3 month post-op

Yesterday I went back for my 3 month research appointment at Washington University. As part of this research study, I go through different listening tasks once before surgery, and at 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, 9-month, and 12-month post-op. The testing usually lasts about 4 hours. Yes, 4 hours. As you can imagine, I was very exhausted by the end of it.

The goal of the study is to determine what benefits (if any) can be reached for persons with an asymmetrical sensorineural hearing loss. These individuals may have one ear that audiologically meets cochlear implant candidacy but the other ear does not because that person is able to achieve better results on speech perception tests with a hearing aid than necessary to meet typical cochlear implant candidacy criteria. However, people with this kind of hearing loss often struggle more so than the tests show, especially in noisy environments (and when with multiple speakers) and they also cannot localize sounds (determine where sound is coming from).

I sat through a lot different speech perception testing. For those who know what these tests are, this included the following:

100 CNT words with my left ear only (hearing aid side)

100 CNT words with my right ear only (CI side)

HINT sentences at 0 degree aszmuth in a R-Space (restaurant noise is presented from speakers surrounding me) with BOTH CI/HA

The same test with my HA only

BKB sentences while wearing CI/HA in multiple conditions (speech and noise at 0 degrees azmith, speech at 0 degrees and noise at 270 degrees, speech at 0 degrees and noise at 90 degrees)

The same test in all conditions wearing my HA only

TIMIT sentences at 50 dB HL with CI/HA,

TIMIT sentences at 50 dB HL with HA only

Another test somewhat like BKB sentence test but the level of noise changes depending on my answer with my CI and HA and then HA only.

I don't have the full results as of yet, but Laura (my audiologist) and I agreed that I had made a noticeable improvement compared to my 1 month post-op. At 1 month, I was very bothered by the noise and did not see much difference in results when comparing CI/HA and HA only. During yesterday's testing, I got more words and sentences correct when I wore my HA and CI than when I wore my HA only. I could not do any tests with just my CI. I could hear the words but they all sound similar. I did get a couple CNT words right though!

I also responded more easily with both my CI/HA on. I'm not sure I scored much better with both my CI/HA than with my HA only but I was certainly quicker to respond and more confident about my answers. I was also doing better when sentences were presented at a very soft level and in noise.

I was happy to see that I am making progress. Laura and I believe I will continue to progress over the next 6 months, 1 year, or even 2 years. It will be interesting to see how I do clinically when I'm working. I think it will be easier to communicate with my patients than before. I'll also need to figure out how to configure an FM system with both my HA and CI so that I can take full benefit of both ears when I perform audiometric testing....

I also had my map reprogrammed. My CI thresholds in the booth were in 25-35 dB range but in the 40s in the higher frequencies. My T-levels had increased in the higher channels. My new map should help improve my thresholds in the higher frequencies. My overall T-levels are increased also which should help me hear more soft sounds. Today, everything is somewhat louder than before but not bothersome :) I think it will be easy to adjust to this time. :)

It's been 2 months...Where have I been??

I have realized in the past 2 months that I am a TERRIBLE blogger. It's been over 2 months since I've updated my blog. Just Terrible! I hate to blame anyone or anything but since I last wrote on May 2nd, I have accomplished or been in the process or accomplishing the following:

1) completed my clinical externship, which ended May 20th.

2) graduated from Washington University School of Medicine with a Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) degree on May 21st.

3) moved from Dallas, TX back home to sweet home Belleville, IL over Memorial Day weekend.

4) have been busily applying and interviewing for jobs.

5) attended the HLAA convention in Milwaukee where I met wonderful people and learned many new things from a different perspective.

6) played catch up with family and friends.

This may not seem like much but during this time, my access to internet has decreased significantly and my traveling in the car has increased even more so. Some of you may understand that going from internet access 24/7 to whenever I can make it to someone else house is a very difficult adjustment. Therefore my blogging has also suffered.

I do have many many things to say though!

On May 12th, I had my last programming appointment UT Southwestern before I moved. My CI audiologist at UT put me in the booth and she measured the softest levels I could hear with my implant with each of my 4 programs. We didn't want me to get any response from my left ear so we tactifully took apart a pair of supra-aural earphones to fit my head and we also put a earplug. It was awkward-looking but it worked. She was impressed at the levels I was hearing with it at 1.5 month post-activation so she did not make any changes to it. I was not having any problems with it and was still getting used to the programming adjustments I had the week before, when I was at Washington University for a research appointment, so I was okay with it.

After that appointment, I had many other things on my mind, like graduation and moving (no big deal, I know). By the time June rolled around, I knew I really needed to be programmed. I was able to get my CI programmed on June 12. My CI audiologist at Washington University wasn't available so I saw a different audiologist who is just as good. Being an audiologist myself, it's interesting to see how other audiologists do things differently. I also had the pleasure of having one of my classmates, who is currently completing her externship with the Washington University Cochlear Implant Program, do the programming. She re-measured my T and C levels and balanced the levels across the different pitches and then gave me 4 new programs. Afterward, she put me in the booth to measure the softest levels I could hear in my main program, which has no special input processing algorithms. I was surprised that I was hearing between 20 and 35 dB HL across the frequencies! We didn't do any speech perception testing but at my next research appointment, I will be doing 3 hours of testing so we will see how that goes. That appointment is July 12. I'm kind of nervous becasue I haven't been doing any aural rehab since I have have moved. I have been trying to install the "Sound and WAY Beyond" dvd rehab program onto my computer but have been running to problem after problem. However, that is another story that I will spare you the details.

So unfortunately, with that problem and lack of internet access, I have not been very good about practicing with my CI. However, I have been wearing it each and everyday and I cannot tell a huge difference in my speech understanding when I wear it as opposed to only wearing my hearing aid, but my mother says she can definitely tell because I am responding more quickly in conversations and when someone is on my right side (CI side) I don't struggle to hear as much. One thing I do notice is that I can understand people better (with the help of lip reading, of course) when I am in a noisy restaurant or bar. And I am definitely hearing softer sounds that are higher pitched.

I am ready for Monday's research appointment because I can tell that I need my CI reprogrammed. Before, I had a program that had ADRO (which helps with hearing softer sounds) and could not stand it because every time I brushed my hair behind my head or I would touch it, it would be very loud. Now I prefer to be on my ADRO program or my Noise program (ADRO + AutoSensitivity) so I can hear more soft sounds!

I am now set up in a temporary location (thanks to my mom) so I can get things done more easily, so I should be updating more often. If I don't, I expect you to get on my case about it!