May 13, 2014

Quick Trip to Houston

May 13, 2014

It had been too long since Ron and I had made a trip to Houston to see the audiologist at Houston Ear Research Foundation.  I need to go regularly for adjustments and programing.  We were to go near the end of February or early March.  They had called and set an appointment for mid-March, but later postponed it until today.  There were several factors which caused the delay, and I was not really having any problems, so it was fine to wait. 

Yesterday we both went to work at our office in the morning and then I came home about noon to get ready for the trip to Houston.  Ron closed about 2:00 and when he got home he finished loading the car.  We had to stop on our way out of town for him to check on a work related job but the lady he needed to see was out.  The drive to Houston was fine but the traffic was heavier than expected for a Monday.  We arrived at our hotel about 9:00 and both crashed on the bed.  I slept soundly with only a couple of brief wakeful times during the night.  Ron didn't sleep at all well.

This morning we were at the Houston Ear Research Foundation by 8:00 and it was not too long until we were underway with the testing, etc.  The visit took all morning and it was a little after noon when we left.  The visits always include time in the "Sound Proof Booth".  I always remind them that my friends don't visit me in the sound proof booth and that the testing may tell them some things, but not how my real world is.  Today's appointment was not with my regular audiologist, but with two different ladies I had not been with before.  We had a productive time and they were very fun to work with and good about listening to the things that are unique to my usage of the Cochlear Sound Processor for my implant.

One thing that I think is unique to my usage has to do with my work setting.  At our business we cut keys, Ron works on safes, and rekeys locks as well as a wide variety of other things.  Much of our work is noisy!  When I am cutting keys, the sound processor brings down the noise (or actually doesn't let it get past a certain point, in order to protect my hearing).  When I am beside the noisy machine, I can't hear the customer behind me who may be telling me they decided they need one more copy.  Often when I think I am finished, they will say, "Oh, I asked for one more."  Oops, I didn't hear that.

The other time it is a problem is when I am talking to the customer at the counter and Ron is behind me running the machines and stamping information on the head of the key.  Often, that noise totally overpowers what the customer is trying to tell me.  The ladies had a couple of suggestions on that situation and I will try to see if those help. 

While I was doing testing in the Sound Proof Booth, Ron ran an errand to pick up some merchandise from a supplier there who forgot to ship it last week.  Then when we were ready to discuss the results of the testing, he joined us but spent time reading in his Kindle while they were handling programing. 

How can they get any work done with this view from the office?  Houston had heavy rains during the early morning hours and it stayed overcast and cool all day, making it a wonderfully pleasant day for our errands.

The very first time we went to get the Cochlear Implant activated, our regular audiologist suggested at one point on the second day that we take a break and wander around the facility, maybe finding a coffee shop and visiting for a while so that I could see how the unit worked "in the real world" and then to return in 30 - 60 minutes and let her know if any adjustments needed to be made.  That worked well.  Today, that might have been a good idea.  I noticed a couple of things after we left as the day wore on, but I might not have noticed them in 30 - 60 minutes. 

My next appointment is June 9, a few days after our 49th wedding anniversary.  You think I can talk my husband into making a long weekend of it?  I doubt it since we have a family gathering scheduled in July.  One of the things we worked on today was background noise.  Recently at a family gathering, everyone at the table had a great time and there was a tremendous amount of laughter, but most of the conversations for me were impossible to "pull out" from the background noise.  I hope things may get better.

Last year when we were making so many trips to Houston, we found the Houston Garden Center locations and began buying some plants on the trips.  So today we found a few we wanted to bring home - mostly to put into hanging baskets.  These places have a wide variety of plants and good prices that get lower as the temperatures in Houston get warmer.

Before going there, we stopped for lunch at a Chick-fil-A location on the expressway near the Houston Ear Research Foundation.  We had lunch at one of their outdoor tables and the noise from the traffic didn't bother me - but bothered Ron.  I could hear him and he couldn't hear me. 

Once the plants were loaded we went across the street to one of the Houston quilt shops.  Ron always offers to let me shop in this one, but I don't usually buy much.  They don't carry the fabrics I like.  They have expanded and picked up one line I like so in the future I may find something there, but not today.  It is amazing how unique each quilt shop is. 

There I am, heading in to the quilt shop to look around.  It is a perfect location for us to stop, but they specialize in fabrics that aren't my style.  We did take time to stop in El Campo on the way home to go to The Cedar Chest Quilt Shop and I did trade them some of my hard earned cash for some of their lovely fabrics. 

I did spot this beautiful cactus blooming in El Campo.  From Houston to Kingsville, we passed miles and miles of flooded fields.  The rains had been heavy!  In El Campo, the lady at the quilt shop said they had 3 inches of rain last night that her house. 

We passed this field just south of Corpus Christi after we stopped for supper in Robstown at Bill Miller's Bar-B-Que.  Yummy!

It was a quick trip, but a good one.  I will see if the changes made in Houston will help my hearing situation.  More and more I realize how truly blessed I am that my Cochlear Implant surgery and activation went so well.  If you are a listener to the Rush Limbaugh Radio Shows you have heard a totally different story from him on his Implant and activation.  He has not had near the success that I have.  There is SO MUCH I have to be thankful about with my success.  The perfectionist in me wants it to be perfect, but this is man's answer to mimicking God's creation of hearing.  It beats being deaf by a long shot, but it will never be as good as what God created.

Let me apply to my situation something that Rush shared recently about his situation.  If I had been born 50 years earlier (as was my Grandmother Landreth), there would have been no Cochlear Implant surgery to give me any chance of hearing after I suffered Sudden Hearing Loss in January of 2013.  My Grandmother Landreth, in her later years of life suffered with very poor hearing.  You had to yell to have any hope that she would hear you.  I observed that few people would even try.  I tried when I would be around her.  Not all did.  I saw how isolated she was.  I am able to be in a much better situation than she was.  It is funny in a way, my grandmother was often cranky.  I don't recall her complaining about the lack of hearing, other than to tell us she couldn't hear what we had said.  Her hearing loss didn't seem to limit her activities.  Her arthritis did. 

What I am trying to say is that I am so blessed that my loss came when there was help.  As we talked to the ladies today they told us of continued advancements in the Cochlear research.  They showed a product that just came on the market to make it possible for people to swim while wearing the sound processor.  They had just received a sample to show to patients and more research continues.  If you, or someone you love suffers from major hearing loss, there may be help.  Check it out!  Not all types of loss can be helped with a Cochlear Implant and some can't be helped by anything currently on the market, but keep checking.  There may be help right around the corner.