Changes

About a year ago I got a hearing test because I was having a really hard time time with comprehension. The very somber audiologist informed me that I had lost quite a bit of the very little hearing I had left in my last functioning ear. I was going deaf. It was just a matter of time until it was all gone. . I sat in the parking lot, in my car, and cried. . Deaf. . The whole world felt like it was getting very small. My options felt very small. . . . Today I met with two people wearing masks and I had a conversation with them. I understood the entire conversation. Even 5 months ago I couldn’t understand anything being said by people wearing masks because I couldn’t read their lips, and reading lips was the only way I could understand anything. . Today I could hear. I could comprehend. No lip reading. . I forget sometimes how amazing this cochlear implant is. How it has opened up my life and removed so many limitations I’ve had for so long. When I was deaf I wouldn’t have been able to take a meeting with people wearing masks. I’m not sure I would have even been able to chat with them on the phone. And the thought of doing either option would have given me such anxiety. . Now I put this little thing on my head and I go from complete silence to hearing with 95% comprehension. It’s insane. And amazing. . I try to always remember how lucky I am, sometimes I forget because the hearing is just so easy now. But it was so difficult for so long and every once in while I'm in awe of where I am versus where I was. Today I was in awe of this magic little ear. I’m so grateful for what it has opened up in my life, for what it has opened up in me. . . #cochlearimplants #adventuresinhearingimpairement