Bilateral hearing with different CIs

Whenever I come to the hospital, I still see my  poster on the hospital door, of my audiologist. :) It is always so nice to see, they are still supporting me. Thank you!!

I’ve been thinking about my deaf right ear and what to do, to improve life quality! Does anyone have experience with bilateral hearing, using cochlea implants from different manufacturers? I have a Nucleus 5 on my left ear and I want a Med El on my right ear. Can this work out? Would there not be much confusion with the sounds between my two ears? 

Some people report that they hear different with a Med El, than with a Nucleus. I have a strong desire to hear with BOTH ears, but it’s very difficult to make the right decision! :) 

Once I make my choice and get the implant, there is no other way I can exchange it by another. I hope I can collect a lot of information, so I can decide and perhaps go for a surgery. The second thing is, will the hospital pay for another surgery?? I have a good reason and the right to have two ears!! I wonder what will happen if I do not hear with an implant on my right ear… Will I have to give back the speech processor to the hospital? Can I not keep it to practice hearing, even with just a little bit of response/stimulation? As you know, I would be ready to completely take off my device on my left ear, just so I can train my right ear… and this is going to make a difference. At least, I’d be ready to give it a try! Thoughts, thoughts …. :)

Yours,

Poetry Girl!

Listening to music is uncomfortable

It's been quite a while! I haven't had the time to dedicate to keep this blog active and fresh.. huh :(. Well life's moving pretty fast and it's been and up and down. I'm trying to catch up slowly and keep a routine, like blogging at least once a week, or every two for the beginning. 

So much has happened since last year but not much related to my hearing. In short, I'm doing well with my ear. No major problems with my device. Here and there I had problems with the coil that from time to time, my device stopped working for a second. I had this fixed and got a new coil. My life has improved a lot, regarding to my hearing. Yes, I am still misunderstanding words, but I got used to live with it. It's not so bad. It often feels like, that the most important things I miss to hear, and the things that are not of a matter, I hear. Crazy eh? :) 

My audio cable is not working anymore, and you know how much a new peace costs.. over 100,- EUR a new one!!! Huh, a lot of money. This is unfortunately not covered by the insurance and so I have to pay it myself.. I haven't decided to get a new one. Still looking for other options, e.g. ear plugs. I tried out these and I have to say, I miss the comfort of not having anything like this big on my ears. It's quite painful after some time, when you're in bed, listening to music. So, there is no listening to music and falling asleep in bed, unless I listen to it through the speakers and wake up everyone else. :P

It was so much easier when I plugged this audio cable just behind my speech processor and I could hear music directly in my head (ear). There was also this privacy that I have appreciated. No one could hear what I'm listening to, no matter the volume. 

I will see, but at the moment I cannot decide. It does cost a lot of money.


Bellman Alarm clock Last year I bought a new alarm clock from Bellman & Symfon. Here is a video, how this clock works. It's very useful to me, as a clock with light function only, cannot wake me up! I need something that shakes me out of my bed :)





It's very helpful and a good device to rely on it, but there are also cheaper clocks on Amazon to buy. 

This was a short update on the thing going on at the moment. I'll try to write in regular intervals, to get back on track.

Thanks for reading and please, 
stop by again =)


Sandra

Hunting & Hearing Loss - How to protect yourself

Hunting and Hearing Loss How to Protect Yourself

Hunting is a very popular sport and hobby but it can also be very detrimental to your hearing. To avoid hearing loss when hunting, you should make sure you wear the appropriate protection.  My father was a hunter for many years but often did not pay much attention to his hearing levels while he was out on a hunt or practicing his shooting while at the range.  Due to these choices, my father is now affected severely by hearing loss.  To help with his hearing levels, he now wears hearing aids that amplify sounds around him.  You will find out more about the different types of ear wear protection in the text below.

How You Can Protect Your Hearing at the Shooting Range

When you go to the shooting range, you must protect your ears from excessive noises. Earmuffs, earplugs or electronic earmuffs should be used to protect your ears while practicing shooting. In a shooting range, most people prefer to use electronic earmuffs with noise cancelling properties. This will allow hunters to hear their friends talking in the firing range between rounds without removing the earmuffs. If you need an affordable pair of earmuffs, there are some budget-friendly options in the stores or online.

Hearing Should Be Protected While Hunting  

Hearing should be protected while hunting also. The same type of protection used in the firing range can also be used while hunting. When hunting, you need the ability to hear sounds below 80 dB. Most hunters need to hear falling branches and the rustling of the leaves in order to shoot the prey. If hunters cannot hear sounds other than firing, the prey cannot be identified and hunted. Consider noise-cancelling earmuffs to hear sounds below 80 dB when you or another person is not firing a gun.

Primary Causes of Hearing Loss   

Hearing loss is caused primarily by hunting without ear protection. A single firing of a shotgun over 140 dB can cause permanent hearing damage. You need ear protection, and you need to participate in shooting activities outdoors instead of indoors. Consider going outdoors to shoot instead of going to an indoor firing range. This practice can also preserve hearing. Many experts suggest wearing the gear and monitoring your firing habits to preserve hearing.

Hearing Loss is Preventable   

Hearing loss is preventable if the right ear protection is purchased. Consider how purchasing ear protection can help prevent hearing loss. The loss is often gradual, but eventually, the loss may develop into a permanent hearing loss. Every hunter should use earmuffs consistently to protect hearing at all times.

Hi my name is John O'Connor, I am a father, outdoorsman and passionate about living a healthy lifestyle. Over the past few years I have become more and more interesting in hearing loss. My father and grandfathers, who are and were all hunters, are affected by hearing loss. I feel that there is a general lack of understanding around the issue and it is our job to spread awareness where e can. Check out my new blog at bloggingwjohno.blogspot.com!

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This was a guest post by John O'Connor. Feel free to contact him if you have any questions or stop by his blog! :)

Thank you John for the information you provided me with. This is definitely an interesting topic that needs more attention, another area where to spread awareness!


Bionic Poetry Girl,
Sandra

Difficult time with my ear

Good evening!

It's winter wonderland here! :) We have a bit of snow in Austria.
I'm having tinnitus this week, in fact have it for some time but it's more intense right now. . and my listening comprehension isn't the best right now. Today and a few days ago I was struggling to understand. It becomes a real challenge to follow what's being said. Yesterday for example and older lady sat next to me in the bus and wanted to talk to me! I could barely hear what she said because there was some background noise and I was not at all i. the hearing mode. She tried hard to talk to me and I didn't want to be impolite .. but how should I tell her that it's really tiresome to ask her always to repeat because she also seems to be mumbling and I was somehow tired & couldn't concentrate. I tried to pass as hearing by saying randomly "yes" or "now" in the hope she'd get her answer but she kept asking me "why not" and then I saw I couldn't fool her anymore. After some time.. I came closer to her, showed her my speech processor and said as polite as I could that I am hearing impaired and than today I really don't hear so well and it's difficult for me to understand. She looked at me, then at my processor behind my ear and them became silent.. hmm does this make me impolite?

Perhaps this is also why less people talk to me, those who know that I am hard of hearing because they may be annoyed to always have to repeat everything. Hmm it makes me wonder. I feel bad because I had to tell the lady in a different way not to talk to me because I just didn't feel like talking & I couldn't understand her either. How would you react to such situation if you were hearing impaired? Feel free to share with me!

Your poetry girl!

österreichischer und kroatischer blog

kommt sehr bald :))


stay in touch! An Austrian and Croatian blog will come very soon!


Uskoro slijedi jedan novi hrvatski blog :)

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All graphics, illustrations or photographs reproduced on the www.crossed-flag-pins.com domain are copyrighted. 

My Heart's Craving For Something New - POEM

www.facebook.com/stolnikspoetry

Hello friends and fans!

I have a long weekend with All hallows I don't work all until Sunday.

Here is the direct link to my photo-poems on my Facebook page. Just click HERE and it will open a new window and direct you to my page. I don't know if you all like poetry but have a look at my page. There are poems about different aspects of life, some deal about my hearing, others about the challenges in life. Feel free to browse through my photos and see if there's something that you enjoy.

I have another blog that is dedicated to my writing only, it's called "www.bionicpoetrygirl.blogspot.com". I even created a tab for that page here but it seems like that the link doesn't work .... I have to figure out how to fix this... until then I'll put the link here in this post.

Here's one of my "latest" poems, not that up-to-date but I still wanted to share with you. This is how I felt and still feel about my writing. It's very sad.. but when you are so full of passion and still see it's hard to somehow reach out to people then it makes you wonder ... like in this poem... I don't think that I need to explain it. Read yourself and create yourself a picture about it.

If you have some encouraging words for me then please share it with me. I need to be encouraged more than ever why I am writing and why I should continue .....

Your poetry girl,

My CI story published at "Hearing Health Foundation"

Hello there!!!

It was been literally a while! We had first snow here in Salzburg a few days ago :O 

A few weeks ago, I have posted some of my poems about my ear on some Facebook pages that deal with hearing and cochlear implants and I came across this one called "Hearing Health Foundation". 
Their aim is to prevent and cure hearing loss through groundbreaking research. 

I have posted some poems on their Facebook page.

 One of the poems that I have posted was this one, called "A Different World". You can find this poem in a better resolution to read on my page HERE as well as the poem in the photo description to read. Please take a look to read it. It contains some background information about how I got my hearing loss and a brief story how I lost my hearing.

It is about my first experience with my new cochlear implant. The first few days were really hard to adjust but I was open about this new "thing" so everything else was just falling into place. So after I posted this poem, I got a message from Tara from the Hearing Health Foundation and she asked me if I would like to include my story on their website and so I did. :)))

Hi Sandra,
Thanks so much for sharing your experience and these two beautiful poems! They are a great addition to our collection of stories!

Here is an excerpt of her email. I was really excited and thankful for such an opportunity that I have immediately put together my story and prepared some poems to accompany my text.

HERE is my story :))) It is on their cover page of their website! Here's how it looks like. Please go and visit their website and read my story.

http://hearinghealthfoundation.org

I'm very thankful for that as it enables me to share my cochlear implant journey with thousand other people all over the word! We have so many things in common and it's so nice to exchange thoughts on the same "thing" :)

Thanks for reading!