Impossibly it is two weeks since I was able to update my blog. I have been very busy but also have had a few computer problems which hopefully are all resolved now.
I have visited many restaurants and coped reasonably well. This Monday I was in a very modern restaurant - the food was beautiful but the noise was unbelievable and I couldn't hear very well there. Sunday I went to an airshow and that too was very loud but it was a terrific show!
I have had some incredible experiences. After visiting my grandchildren I was walking back to my car and I heard a bang. I turned round and my son and grandchildren were all standing at the window, waving. They had knocked on the window and I had heard it!! I can now have a conversation with the children because I can hear them and I found that I could recognise the nursery rhymes they were singing. How wonderful?
I can recognise muscial instruments and hear the music with some differentiation but I haven't yet recognised the piece being played.
It is great to be able to take part in conversations in large groups. It is very tiring as a lot of concentration is needed but the rewards are great too.
I find that I can now hear the gadgets beeping and it is a mixed blessing! I was home alone one evening when the alarm system went off; complete with alarm blaring and strobe lights flashing. I managed to turn that off and reset it. So panic over, I carried on with what I was doing. Next I could hear a continuous beeping. What could it be? None of the gadgets' alarms were flashing. I went into the back garden and then out of the front door to see if the noise was coming from outside. It wasn't! So I went all through the downstairs rooms and it was definitely in the house and seemed louder by the stairs. I went upstairs noticing the stairs creaking and the beeping noise getting louder. At last I found it!! It was my alarm clock going off - noise from the alarm; vibrating on the clock and on the under pillow piece, plus all lights flashing - it made me laugh. I was still rather anxious though, with all this happening and I found I heard so many unexplained noises. In the end I checked through every room in the house to make sure windows and doors were shut. Exhausted from all this excitement I relaxed in front of the Television. I still use the subtitles as the speech from the television is quite difficult for me.
As my tutor has been away I have been using my website videos to practise recognition of sounds and following the prose just by listening. It has been very useful.
I am still finding high voices tinny and rather distorted but I can generally manage quite well. I look forward to the next steps.