This past week has been a return to feeling normal. My sleep is finally back on track and I have no pain! The tinnitus continues but now I’m hearing some more phantom noises (common with this surgery). From what I’ve read, the brain is thrown for a loop with the hearing suddenly gone and thus hears or thinks it hears various noises. The other night I was hearing an orchestra (don’t mind that at all) and then some rushing wind or running water.
A week from Monday (the 15th) is activation day! We are very excited about this and I look forward to being able to hear again. A reminder for my friends and family is that when I am activated, it isn’t like I will suddenly hear normally. There is a learning curve (sometimes long…months…but hopefully only weeks for me) for comprehending speech again and making sense of the sounds that one hears. The sounds I will be hearing through the Cochlear Implant are no longer natural but electronic / computerized. Amazingly enough though the brain is able to make sense of the sounds over time.