I spent almost 3 hours with the audiologist yesterday. Much of the time was spent dealing with mechanical issues (see below). Over the last 24 hours it feels like I am waiting for my brain to catch up with my implant. When my implant was first activated, all I heard was what sounded like large, sharp bells whenever my processor transmitted a sound to the implant. Over the past 24 hours, my brain has started to subconsciously substitute more sounds like I was used to hearing with my hearing aids for those bell-like sounds. Also, I am hearing softer sounds because last night I turned up the volume (which makes the bell sounds and my own voice more uncomfortably louder). I could not hear my wife's voice yesterday (although I could hear the audiologist) but I could hear more of her voice this morning.
For those of you unfamiliar with implants, the surgeon opens up the skin and muscle above the ear and creates a depression in the bone for a magnet to rest. The magnet is connected to some circuitry, which in turn is connected to an array of electrodes that is inserted in the outer (higher frequency receptors) area of the cochlea.
The processor, which looks like a hearing aid, is attached to another magnet by a cord. The outer magnet is placed on the skin above the implanted magnet, and a communication channel is established by the circuitry in both internal and external devices.
The biggest frustration I have right now is that on my left implant, the swelling has not gone down enough to permit the two magnets to create a secure connection. Thus, I am only able to use my right implant.
