You mean there's really something metal inside my head?

So the day until my hook-up is drawing very close. I have less than a week - five days, to be exact - until I first put on my speech processor and step into a new world of sound. I have to say, I have gotten increasingly excited over the course of the last few days.

My stitches are healing nicely, and my hair is starting to grow over the scar. I'll post a picture on my web gallery soon. My ear is no longer numb (finally) and it no longer juts out at a near 90 degree angle like it did in the days following the operation. For some reason, the cartilage in my ear was just very stiff and inflexible until a few days ago. Guess that's just part of the operation. My dizziness, which eventually turned more to a lack of a sense of balance is returning, and only occasionally do I stumble or have to catch myself. It is simply amazing to me to stop and consider how wonderful medical technology is that a doctor can cut open someone's head, drill a groove into that person's skull (only millimeters away from his or her brain), insert a wire into an object no larger than a quarter, and then sew everything back up. Even more amazing is that same person is able to go home that day, much less be going out for a night on the town within two weeks of that same operation. God is truly large and in charge throughout this whole process!

Sometimes I reach up and feel the area around my incision, and it just amazes me to consider that there is now something between the skin of my head and my skull above my left ear. For some reason, it just doesn't feel right, but I think that's only because I have not yet begun to wear the processor and gain a benefit from the implant inside my head. I also fear the delicacy of the implant in my head and how it might change the way I do things. Right now, I am unable to do extremely strenuous activities simply because it makes my head feel a little funny. That should change in the next few weeks, but I also fear damaging my implant by any sort of fall or hard contact (for example, a baseball hitting me in the side of the head while I'm at bat) that under normal circumstances, would do nothing but leave a bruise. I think I mentioned in a previous blog entry that I won't be able to go through airport security scanners because it will affect the mapping on my C.I. I am sure that over the course of the next few months I will learn of other limitations similar to this one, and when that happens, I'll be sure to brandish my "Cochlear Implant I.D." card proudly! Fortunately, while these fears can become justified, I have learned a great deal about living my life in spite of limitations such as these, and so I don't think I'll have too much trouble. The newness and "mechanicalness" of my implant will eventually go away with time, much as it probably did with my hearing aid. I consider my hearing aid is currently as much a part of my body as any other body part I have...part of me is missing when that hearing aid is not in my ear and turned on. I have a feeling that, in time, my C.I. will be the same way...it's just going to take some time!

But I completely digressed from what I wanted to talk about! I received word from my implant specialist on my speech processor, and I have found some links that I'd like to share with you guys. Recently I posted a link to a picture of my implant, but I have since deleted that post simply because I kept having link issues. Here, finally, is the accurate picture of what my speech processor will look like.

Cochlear Nucleus 24 Freedom Processor (BTE) - This site contains information about the processor. I encourage all of you to click each of the Learn More buttons on the page. This processor is one of the newest (if not THE newest) on the market, and the advances in technology that have been made are astounding. There are a number of things about this processor that have really boosted my confidence and excitement in receiving this implant. It is sweatproof/splash resistant, which will be a big help for me living in the humid region of Charleston, SC. As an active teenager, this is great, because it should allow me to wear my C.I. while playing sports and I will not have to suffer from equipment breakdowns (as is all too common with my hearing aid). The Freedom processor also utilizes a unique technology known as SmartSound that basically does the work of identifying important sounds around me and then adjusting the sound levels accordingly so that I can focus on those important sounds. One of my greatest struggles as a hearing impaired individual wearing a hearing aid has been dealing with an ever-changing listening environment: to go from a quiet classroom in which one person is giving a lecture into a crowded Harcombe where everyone is shouting over one another over lunch can be quite a challenge as I struggle to hear only the important sounds. With a hearing aid, turning down the volume to reduce the crowd noise also has the undesired effect of quieting the voices of those I wish to hear. From what I'm understanding, my implant will give me a huge leg up in this department, and that thrills me. The same technology that allows me to do this also has the potential to allow me to hear instrumental music (and music in general) on a whole new level. With my hearing aid, the soft pitches of stringed instruments have never been very noticeable for me, and so I've never had much of an appreciation for that sort of music (despite my intense, sometimes burning desire, to want to appreciate that sort of music like those around me can). There are so many other exciting things about the processor, but I will leave it up to y'all to take a look around the website for yourself! Please keep in mind, that I am receiving the behind-the-ear processor (BTE) and not the box-type or bodyworn.

Before my operation, my excitement was a bit subued, as I knew it would be a few weeks before I could really begin to see any positive benefits from my operation. Fortunately, news of this processor and what it has the potential to do is really starting to catch up to me, and it has really gotten me excited about this whole thing!

In case you didn't see it, there is a very good picture of the device on the same set of webpages, but I'll link it here to make things easier for you.

Thanks to all of you who continue to support me and remind me that this is an exciting time in my life. This experience is having profound effect on a variety of different aspects of my life, many of them positively.

Finally, my brother is still in Honduras, and I hope he and the rest of the group he is with are having a wonderful experience.

Thanks for reading, and blessings to you all.