May 10, 2016

Blog Posting Number 1,000

May 10, 2016

According to my blog site where I write these entries, this is blog number 1,000.  That doesn't seem possible to me.  I was thinking I should say something profound.  As I contemplated what that would be, it again occurred to me that the most profound thing going on in my life connected to the Cochlear Implant is that in most ways my life has returned to normal (whatever that is).  I can wait on customers at the office.  I can even make a few phone calls now.  I can go shopping alone, to the doctor, to the basketball practice with my grandchildren, and on and on with normal daily activities.


The things that were hardest in the beginning after I got my Cochlear Implant in most cases are still the things that are difficult.  Some of the hard things to deal with are drive-up windows, understanding people with strong accents, understanding young children, music, understanding an individual in a crowded situation.  In reality many of you reading this who have fairly normal hearing are probably thinking, "I have trouble with those same things."  That is true.  It just is harder than it was before to deal with those.

The Cochlear Implant has given me my independence back following my Sudden Hearing Loss.  There are situations where I am not real comfortable, but there were some that were that way before.  Since I had a serious hearing loss before the total loss, I was already dealing with some of those issues.  One of the hardest is listening to a speaker, whether it is the pastor at church, an instructor in a class, or any group meeting, I still struggle, but as I have said before, "It sure beats being deaf!"

This morning I was able to get my blood work done at 7:30.  They were very busy!  I didn't know there were so many people getting blood work done at the crack of dawn.  It was quick and I have been left with two bad bruises.  They were only able to fill one tube from the first stick, so they moved to the other arm and did fine there for the 3 more tubes to be filled.

I returned home for breakfast and a couple of chores before going to the office.  Once at the office, it seemed that most of the morning was spent on bookkeeping and a brief nap with my head on my desk.

After my lunch it was time for my next appointment which was a CT scan of my pituitary.  The technician told me there was very little chance of getting a good scan since I can not do the MRI or a contrast dye on the CT scan, but in the end, he said he thought he got a good scan.

It did not take too long - probably 30 minutes for the scan and 15 minutes for him to go through them to see if he had what he needed.  I did have to wait 30 past my appointment time for the scan, but I try to always have my Kindle with me. 

Back at the office it was back to the books (the bookkeeping ones).  It was late in the afternoon when I started to do the final reports for last month and those went pretty well.  Then I went to balance the checkbook for the office and encountered a small problem.  Again, it is due to the credit card company we use for processing the sales at the office.

We both worked till past closing time before putting things up.  I came home and put a ham in the oven for a late supper and Ron went to the hospital to check on his mom.  About the time supper was ready, he got a call that they had moved her to another room and she was complaining of a lot of pain.  So he went back to the hospital and here it is almost 11:00 p.m. and he is still there with her.  Don't know if he will make it home tonight.

During the brief time Ron was home, we both took care of a few things in the yard.  After he returned to the hospital I ate my supper and put things away hoping he would be home soon.  Then I finished reading a book I was working on and did some laundry.  

 Our next door neighbors got their fence back up today - a rather sloppy job of repair that we see from our side, but I am glad for the privacy again.