all of them. Open set sentences I 'failed' at 15/36. (I'm really hard on myself - anything less than 98% is a failure for me!!!) Gayle and Ellen (audiologists) assure me that 15/36 on the first day is good. I remain skeptical - it would be interesting to see how I faired on my first day 15 years ago, except I don't think any testing was done back then - it was switch-on, here's the box of goodies - goodbye - happy hearing!!! I didn't see anyone for a month after that!
I do remember that at my initial switch on 15 years ago I only heard one word without lipreading, and that was the word 'interesting' I forgot to ask Ellen and Gayle to test me on that word today.
So it's a positive start, and one that I hope improves by tomorrow, I mean - over time!!
Here's some photos of the event...
Ellen - my lovely audiologist.
Listening for just hearing threshold. It's really hard to do, as sometimes you're not sure if it's tinnitus you're hearing, or if you really are hearing those two beeps you are supposed to hear. I 'think' I can hear this!
This is my map at the start. The left bit which is higher is where I've heard the beeps at that level - the lower right hand side hasn't been done yet.
Dad & Delphine came to see what the process was all about.
After listening to all the just hearing thresholds, we are now setting the comfort levels - around the medium sound level. The area between the red and the green is the band that in which I have sounds, or the dynamic range.
Just before activation or Go Live. I think my nerves are shot!
Looking more relaxed now - I can hear, even though it does sound like The Chipmunks!
This is what my final map looked like on the first day.
My lovely daughter Anne. She was taking the photos on the day, but then decided she had to be included too, so took this one of herself. For her efforts, I'm including this one in the blog
That's it. Now I'm just off for my second mapping. I'm taking the camera again....
Oh - and I heard myself eating breakfast this morning - a new sound, and my keyboard is a little louder also. I'll update you on my 2nd mapping later :)
Sunday, April 6, 2008
The Black Backed Gull
I was wrong I was wrong! Forgive me for not educating you properly, but I had the bird species wrong in my last blog about the Mollymawk - and titled 'The Thief'I feel mortified but I honestly thought it was a Mollymawk but it's not. It's a Black Backed Gull, or Karoro.
Robust, intelligent, opportunistic and aggressive, the black-backed gull is the only large gull in New Zealand. Although one of the most common and conspicuous birds of our coasts, according to Oliver, it does not appear to have been listed as a New Zealand bird until Gray, in Dieffenbach's Travels in New Zealand in 1843, included it. The Erebus and Terror expedition collected it in the Auckland Islands in 1840 and also recorded it from Mount Egmont.
As you can see from the above photo - it's quite a bit larger than the common red billed gull.The black-backed gull is a circumpolar navigator, living in and around the coasts of South America, South Africa, south–east Australia and New Zealand. Being a scavenger by nature, it lives and breeds in a multitude of places, from rocky ledges to open areas of pasture. vetula breeds in South Africa and dominicanus breeds widely in the subantarctic and temperate southern hemisphere.
Unlike most of our native bird life, the black–backed gull has adapted well to European settlement, from taking advantage of an abundant supply of insects and small animals off pasturelands to scavenging off refuse tips in the urban environment and foraging along the coastal front.
Oliver records, that “the food of the black-backed gull consists of all kinds of animal matter. Every kind of animal matter cast up by the waves is greedily devoured, whether fresh or putrified, including the carcasses of whales and seals, dead fish and birds. It feeds largely on bivalve molluscs, breaking the shell by carrying it to some height and dropping it on hard sand or on rock. It also feeds on the eggs and young of birds, especially the terns near which it breeds; and on adult birds it is able to catch; and on grubs and worms which it finds on its inland excursions. Small fishes are caught, sometimes from the surface of the sea and sometimes from tidal pools.”
On farms they invariably turn up at lambing and at calving time to take advantage of dropped afterbirth and any weak or dead animals. Oliver also records the destruction of large numbers of tuatara on Stephen's Island; "a gull waits at a burrow for hours until a tuatara emerges, grabs it and then flies to sea and back to its nest, dropping the lizard every now and then to kill it."
We have been told, says Elsdon Best, that occasionally, the Karoro sea gull was tamed by Maori and employed as a pest–destroyer, released among the sweet potato crops that they might consume the the big caterpillars that infested the plants. One early collector of data tells us that such tame birds would accompany on the wing the people of the village when moving to other parts on a fishing, fowling, rat–catching or berry collecting expedition but another such collector has stated that such birds were deprived of their powers of flight by their captors.
The black–backed gull was once fully protected under the Wildlife act 1953. However this full protection was lifted in 1970.
Their size is that more dramatic when their wings are spread. This one has a funny look on it's face becuase it had just swallowed a Potato Fritter. Whole. It was so huge I don't think it was yet able to close it's beak!
The Juvenile Black Backed Gulls are quite a different colour, which also had me confused for a while. (Lots of things confuse me lately - I must be getting old!!)
I'm quite surprised at the diference in colour between the juvenile and adult stage. Take a comparison of the colour of the beak for instance - from Black to bright yellow. I think that was what confused me the most, thinking it was a completely different bird.
They look geat in flight too - especially at sunset...
Here's one a bit closer up..
And lastly - flying off into the sunset - which is just what I'm about to do now as I've suddenly realised the afternoon is almost over and I have a few things I have to do. Hope I've educated you properly now - and I'll try and get my birds correct from now on...
Friday, April 4, 2008
Perky Boobs
I’m intrigued.
Several times now I’ve seen advertisements for breast firming lotion. A lotion that you rub all over your breasts, which promises, after only 3 weeks, that your breasts will be nicely toned and firm. To add to this, the lotion shows pictures of firm looking perky breasts with models not wearing bras. Oh how I yearn for those days again!
So, I bought some to try, after all, I’m 46 now, and having breastfed my daughter, mine aren’t exactly perky or nubile looking anymore. When I take off my bra at night before bed, they point down to my knees. And worse still, when I lie on my back, I can’t see them at all – they disappear under my armpits somewhere!
So for three weeks I have religiously rubbed this lotion into my breasts.
And, miraculously, after three weeks, wouldn’t you know it, but absolutely nothing has changed!! I wonder if I should sue the manufacturer for false advertising? Lawsuits are popping up everywhere for the most mundane things – like suing McDonalds for making you obese, and smokers suing the tobacco companies for their addiction, why shouldn’t I sue the manufacturer for false promises of nice looking perky boobs?
Perhaps I’m not using enough! Perhaps the amount of lotion you need to use, has to increase with the number of years you are, multiplied by your Cup size. This means that I probably need to use 184 tubes of this stuff each night. Plastic surgery would probably be cheaper and less messy! It’s bad enough having to go to bed with cucumbers and teabags on our eyes to stop puffiness, cold cream on our face for smoothness, let alone all this lotion for perky boobs as well. Maybe the only way it works if you walk around on your hands?
Having just had my cochlear implant operation though, I’m in no mood for any type of surgery, so I’ll just have to keep my downward pointers forever!
Please note that there are no photographs of this trial. And there is unlikely to be any, ever, unless I can find a cream that works. So if you want to see photographs of perky boobs you will have to go elsewhere, or send me more lotion!
Several times now I’ve seen advertisements for breast firming lotion. A lotion that you rub all over your breasts, which promises, after only 3 weeks, that your breasts will be nicely toned and firm. To add to this, the lotion shows pictures of firm looking perky breasts with models not wearing bras. Oh how I yearn for those days again!
So, I bought some to try, after all, I’m 46 now, and having breastfed my daughter, mine aren’t exactly perky or nubile looking anymore. When I take off my bra at night before bed, they point down to my knees. And worse still, when I lie on my back, I can’t see them at all – they disappear under my armpits somewhere!
So for three weeks I have religiously rubbed this lotion into my breasts.
And, miraculously, after three weeks, wouldn’t you know it, but absolutely nothing has changed!! I wonder if I should sue the manufacturer for false advertising? Lawsuits are popping up everywhere for the most mundane things – like suing McDonalds for making you obese, and smokers suing the tobacco companies for their addiction, why shouldn’t I sue the manufacturer for false promises of nice looking perky boobs?
Perhaps I’m not using enough! Perhaps the amount of lotion you need to use, has to increase with the number of years you are, multiplied by your Cup size. This means that I probably need to use 184 tubes of this stuff each night. Plastic surgery would probably be cheaper and less messy! It’s bad enough having to go to bed with cucumbers and teabags on our eyes to stop puffiness, cold cream on our face for smoothness, let alone all this lotion for perky boobs as well. Maybe the only way it works if you walk around on your hands?
Having just had my cochlear implant operation though, I’m in no mood for any type of surgery, so I’ll just have to keep my downward pointers forever!
Please note that there are no photographs of this trial. And there is unlikely to be any, ever, unless I can find a cream that works. So if you want to see photographs of perky boobs you will have to go elsewhere, or send me more lotion!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Re-Implanted
Well… It’s done.
I’m now reimplanted. I have a crazy new hairstyle, and a lovely big scar. Cochlear Implant operations done these days are very different to the ones they did 15 years ago when I first had mine done. The incisions are much much smaller – a quarter of the size. Unfortunately though, on me, they had to open the original incision and do the same scar otherwise it could have cut off the blood supply to the flap.
Hope this doesn't put you off your dinner!
I was nervous right up to the time they put me under . That took a while as my veins are difficult and as per usual they spent a bit of time looking for one. I vaguely remember just quietly going to sleep. I don’t remember anything else until l what seemed like late afternoon (by the light) when I have a vague recollection of someone telling me that everything went well. I woke up again when it was dark and thought perhaps I was hungry, then knew nothing until morning.
I woke up to pain and got a blue pill. I felt vaguely dizzy – not quite right. The nurse told me that I had to get up and have a wash . I don’t think she was nurse at all. I think she was Hitler dressed up as nurse. She told me I had to be gone by 10am as they needed the bed for the next patient. While I had a wash – she just pulled my hospital gown off. Grabbed my bra, swung it round me lasso style and did it up. Then she grabbed my tshirt and put it on me while I was heading back to bed.
My surgeon came round at 8.30am and told me the operation was successful with 17 electrodes in. Wow – that was way more than I was expecting and very good news. We discussed the possibility of me going to North Shore hospital rather than home, but decided on home.
After he had gone the nurse pulled down the blankets and put my skirt on me. I kid you not – she was determined for me to leave. My mother arrived. By this time I was crying with pain and really not feeling right. The surgeon sent me to Remuera to have an x-ray. I barely remember getting there but was really crying with pain now. Back to the surgeon who quickly looked at the x-ray and said go home and sleep, feet up, and take panadol. Yeah right – I knew panadol wasn’t going to help much.
Got home – panadol, feet up, outstretched on couch. I still hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since 6am the previous day , and didn’t want anything. Mum fed me regular panadol and antibiotics. By 4pm I was throwing up uncontrollably, couldn’t open my eyes, couldn’t move so an ambulance was called and I was carted off to North Shore hospital. I ended up being there for two weeks, very dizzy, and very sick. The doctors think the operation or anaesthetic might have set off my ongoing vertigo problems, however thank goodness it has resolved for now and I’m back home.
Everything is healing nicely now, except my hair is growing back gray. I emailed my surgeon how I felt this was unfair, that he should have injected those blonde cells back into me. He called it divine retribution, because when he took over my case management he had no gray hairs!!!
Ever since the surgery I’ve been getting tinnitus in my ears, particularly the left one - the non implanted ear. It’s driving me nuts. Now usually tinnitus is a ‘ringing’ in one’s ear, but I have a full symphony orchestra in there. If I could request tunes, that would be good too, but no – I get lucy in the sky with diamonds for 2 hours, followed by bolero for two hours, followed by the nutcracker suite (no smart comments please) then it changes to the Tijuana brass brand, You are my Sunshine, Oom Pa pah. It’s like a CD I can’t switch off. It’s a little better today –more soloist instruments than full orchestra, but occasionally the full string section lets loose. Lucy in the Sky of Diamonds played for most of the day. It’s onto Bolero now though! Gah!
I believe this phenomena is called Musicophila and Oliver Sacks has written about it. I am going to try and get the book to read as it seems fascinating. Either that, or the surgeon misplaced his MP3 player during surgery!
Meantime – I’m totally deaf at the moment. Not one itsy bitsy little sound gets through. None. Nada. Zip. I thought it would be really hard to lipread without sound but I’ve found it much easier than I thought it would be. I rarely miss things, but I do have a Magna Doodle toy as a backup when things get tough. Strange though when I introduce it, very little communication ensues afterwards as the person talking to me becomes engrossed in drawing pictures on it!!
My ‘turn on’ or ‘switch on’ or ‘activation’ is this coming Monday so I don’t have long to wait. I wonder what I’ll hear.
Anything at all?
Squiggles of sound?
Orchestral music?
Voice?
I guess I just have to wait and see….
Watch this space!
I’m now reimplanted. I have a crazy new hairstyle, and a lovely big scar. Cochlear Implant operations done these days are very different to the ones they did 15 years ago when I first had mine done. The incisions are much much smaller – a quarter of the size. Unfortunately though, on me, they had to open the original incision and do the same scar otherwise it could have cut off the blood supply to the flap.
Hope this doesn't put you off your dinner!
I was nervous right up to the time they put me under . That took a while as my veins are difficult and as per usual they spent a bit of time looking for one. I vaguely remember just quietly going to sleep. I don’t remember anything else until l what seemed like late afternoon (by the light) when I have a vague recollection of someone telling me that everything went well. I woke up again when it was dark and thought perhaps I was hungry, then knew nothing until morning.
I woke up to pain and got a blue pill. I felt vaguely dizzy – not quite right. The nurse told me that I had to get up and have a wash . I don’t think she was nurse at all. I think she was Hitler dressed up as nurse. She told me I had to be gone by 10am as they needed the bed for the next patient. While I had a wash – she just pulled my hospital gown off. Grabbed my bra, swung it round me lasso style and did it up. Then she grabbed my tshirt and put it on me while I was heading back to bed.
My surgeon came round at 8.30am and told me the operation was successful with 17 electrodes in. Wow – that was way more than I was expecting and very good news. We discussed the possibility of me going to North Shore hospital rather than home, but decided on home.
After he had gone the nurse pulled down the blankets and put my skirt on me. I kid you not – she was determined for me to leave. My mother arrived. By this time I was crying with pain and really not feeling right. The surgeon sent me to Remuera to have an x-ray. I barely remember getting there but was really crying with pain now. Back to the surgeon who quickly looked at the x-ray and said go home and sleep, feet up, and take panadol. Yeah right – I knew panadol wasn’t going to help much.
Got home – panadol, feet up, outstretched on couch. I still hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since 6am the previous day , and didn’t want anything. Mum fed me regular panadol and antibiotics. By 4pm I was throwing up uncontrollably, couldn’t open my eyes, couldn’t move so an ambulance was called and I was carted off to North Shore hospital. I ended up being there for two weeks, very dizzy, and very sick. The doctors think the operation or anaesthetic might have set off my ongoing vertigo problems, however thank goodness it has resolved for now and I’m back home.
Everything is healing nicely now, except my hair is growing back gray. I emailed my surgeon how I felt this was unfair, that he should have injected those blonde cells back into me. He called it divine retribution, because when he took over my case management he had no gray hairs!!!
Ever since the surgery I’ve been getting tinnitus in my ears, particularly the left one - the non implanted ear. It’s driving me nuts. Now usually tinnitus is a ‘ringing’ in one’s ear, but I have a full symphony orchestra in there. If I could request tunes, that would be good too, but no – I get lucy in the sky with diamonds for 2 hours, followed by bolero for two hours, followed by the nutcracker suite (no smart comments please) then it changes to the Tijuana brass brand, You are my Sunshine, Oom Pa pah. It’s like a CD I can’t switch off. It’s a little better today –more soloist instruments than full orchestra, but occasionally the full string section lets loose. Lucy in the Sky of Diamonds played for most of the day. It’s onto Bolero now though! Gah!
I believe this phenomena is called Musicophila and Oliver Sacks has written about it. I am going to try and get the book to read as it seems fascinating. Either that, or the surgeon misplaced his MP3 player during surgery!
Meantime – I’m totally deaf at the moment. Not one itsy bitsy little sound gets through. None. Nada. Zip. I thought it would be really hard to lipread without sound but I’ve found it much easier than I thought it would be. I rarely miss things, but I do have a Magna Doodle toy as a backup when things get tough. Strange though when I introduce it, very little communication ensues afterwards as the person talking to me becomes engrossed in drawing pictures on it!!
My ‘turn on’ or ‘switch on’ or ‘activation’ is this coming Monday so I don’t have long to wait. I wonder what I’ll hear.
Anything at all?
Squiggles of sound?
Orchestral music?
Voice?
I guess I just have to wait and see….
Watch this space!
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