Sunday, August 25, 2013

August 25, 2013

Sunday Summer Church Picnic
Sunday,  August 25, 2013

The end of summer seems to be here, not by the weather, or by the calendar, but by the starting of schools around town tomorrow.  What a great time to have a church picnic.  What wonderful planning that they set up for the event in the church gym since as the closing notes of the closing song were sung at the end of the morning worship service, the rain started.  Men had been grilling hamburgers and hot dogs all morning so they were about finished when the rains came.  The badly needed rain was very welcome and I think a few people who had not planned to stay for the picnic, changed their plans and decided to wait out the rain while eating lunch with a great bunch of folks.

Hearing continues to be a challenge and an experiment at church each week.  During our Sunday school Bible study time, I did well today.  We had a great group of friends and a new visitor.  I did fine most of the time, with the exception of a few prayer requests voiced from the group.  I did chat briefly with the visitor and did fine.  I would have avoided that in the past.  Chatting with individuals is going very well.   The larger the group, the greater the challenge.

The worship service was much harder.  I think I have mentioned that the sound processor picks up mechanical noises very well.  I don't know if it was the air-conditioners or what, but I was getting a lot of noise in the service.  I tried all the settings, but none seemed to help.  When it was time for the sermon, I stepped out into the vestibule as is becoming my habit, and sat near one of the speakers.  Our pastor in charge of mission activities, Tracy, preached this morning.  It was an excellent sermon.  Tracy speaks clearly, but very fast.  I didn't get it all, but most of it.

The music continues to be very hard on me.  I love music.  I love hymns.  I love the piano music.  I am not loving what I am hearing.  I think I need to put more training effort toward that, but I keep running out of hours for those projects. 

The Cochlear Implant web site sends out information  frequently and has assorted tips about different areas of the hearing needs.  The one this time was about the phone usage.  There are a few cell phones that work better with the Cochlear Implant than others.  I am needing to replace mine anyway, so I did read most of the information in this current mail out.  One of the things it said was "practice, practice, practice."  Right.  There is a Cochlear store, and I am wondering if they sell extra hours for my days.  If so, I may take up a collection and buy a few.

Following the service I headed to the children's wing of the building to gather grandchildren.  My youngest grand daughter is always the first pickup.  Then we went to get her next two older brothers.  One had been promoted to a new class and so the youngest boy was the next pickup.  He is active.  He is strong.  He is always on the go.  He ended up holding my hand on the arm with the recovering elbow.  He quickly started pulling and I told him that was my arm that had the elbow surgery.  He immediately calmed down and stayed close, not pulling on the arm at all.  That was a treat - obedience and concern.  After a little bit he suggested that I let him be on the other side of me and his sister (who is calmer) could be on the bad arm.  I love that kid.  Always thinking.  It didn't work.  I kept him where he had to stay calm. 

We got his next oldest brother and the older girls from children's church and then all headed to the auditorium.  We visited for a while and then set out for the gym and the great smelling food.  One lady stopped me this morning to ask for the name of my doctor who did my Cochlear Implant.  She has a friend whose husband is suffering from severe hearing loss and she was going to pass along the name of my doctor to her friend.  I also gave her the web address for this blog and suggested they do some reading to find out what was involved.  I hope if you have friends or family members who struggle to hear, that you will pass it on to them.

The gym was noisy, but standing with a group of family members in line, I was able to hear them just fine and did pretty well at the table as we ate.  We were at a round table and anyone who struggles to hear has trouble at a round table, but I did have some good conversations.  Progress continues, but as the audiologist and the doctors constantly remind me, the hearing will never be the same.  It is not perfect, but it is so much better than what I have had for years, that I will continue to practice and do the listening exercises and try to get all I can from it.



This is our son and three of his children.  The one in the orange plaid shirt is the one
 who wanted to hold hands on Grandma's good arm, so he didn't have to be calm. 

On an elbow side note, I have noticed that since the arm stays partly bent all the time (I can't get it straight down beside my body), it tends to stick out slightly and the last few days I keep bumping into door frames.  I guess by years of habit my brain thinks it knows how closely I can walk to the frame, but that is not longer correct.  I need to start paying closer attention as I walk close to things.  I spent yesterday saying, "Ouch."

Ron had to go to the office and get the minutes for a meeting he had to attend at the church this afternoon, so he didn't come home after the picnic.  We had both cars, so I came home, checked emails, etc. and napped for a couple of hours.  The next hour or so was spent in the kitchen chopping up ingredients for a huge bowl of chicken salad.  Yummy!  But chopping was painful on the elbow.  I don't chop with that arm, but rather hold items and that is hard.  So I was constantly revising the way I would hold things and it slowed down the whole process, but I finally ended up with a great reward for my efforts.  I am set for work lunches and evening meals for a few days.  I will share some with a couple of other people on my way to work in the morning.

Tomorrow morning I have a very early appointment with my dermatologist.  That should not take too long, but this will be the first time I have really heard this man.  I started going to him right after I lost my hearing and have had the assorted temporary helps during the visits these last eight months.  He is a very friendly, pleasant man and I look forward to hearing him tomorrow. 

5 comments:

  1. So glad you are doing better! I so enjoy your posts - Love you!

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    1. Thanks, Chris. I know you have been praying. I am making progress, but there are still difficult settings.

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  2. Can't wait to see if you can hear me so we can catch up!

    Is Isaac really taller than his dad? Looks like it in the picture. Love that face,

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    1. That isn't Isaac, it is the next youngest and yes he is taller than all of the family and that leaves Isaac and Dad a little unhappy. :(

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