I have some cool progress updates to share regarding my implant, but wanted to also share the unfortunate news that my membership in the COVID-19 Super-Dodgers' Club has lapsed. After avoiding it for two and a half years, I tested positive in early September, about three days after my husband did. (We both mask up any time we're indoors and around people we don't know, but that wasn't enough to protect him this time and he brought it home. By the time we realized what was up, I'd already been exposed.) Fortunately, we were both vaccinated, boosted, and eligible for Paxlovid, so we started feeling better pretty quickly, but I experienced the dreaded Paxlovid rebound and didn't test negative for something like 3 weeks. I'm much improved now, but still dealing with some wacky lingering symptoms (loss of appetite and some dizziness/heart rate changes that could be POTS - Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.) Good times. Anyway, keep masking up and taking other precautions, especially if you're high risk or live with someone who is -- it's important to remember that the relaxation of COVID restrictions/mandates has absolutely zero to do with our level of risk from COVID and everything to do with capitalism. Eat the rich.
[Rant over.]
Despite the COVID nonsense, I did manage to stay on track with my cochlear implant follow-up appointments and had my first speech recognition test! I scored 58% which, according to my audiologist, is outstanding for someone only a month or so post-activation. It also speaks to how soon I was able to get implanted (initial insurance denial notwithstanding) -- my brain didn't have much of a chance to "forget" how to process sound. The test itself was hilarious because the sentences were so weird. No joke, one of them was, "It smells like fresh lemons in here!" I'm sure they were chosen to capture a range of syllables and phonics -- but the randomness definitely had me making goofy faces at Dr. Scheib.
In addition, my audiogram showed improvement in hearing high and low frequency sounds. I would love to one day push out of the "mild" and "moderate" ranges and back into "normal," but a lot of that will depend on my ongoing rehab and mapping of my processor.
My next audiology follow-up will be in early November, and then I'll have one at 6 months post-activation and another one at 12 months. I can't remember what the schedule is after the first year (I think it's annual) but I'm also planning to book annual hearing tests for my right (hearing) ear. I doubt having regular screenings would have saved the hearing in my left ear, but I want to take good care of my right ear going forward -- I wish routine audiology screenings were something that happened beyond elementary school. (Remember those?) My surgeon wants to see me at six months post-op, and I'll get new external processors every five years, too, so audiology will be part of my life for the rest of my life.
And I'm grateful.
Coming soon, more thoughts on audiograms (I'll keep it fruity by discussing the "hearing banana"), random strange aspects of life with an implant, and giant existential questions. You heard it here first.