I went to programming without my family.... just me and my fiancée. Steve, my audie likes my progress so far... I told him that I heard that sound at AuBonPain that far away.....

He did mapping I think, where he finds the level of tolerance in each decibel. Then about 10 minutes later.. he turns it on... OH MY GOSH! It sounds SOOOO MUCH BETTER! But stronger than a hearing aid.

I was a happy camper! Steve also added a 1X magnet in the implant.. removed the dummy and added the extra magnet since my hair is heavy and still a little swollen. But it was my heavy hair that was knocking it down a lot.

As we left the hospital, it was raining out... I whipped on my rain coat.. and walked outside JHH. Hmm.. what am I hearing now? It was the raindrops on my raincoat... WOW.... My first sounds with the CI! It was so pleasant to hear something so nice like that. Thats a nice way to start my learning experience.

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The first week was rough. Everything I heard did not make any sense. I'm starting to wonder if I made the right decision here. I know it may be too soon. But I'm sorta lost here. I was all excited about activation and can I hear? Well yea but it don't sound right....just a bunch of freaking noise. Come on here.

Second. My implant keeps falling off when my hair is down. Grrrr...emailed my audie this week and he said that he can add another magnet. Whatever that means.

The day after I got activated, I went to Ocean City for the weekend. I heard a few things but they weren't clear. The ocean, the traffic and a loud bang. That's it! What a weekend.

Tomorrow is my 1st programming. I hope things sound better after I leave JHH tomorrow.

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Alrighty, it was really wierd. I felt the sounds and along with that I also felt a sensation or a pulsing on my forehead.

I was so nervous this morning and didn't eat breakfast at all! That's not a good thing for a diabetic.

I got this huge box of stuff in it. WOW! All these chargers, hooks, cap covers, batteries were included.

I'm not going to lie here, still can't hear a word since it's the inital stimulation. I think when I go back for programming, things will be different.

Anyway, here's a photo of me after the activation at Subway. I was hungry!!

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You heard it right. About 16 more hours til activation of my Advanced Bionics Cochlear Implant! Will have some videos up soon!

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Activation Time! 4 more days! This Friday at 9am. I am sorta nervous and excited at the same time. Can you believe it took me 6 months to get to this point from my very first appointment and now to the activation date? People don't realize that this is a LIFETIME commitment! Its just not going there for programming, it requires you to go back every 6 months to a year and in addition to that, you have listening therapy to practice every day.

The AB website has free lessons that you can download to your iPod, or what ever iSomething. I am already prepared. I downloaded stuff to the iPhone and have it all ready til my audie tells me so.

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I watched the progress of my surgical incision with the help of my fiancée Tom. Since I could not see it well, he took photos for me so I can see how much better it looked.

August 6, 2009 - 2 days post-op. Finally took bandage off.

Whew....the pressure off of my head is finally gone!!

August 8, 2009 - 4 days post-op. Saw the surgeon on

August 7, 2009 and was pleased with progress.

August 16, 2009 - 12 days post-op. Looking better!

August 19, 2009 - 15 days post-op. My first attempt to wear earrings!

August 29th, 2009 - 25 days post-op. Looks so much better!

You can see the scar has flatten out over time. And hair slowly growing back!

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Yup. You heard it right, 8 more days til activation. I'm ready to see what I can hear.

On the other hand. I'm still in very little pain. Some days are good and some are bad. The implanted side has scalp soreness. But it's not even close to the implant. I don't know if anyone else has experienced that before.

I can feel the shape and the actual implant itself. It's sorta wierd to have something underneath my skin. I'm still trying to get over the size of the bump.

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