Activation

I don't know how to describe today. I was hopeful beforehand but knew the reality. Most people don't get significant gain at activation and the adjustment is rough. I don't know about adjustment, of course, but I was told that 60 decibels is the maximum gain possible...and that's what I got today. That means I'm hearing at 20 dB (the normal range) at 4 frequencies. I've NEVER heard in the normal range. My speech reception threshold was 75 without hearing aids, 60 with hearing aids and now it's 35. They don't make hearing aids that powerful. When they tested my speech reception (repeating words), I got 56% at 50 dB. With my hearing aid, I got 0. At 65 dB, I got 100% of the words. The sound is really different, too. Megan (my wonderful audiologist!) set 3 different settings with 5 volume levels in each setting. I'm playing with the settings but on A, there is very little background noise. I can actually have a conversation in the car or at a restaurant. I'm not even lipreading. Hearing is already so much easier!

I'm EXHAUSTED! This has been wonderful but also very emotional and draining. I want to make sure to record all these little details though. :)

Weird things:
*hearing change drop into a parking meter
*listening to songs I know and realizing there are several people singing...not just the one I heard before
*eating!!!! I ordered fish and chips for lunch. The batter is crunchy and LOUD!
*I actually heard a hammer hitting a pipe...from across the street
*my own voice inside my head
*the ocean - I didn't realize how many different sounds there are
*helicopters - they sound different than airplanes!

A picture is worth a thousand words, right? The bottom line is unaided, middle is with a hearing aid and top is with the Esteem. Miraculous.